Tuesday, May 4, 2010

2000 Upper Deck Victory Toshihisa Nishi


Who is this? Former Yomiuri Giants second baseman Toshihisa Nishi
 
What is this? An autograph card from the Japanese 2000 Upper Deck Victory set

Where'd I get it? I got it signed before a game between the Lancaster Barnstormers and Newark Bears last week.
 
How much did it cost? The card cost $2.50.

Why is this so special? Nishi was the Central League Rookie of the Year for the Yomiuri Giants in 1996. He is a three-time all-star and four-time gold glove winner in Japan.

At age 38, Nishi came to America with the hopes of playing for a major league team. When he couldn't find a job, he signed with the Lancaster Barnstormers with the hope that he'd get picked up during the season.

I got to see Nishi hit his first Atlantic League home run the day he signed this card for me.
I was a little disappointed that he already has a (mostly illegible) American autograph, but it's still a neat acquisition for my collection.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Nice experience! i just got his autograph in the mail today and i slightly disagree with what you say when you say the autograph is mostly illegible. It is clearly a nice "N" with an "i" followed by an "s" and then a big loop for the start of the "h" and he finishes the "h" and then finishes the writing by making an "i" which has 2 dots for over the "i"s. I give the Japanese credit for using an American autograph in America. When I look at Nishi's it it kind of looks like Mo Vaughn's autograph ha