BIG LEAGUE BASEBALLS.com | MUSEUM OF BASEBALLS | OFFICIAL INTERNATIONAL | BLB Rawlings 1986 Japan-MLB Super Major Series
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About the Ball: The Rawlings 1986 Japan-Major Leagues Super Major Series. The top panel stamp is the common Rawlings logo - with "Haiti" underneath. "OFFICIAL BALL," "SUPER MAJOR SERIES," and "'86" are stamped on the center League Panel. A simple text and number logo, almost exactly like the early to mid-80s World Series logos, is featured on the lower panel.
This ball is likely the second in the line of commemorative game balls made for the biannual games that took place in Japan, between MLB stars and Japanese Professional baseball's Nippon Professional Baseball All-Stars. The first that we've discovered is the 1979 AL-NL-Japan Series commemorative game ball, pictured in the Museum of Baseballs. It is not known if any commemorative balls were made for MLB team tours of Japan from 1980-1985.
About the Event: The Super Major Series is essentially the same event that had been taking place for years - the Japan All-Star Tour or Japan Tour, as it's been called as far back as 1934. It eventually become known officially as the Japan All-Star Series, which was played biannually from 1986-2006, with the exception of the 1994 MLB Strike year. The series has since given way to the current World Baseball Classic, which of course incorporated teams from counties all over the world.
It is also rumored that the tour was discontinued because Nippon Professional Baseball players felt under-compensated for their involvement in the games.
