Broadcast on Tuesday, January 27th, “Good luck! Anything Appraisal Group” (every Tuesday at 8:54 p.m.), former professional baseball player Toshiaki Imae appears. A treasure that can be called the treasure of the baseball world has been appraised at a high price.
Born in Kyoto in 1983. Since childhood, he has been exceptionally large, and although he is still in kindergarten, he is a member of the youth baseball team that starts in the third grade of elementary school. In 1999, he entered PL Gakuen, a prestigious high school baseball team. From his first year onwards, he was assigned the No. 4 shortstop position, and in his second year, he even participated in the summer Koshien tournament.
In 2001, he joined the Chiba Lotte Marines. He has established himself as a regular player with his strong hitting on chances and stable defense in the third.
In 2005, he led the team to their first league championship in 31 years. The following year, he was selected as a member of the first “WBC (World Baseball Classic)” and greatly contributed to Japan’s victory.
The treasure he brought with him was the “1st WBC Championship Ring.”
This is a commemorative gift given to the players by the Japan Baseball Organization (NPB) in 2006 when the Japan National Team, led by manager Sadaharu Oh, won the first championship.
In the second league match against South Korea, Imae had the bitter experience of conceding the winning goal due to his own mistake and losing. Looking back, he said, “I thought it was the end of the world,” and he felt so hopeless. After that, they played against South Korea again in the semifinals and achieved revenge, and won the final against Cuba to become the world’s number one.
MC Koji Imada was impressed by the elaborate design featuring a bat and ball. It’s large enough to fit in Imada’s thumb, and the name “IMAE” and uniform number “8” are engraved on the side.
The assessed value was set at 500,000 yen.
The appraisal result is…4 million yen, which is 8 times the appraised value! There was an uproar in the studio when the appraised value was much higher than expected.
Mr. Seiji Yamamoto, representative of “COLLECTIBLES FIELD”, was in charge of the appraisal.
This ring was made by the long-established precious metals store “Tenshodo” at the request of the Japan Professional Baseball Organization.
The material is 18k gold. Five diamonds are used for the crown, and natural stones such as sapphire, ruby, citrine, and peridot are used for the WBC logo. At the time, it was revealed that the production cost for just one ring was about 1 million yen, and Imae looked surprised.
“With Japan’s national team standing on top of the world, the WBC’s profile has increased rapidly, and it has now transformed into a major event that everyone knows about. Looking at this championship ring brings back the enthusiasm and excitement of those days as if it were yesterday, and I am very moved.” (Mr. Yamamoto)
Regarding the Japanese national team at the 6th WBC, which will begin on March 5th this year, Imae said, “They are the strongest.We have the members who will definitely win if they play their best.” “I hope that Japan will continue with this momentum and become the best in the world,” he said with a smile.
