Topps Cards That Should Have Been: The 2008 Imports

 

In 2008, the baseball world was struck by the introduction to our shores by an outfielder from Japan suiting up for the Cubs. While Kosuke Fukudome's entry into the MLB was a very big deal, and resulted in playoff time, an All Star nod, and lots and lots of gimmicked Topps cards, none of that treatment was given to another slightly-buzzy 2008 import.

Why? Because his rookie year wasn't as showy, he was a reliever, and he played for the Royals. 

After starting out as a feasible starting pitching option for the Chiba Lotte Marines in the late 90s, Yasuhiko Yabuta mellowed into a durable relief option for the Marines during the 2000s, with a 2.80 ERA between 2004 and 2007. So he posted to the US, the Royals bit, and used him in relief during the 2008 season. Yabuta responded with a 4.78 ERA in 31 games, and only 25 strikeouts. His 2009 numbers were even more dire, and Yabuta eventually went back to Chiba Lotte for his final 4 seasons of professional ball, where his ERA returned to sub-4 levels.

Topps never got around to posting a flagship card of Yabuta, despite including him in their gimmicked World Baseball Classic insert series in Series 2 along with Fukudome. Upper Deck produced cards of him, though.

Similarly, as Yabuta was beginning his short-lived US career in 2008, another Japanese import was finishing his attempt.

Keiichi Yabu is another Japanese hurler that should have had better US numbers, and his story is arguably even more obscure than Yabuta's. 

So, unlike Yabuta, Yabu makes his career, as a starter for the Hanshin Tigers, pitching alongside Kei Igawa and Hideki Irabu, and doing pretty damn well as well, averaging a 3.60 ERA, and notching 86 wins [and 110 losses]. In 2005, Yabu decides to make himself available for US markets, signs with the Oakland Athletics, and is used in relief, and, like Yabuta, comes up short, with a 4.50 ERA in 40 games, and 44 strikeouts. After this season, he's let go by Oakland and Colorado, and he sort of drops off, pitching in the Mexican leagues and independent leagues.

In 2008, he finally returns to the majors as a member of the San Francisco Giants, who sign him as a free agent. Yabu has a MUCH BETTER season here, with a 3.58 ERA in 60 games, and 48 strikeouts over 68 innings. The Giants re-sign Yabu for 2009, but unfortunately he doesn't make the team and bops around the independent circuit in Japan for the remainder of his career. Topps, like in 2005, doesn't bother to include Yabu.

Considering the issues that Topps would later have with Hideki Matsui and Ichiro Suzuki, I can say that the problem is less with the merits of Yabu and Yabuta in America and more with Topps being too choosy and subconsciously US-centric with who they include in sets.