The Nippon Professional Baseball NPB All-Star Game gallery. Pictured here are many of the very rare and hard to find Mizuno official on-field style game balls from Japan’s premier midseason showcase event. And how lucky are NPB fans, they get two All-Star Games per year, at different venues. And for a number of years they used to play three games!
We believe the league started using a special game ball for their Midsummer Classic in the mid 1990s. We have, however, seen a few examples from the early 1980s that have simple text stamps without logos, but we’re unsure of their validity, they might just be souvenirs. There’s still plenty to learn about NPB baseballs.
What we do know is the NPB and Mizuno make some amazing commemorative special logo game balls – on par with Rawlings MLB game balls – and some will say even better! We also know they’re much more difficult to acquire compared to their American counterparts. Not long ago they simply weren’t available for sale, and even some game balls hit into stands had to be returned.
If you’re an NPB collector with extra commemoratives to sell or trade, we’re missing many, so please contact us!
