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Ballparks of NPB 2024 Calendar
$44.00The 12 ballparks of Nippon Professional Baseball – have you visited them all yet!?
This 2024 calendar depicts each of the 12 NPB parks – one per month – in a way that only the brilliant artists of Ballpark Blueprints can. From the brand-new and world-class Es Con Field all the way up in Hokkaido, to the five stadiums in the Tokyo region, and all the way down to Hiroshima and Fukuoka, each ballpark has its own unique architectural charm or flare, and it’s captured with each turn of the page!
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Mashi: The Unfulfilled Baseball Dreams of Masanori Murakami, the First Japanese Major Leaguer
Did you know that 30+ years before Hideo Nomo, the San Francisco Giants had a Japanese pitching sensation on their club? I don’t blame you if you don’t, because Masanori Murakami’s tale is not well-known. “Mashi” had an adventurous and courageous spirit to pair with a talented left arm, and his place in history is iron-clad: he was the first Japanese player in Major League Baseball.
Read our full review of the book. Author Rob Fitts appeared on JapanBall’s “Chatter Up!” Zoom call in 2020 – check out our recap of that episode here. Want to own a piece of baseball history? Purchase an autographed Masanori Murakami trading card here.
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Wladimir Balentien Signed 4×6 Photo
$16.00Original price was: $16.00.$11.00Current price is: $11.00.Note: On January 22, Balentien announced that he would be leaving NPB. In recognition of his 11 seasons in Japan, we are offering this piece at 11% off the original price!
This photo was autographed by NPB superstar Wladimir Balentien in 2005, when he was a rising 21-year-old in the Seattle Mariners organization, playing centerfield for the Inland Empire 66ers. NPB fans may be surprised to hear that the now-humongous “Coco” was a centerfielder back then, especially if they knew that he was on the same team as Adam Jones. Balentien, however, was an athletic young player with a cannon for an arm out of Curacao (he has represented the Netherlands in the Olympics and World Baseball Classic), and Jones was still playing shortstop.
Balentien made it to the big leagues at just 23 years old, but he never could quite stick over his three seasons with the Mariners and Cincinnati Reds. In 2011, he signed with NPB’s Tokyo Yakult Swallows, and the rest is history. Balentien is one of the best power hitters in NPB history, exemplified by his amazing 2013 season when he shattered Sadaharu Oh’s famed single-season home run record with 60 homers. Now with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, Balentien expects to reach 300 NPB home runs in 2021.
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Masanori Murakami Signed San Francisco Giants Card
$20.00Baseball is a romantic game that lends itself to tradition and hero worship. The game’s many pioneers and legends are immortalized in halls of fame, books, and films. However, the tale of Masanori Murakami, the first Japanese MLB player, is not known well enough. Murakami’s story is one of adventure, under-the-table dealings, international conflict, and thrilling moments on the playing field.
When “Mashi” debuted for the San Francisco Giants in 1964, the 20-year-old lefty didn’t speak English or have a dedicated interpreter, which helped him ignore the racist taunts directed at him. He pitched well for the Giants, convincing them that he would be a steady contributor to their pitching staff. However, the Nankai Hawks, Murakami’s original team in Japan, felt that their young prospect was being stolen from them. Murakami became the focal point of a tug-of-war not just between the Hawks and the Giants but also between MLB and NPB. Murakami reluctantly returned to Japan, and the icy relations between the two leagues created a freeze of players coming from Japan to the U.S. until another brave, young hurler crossed the Pacific 30+ years later: Hideo Nomo.
Interested in learning more about Murakami’s story? Check out Rob Fitts’s excellent biography. Still not sure? Read our review of the book here. Want to know more about Asian baseball trailblazers? Read our article, “The Importance of Asian Americans in Baseball.”
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NPB Stadium Map by Ballpark Blueprints
$45.00 – $195.00*We offer two different versions of this map:
- Kyocera Dome Osaka as the stadium of the Orix Buffaloes
- Both the Kyocera Dome Osaka and Hotto Motto Field (the Buffaloes second home).
This beautiful print depicts the 12* NPB parks in a way that only the brilliant artists of Ballpark Blueprints can. From the brand new state-of-the-art Es Con Field Hokkaido, to the five in the Tokyo region, and all the way down to Hiroshima and Fukuoka, each ballpark has its own unique architectural charm or flare, and it’s captured on this map!
