Upon release, BBM Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters baseball cards didn’t make much noise in the North American market, which is understandable given that Japanese baseball does not get much coverage overseas. But as Shohei Ohtani has ascended into one of the best players to ever take the diamond, the earliest cards featuring the two-way superstar have exploded in significance. BBM produced the first Ohtani baseball cards in 2013. Among the initial offerings were a very small number of autographs. This continued through Ohtani joining the Los Angeles Angels for the 2018 season.
This 2016 BBM Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters Shohei Ohtani autograph carries the prestige of coming out approximately two years before his MLB debut.
Numbered /23, it's extremely scarce. The autograph, which is on an oversized sticker big enough to hold a full-sized signature, is bold and has been assessed as a 10.
Graded a Mint BGS 9, it includes 9.5 subgrades for Centering and Edges.
The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 05/15/2026.
