Synopses & Reviews
In the spring of 1964, the Nankai Hawks of Japanand#8217;s Pacific League sent nineteen-year-old Masanori Murakami to the Class A Fresno Giants to improve his skills. To nearly everyoneand#8217;s surprise, Murakami, known as Mashi, dominated the American hitters. With the San Francisco Giants caught in a close pennant race and desperate for a left-handed reliever, Masanori was called up to join the big league club, becoming the first Japanese player in the Major Leagues.
Featuring pinpoint control, a devastating curveball, and a friendly smile, Mashi became the Giantsand#8217; top lefty reliever and one of the teamand#8217;s most popular playersand#8212;as well as a national hero in Japan. Not surprisingly, the Giants offered him a contract for the 1965 season. Murakami signed, announcing that he would be thrilled to stay in San Francisco. There was just one problem: the Nankai Hawks still owned his contract.
The dispute over Murakamiand#8217;s contract would ignite an international incident that ultimately prevented other Japanese players from joining the Majors for thirty years. Mashi is the story of an unlikely hero who gets caught up in an American and Japanese baseball dispute and is forced to choose between his dreams in the United States or his duty in Japan.
Review
"I got to know Wally in 1977 while he was still managing the Dragons, but wish I had seen him play 25 years earlier. Reading this biography is the next best thing. [Robert] Fitts leaves no stories untold about Yonamine's life in this excellent book."and#8212;Wayne Graczyk, Japan Times
Review
"Extensively researched, well-written, and endlessly informative and fascinating, this book makes an excellent addition to anyone's baseball library and is absolutely required reading for anyone interested in Japanese-American baseball relations."and#8212;Michael Street, Baseball Daily Digest
Review
"A great read about a Japanese baseball player who has been too long overlooked."and#8212;L. A. Heapy, CHOICE
Review
"2005 Sporting News-SABR award winner Fitts deserves high marks for bringing forth this title sure to grasp pro football and baseball enthusiasts alike."and#8212;Southern New England Chapter Society for American Baseball Research
Review
"This is a must-read and a must-add to the bookshelf for those with an interest in the history of Japanese baseball, and a worthwhile read for any baseball fan looking to broaden their knowledge of this great game that has spread around the globe."and#8212;Pat Lagreid, Baseballbookreview.com
Review
and#8220;Mashi Murakamiand#8217;s impact can still be felt in baseball stadiums on both sides of the Pacific. He is a pioneer in every sense of the wordand#8212;a true ambassador for the game of baseball.and#8221;and#8212;Allan H. and#8220;Budand#8221; Selig, the ninth commissioner of baseball
Review
and#8220;Rob Fitts has fabulously transported us back to Mashiand#8217;s family roots, childhood passion for the grand game, and his trajectory to become the first Major Leaguer from Japan. It is a discovery and rediscovery of culture, baseball dynamics/politics, and the man who transcended the sport as a gigantic touchstone and#8216;pioneerand#8217; for future players from Asia.and#8221;and#8212;Kerry Yo Nakagawa, author of Through a Diamond: 100 Years of Japanese American Baseball
Review
andquot;Mashi is a nice look at a man and career that deserved to be more than footnotes in baseball history.andquot;andmdash;Bob Dand#39;Angelo, Tampa Tribune
Review
andquot;Fitts, coupled with Murakamiand#39;s voice and experiences, tells the proud tale of a young man who was whisked into the spotlight and became a shining example of the equality that could be reached between the Japanese and Americans on the baseball diamond. Reading Mashi brings us all a few steps closer to what it was like to be there on this landmark journey.andquot;andmdash;Examiner
Review
andquot;Robert Fitts has undertaken a great task with this book.andquot;andmdash;Greggand#39;s Baseball Bookcase
Review
andquot;Mashi will take you along on his eventful ride from Yamanashi Prefecture to San Francisco.andquot;andmdash;Rashaad Jorden, JETwit.com
Synopsis
Wally Yonamine was both the first Japanese American to play for an NFL franchise and the first American to play professional baseball in Japan after World War II. This is the unlikely story of how a shy young man from the sugar plantations of Maui overcame prejudice to integrate two professional sports in two countries.and#160;In 1951 the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants chose Yonamine as the first American to play in Japan during the Allied occupation. He entered Japanese baseball when mistrust of Americans was highand#8212;and higher still for Japanese Americans whose parents had left the country a generation earlier. Without speaking the language, he helped introduce a hustling style of base running, shaking up the game for both Japanese players and fans. Along the way, Yonamine endured insults, dodged rocks thrown by fans, initiated riots, and was threatened by yakuza (the Japanese mafia). He also won batting titles, was named the 1957 MVP, coached and managed for twenty-five years, and was honored by the emperor of Japan. Overcoming bigotry and hardship on and off the field, Yonamine became a true national hero and a member of Japanand#8217;s Baseball Hall of Fame.
About the Author
Robert K. Fitts is the author of Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, and Assassinationduring the 1934 Tour of Japan (Nebraska, 2012), winner of the Society of American Baseball Researchandrsquo;s 2013 Seymour Medal for the best baseball book, and Wally Yonamine: The Man Who ChangedBaseball (Nebraska, 2008).