1980 Calbee Large: A Scarce and Intriguing Set (Part 9)

Another post, another Tiger card added (#10). I now need 30 cards to complete the 1980 Calbee Large set: 9 from block 1, and 21 from block 2. Essentially, 30 cards that are about as scarce as ‘73 Block 2 bat-backs and almost double their number. I’ll be doing one more post after this one for this series, covering the last few cards I have. After that it will require me having at least 5 or so new ones in my possession to do a new post, so I don’t expect to do one anytime soon. So, please look forward to something new!

#30  Masayuki Kakefu - Infielder (Hanshin)

Kakefu, a long-time Hanshin third baseman, is one of four players to have been known as Mister Tigers—the others being Fumio Fujimura, Minoru Murayama, and Koichi Tabuchi. Interestingly, not all Messieurs Tigers have their numbers retired (Tabuchi and Kakefu), and not all number retirees were called Mister Tigers (Yoshio Yoshida). All four, however, are in the Hall of Fame after Kakefu finally got his call in 2025.

 

#75  John Scott - Outfielder (Yakult)

Scott hit a home run in three consecutive games against the Giants. In the top of the 5th inning on the 24th, #3 was a two-run home run with Perlozzo on second, marking his second such homer since last year’s game against the Tigers.

#81  Masataka Nashida - Catcher (Kintetsu)

This season the number of games Nashida is donning the catcher’s mask over even his powerful teammate Arita is rising. You can add sound defense to that strong arm. He especially shines covering home—an iron wall letting barely a run through.

 

 #82  Shigeru Kobayashi - Pitcher (Hanshin)

Kobayashi got his first win of the season with an overpowering performance in the rain that dispelled that “elbow pain.” On the 12th against Taiyo he threw 88 pitches until the 7th and held the lineup to just 4 hits.

 

 #83  Masaji Hiramatsu - Pitcher (Taiyo)

On the 19th against Chunichi, Hiramatsu gave a must-see complete game performance for his second win. With this W, the Ace also gave his team a much needed stop to their losing streak.

 

 #85  Mike Reinbach - Outfielder (Outfielder)

Reinbach’s dynamic batting has a lot of impact. When Kakefu is out with an injury, his adherence to hustling out every play guides the team along, too.

 

 #86  Makoto Shimada - Outfielder (Nippon Ham)

The contest on the 8th looked like a victory for Seibu, but thanks to a game tying triple, they had to settle for a draw. That’s Shimada, Nippon Ham’s squad leader, who’s been putting the team on his back with his insistent batting since Opening Day.