Cards From My Personal Collection: Kazuhisa Ishii 2003 Donruss Baseball Card
Kazuhisa was a pretty solid pitcher in the MLB, but when you take into account his entire career as a whole, the guy had a cool, high level career in general.
Kazuhisa played 22 years of pro baseball, 18 in the NPB, Japan's top pro baseball league, and 4 in the MLB.
After ten years of pro ball in Japan, Kazuhisa played his four years of MLB ball from 2002-2005. Three seasons with the Dodgers and one with the Mets. He placed fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 2002 and went on to post an overall record of 39-34 with a 4.44 ERA. He also recorded 435 strikeouts.
After 2005 ended, Kazuhisa returned to play in Japan until retiring in 2013. He posted a career 143-103 record in the NPB. He also had a 3.63 ERA and dealt out 2,115 strikeouts in Japan.
Pretty interesting career, I can't imagine there's too many of these cards in the world!
Nowadays, Kazuhisa is a GM and general manager of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, a pro NPB team.
I had forgotten that the company Donruss even existed. I want to say that when I was collecting that the Donruss cards were a bit more glossy and "modern feeling" than the Topps cards were. Remember that horrible chewing gum that would come in the packs?
Oh yes it had flavor for about three and a half seconds. I do miss Big League Chew though! That stuff was magical.
Big League Chew must not exist anymore because it promoted kids to get into chewing tobacco or something. It was a favorite of all the kids at my school. I do remember it costing a premium though so it was a rare luxury for me.
Right!! Same, I don't really notice it as much. I knew some kids who had a fresh pack every practice and game. Big league chew and sunflower seeds. Good times. Sunflower seeds are still a really cheap snack I grab from time to time. Might grab some soon!