Pennant Race! Collecting and Translating 1974 Calbee Series 1 (Part 9)
A side note to start: for the first time in months, I got a hold of another card for my 1980 Calbee Large run, #45 Akinobu Okada. Although not a Hall of Famer, Okada is a legendary Tiger. The slugging second baseman was a key player on the team ’ s famous 1985 Japan Series Championship team, and won a long-awaited title in 2023 as its manager. A rarity and a rookie card to boot, I ’ ve added it to the 1980 archive . The card mentions the Fall League, which is contested by Tokyo ’ s Big 6 Baseball Conference consisting of Waseda, Keio, Meiji, Hosei, Rikkyo and the University of Tokyo. Of the six, the University of Tokyo (commonly known as Todai ) is by far the most academically prestigious and also by far the least successful on the field. In the Big 6 ’ s 110+ year history, the Sky Blue and Gold have won a championship precisely 0 times. Meanwhile, the other schools are baseball powerhouses. To put it into perspective, imagine a six-team collegiate basketball league with Duke, UNC...