To learn more about the NPB ballparks, check out our stadium profiles.
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NPB Stadium Map Sherpa Blanket
$75.00 – $105.00The 12* ballparks of Nippon Professional Baseball – have you visited them all yet!?
This heavenly-soft, 50×60 or 60X80 inch, fleece blanket depicts the 12 NPB parks in a way that only the brilliant artists of Ballpark Blueprints can. From the brand new state-of-the-art Es Con Field Hokkaido, to the five in the Tokyo region, and all the way down to Hiroshima and Fukuoka, each ballpark has its own unique architectural charm or flare, and it’s captured on this map!
To learn more about the NPB ballparks, check out our stadium profiles.
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NPB Stadium Map Unisex T-Shirt
$35.00*We offer two different versions of this map:
- Kyocera Dome Osaka as the stadium of the Orix Buffaloes
- Both the Kyocera Dome Osaka and Hotto Motto Field (the Buffaloes second home).
This T-shirt depicts the 12* NPB parks in a way that only the brilliant artists of Ballpark Blueprints can. From the brand new state-of-the-art Es Con Field Hokkaido, to the five in the Tokyo region, and all the way down to Hiroshima and Fukuoka, each ballpark has its own unique architectural charm or flare, and it’s captured on this map!
To learn more about the NPB ballparks, check out our stadium profiles.
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NPB Stadium Map with JapanBall Logo Unisex T-Shirt
$39.00We couldn’t be more thrilled to collaborate with Ballpark Blueprints on this unique T-shirt! Represent JapanBall and Nippon Professional Baseball with this comfy, double-sided shirt.
The front of the shirt has JapanBall’s logo and the back depicts the 12 NPB parks in a way that only the brilliant artists of Ballpark Blueprints can. From the brand new state-of-the-art Es Con Field Hokkaido, to the five in the Tokyo region, and all the way down to Hiroshima and Fukuoka, each ballpark has its own unique architectural charm or flare, and it’s captured on this map!
To learn more about the NPB ballparks, check out our stadium profiles.
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Fukuoka PayPay Dome (SoftBank Hawks) Unisex T-Shirt
$35.00Represent the SoftBank Hawks with this comfy shirt, available in both team colors! The shirt depicts the Fukuoka PayPay Dome, home of the Hawks, in a way that only the brilliant artists of Ballpark Blueprints can.
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Daisuke Matsuzaka Custom Art Card
$61.00Original price was: $61.00.$39.00Current price is: $39.00.A unique piece of original art, featuring Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox.
Where shall we start with Matsuzaka? How about in high school, when he first earned national attention as the ace of Yokohama High School, a national powerhouse? That attention became superstardom when he etched himself into Japanese baseball lore with a 17 inning, 250 pitch performance in the quarterfinals of the 1998 Koshien tournament, and then threw a no-hitter to win the championship game.
After being drafted by the Seibu Lions, Matsuzaka didn’t miss a beat: he won the Pacific League Rookie of the year in 1999 as an 18-year-old. From 1999-2006, he collected enough accolades to cement him as Japan’s premier pitcher, including:
- Pacific League Rookie of the Year
- 3× NPB win leader
- 4× NPB strikeout leader
- 2× NPB ERA leader
- Eiji Sawamura Award
- 3× NPB Best Nine Award
- 7× Mitsui Golden Glove Award
- 6× All-Star
- 2004 Japan Series champion
Then, in 2007, it was off to Boston after the Red Sox paid the Lions an astonishing $51MM just for the right to sign Matsuzaka and then inked the pitcher to a six-year, $52MM contract. While his MLB debut season had its up and downs, he combined with Hideki Okajima to form a 1-2 Japanese pitching combo that was vital to the Red Sox’s World Series championship run. He was the first Japanese pitcher to start and win a World Series game and set a Red Sox rookie record for strikeouts.
After a strong first two years in Boston “Dice-K” (as he became known to American fans), struggled to stay healthy. He pitched six years in Boston and two in New York with the Mets before returning to Japan with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, winning another Japan Series title in 2017. In 2018, he showed that there was still something left in the tank, as the elder statesman won the Comeback Player of the Year award.
Teenage heroics, NPB dominance, and a late-career run as the wise veteran made Matsuzaka a legend in Japan. But not to be overlooked are his efforts on the Samurai Japan national team, earning MVP en route to the 2006 and 2009 World Baseball Classic titles.