Category Archives: baseball
Wordcatcher Tales: Dorui, Kangou, Funkyuubo, Fujo
The first tourist site we visited on our most recent trip to Japan was Yoshinogari Historical Park in Saga Prefecture, on a stretch of open countryside that turned up lots of artifacts from the Yayoi-period (roughly 300 B.C. to A.D. … Continue reading
Remembering Wally Yonamine, 1925–2011
In remembrance of Wally Yonamine (24 June 1925–28 February 2011), here is a collection of links to excerpts I blogged a few years ago from a fascinating biography of him, Wally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball, by Robert … Continue reading
All-Indian Baseball in 1930s America
The Spring 2009 issue of NINE: A Journal of Baseball and Culture has an article by Royse Parr on Ben Harjo’s All-Indian Baseball Club (Project MUSE subscriber link). Here are a few excerpts (footnotes omitted) from a fascinating glimpse at … Continue reading
How Doth Lotte Love Baseball?
In the Los Angeles Times, John M. Glionna profiles the unlikely manager of a once hapless Korean baseball team, the Lotte Giants of Busan: former LA Dodgers infielder Jerry Royster. Reporting from Busan, South Korea — Jerry Royster isn’t sure … Continue reading
Why Oh’s Home Run Record Stands
In the third of a three-part series in the Japan Times on the remarkable baseball career of Sadaharu Oh, Robert Whiting reveals another reason why nobody in Japan has been able to break Oh’s record of 55 home runs in … Continue reading
Filed under baseball, Japan, nationalism, U.S.
Ethnic Baseball in Hawai‘i, 1920s–40s
From: Wally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball, by Robert K. Fitts (U. Nebraska Press, 2008), pp. 48-49: The Athletics, previously known as the Asahi, were the elite Japanese American team in the Hawaiian Islands. Founded in 1905 as … Continue reading
Yomiuri Giant Nagashima as Manager, 1970s
From: Wally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball, by Robert K. Fitts (U. Nebraska Press, 2008), pp. 302-303: As a manager, Nagashima could inspire his players. John Sipin, a former San Diego Padre who played with the Giants from … Continue reading
American Influence on Japanese Baseball, 1953
From: Wally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball, by Robert K. Fitts (U. Nebraska Press, 2008), pp. 126, 140-141: [Before 1953], a typical Japanese catcher would receive the ball from the pitcher, take two steps forward, crank his arm … Continue reading
Japanese vs. American Baseball Practice
From: Wally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball, by Robert K. Fitts (U. Nebraska Press, 2008), p. 272: Many Americans state that the Japanese practice too much. “I believe that the Japanese put more emphasis on practice than actually … Continue reading
Baseball’s 1990s: Steroids and Strike Zones
The latest issue of NINE: A Journal of Baseball and Culture (Project MUSE subscription required) contains an article by Benjamin G. Rader and Kenneth J. Winkle, reexamining the reasons for Baseball’s Great Hitting Barrage of the 1990s (and Beyond). In … Continue reading
