Pennant Race! Collecting and Translating 1974 Calbee Series 1 (Part 5)

Part 5 of my 1974 Calbee Series 1 project. You can see the archive, which contains all the cards I have translated thus far, here.

#31  Enatsu - Pitcher (Hanshin)

“I know I can win every game against the Giants,” Enatsu has said. Spoken like a true champ.

[Baseball Museum]  Sandy Koufax has the Major League single-season strikeout record with 382.

 

For some reason, this card has a slightly different heading on the back than the other 71 cards in Series 1. While the others read Pro Baseball Cards・1974 Edition at the top, this one alone reads 1974・Pro Baseball Cards. I don’t know why this is.

 

#32  Ueda - Pitcher (Hanshin)

Ueda says, modestly, that his goal is 15 wins, but given that he’s headlining the rotation with Enatsu this year as well, he has what it takes to get 20 for the second year in a row.

[Baseball Museum]   A relief pitcher is a pitcher who takes over for a starting pitcher. They are also called “relievers” for short. (Picture: Left・Ueda,  Right・Enatsu)

 

The Baseball Museum segment here might come across as a little daft and obvious. I think the actual purpose here that is lost in translation is to define the English approximations of various baseball terms, rather than to define to the reader what the term itself means. This is awkward to do all in English though. It would be like saying, “a relief pitcher is a relief pitcher.” So, I have tried to make it more like defining the term itself, although this is not entirely accurate to the text. For baseball, Japanese often uses two words for the same idea, one native term written in kanji and one based on English written in katakana phonetic script. For example, both 本塁打 (hon-rui-da) and ホームラン (homu rahn) are used for home run. The kanji expressions are always used in stat lines and tend to have a more stiff and formal ring to them.

 

#33  Fujita - Shortstop (Hanshin)

Fujita is entrenched as the third hitter. “This year for sure” he is looking to overcome the the hurdle of hitting .300. His stellar defense is not in question.

[Baseball Museum]  Summer High School Baseball Tournament Grand Slam Record: From Tanaka (Shizuoka Central) at the 10th tournament (1924) to Yamakawa (Toyodai Himeji) at the 54th (1972), 10 have been hit.

 

#34  Ikeda - Outtfielder (Hanshin)

Batting 6th, Ikeda is the key hitter at the bottom of the order. The brass will often call on him to bat 3rd as well.

[Baseball Museum]  “Placing hits” refers to a batting approach that aims to hit balls through weak points or holes in the defense.

 

#35  Hoshino - Pitcher (Chunichi)

Going strong as the ace, Hoshino is aiming for 20 wins as a starter this year.

[Baseball Museum]  Summer High School Baseball Tournament Walk-Off Home Run Record: Shiba (Choshi Commerical) hit 1 against Hosei First High at the 43rd Tournament (1961).

The Dragons introduced new uniforms in 1974, but Hoshino is pictured here wearing the 1969-73 version. The new uniforms are featured on other cards in the series and this photo appears to be from the same photo shoot as the others. I don’t know whether the old unis were actually also worn that season and if so, to what extent. If you ask me, the new ones were a downgrade compared to this design.