Synopses & Reviews
In November 1934 as the United States and Japan drifted toward war, a team of American League all-stars that included Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, future secret agent Moe Berg, and Connie Mack barnstormed across the Land of the Rising Sun. Hundreds of thousands of fans, many waving Japanese and American flags, welcomed the team with shouts of and#8220;
Banzai! Banzai, Babe Ruth!and#8221; The all-stars stayed for a month, playing 18 games, spawning professional baseball in Japan, and spreading goodwill.
Politicians on both sides of the Pacific hoped that the amity generated by the tourand#8212;and the two nationsand#8217; shared love of the gameand#8212;could help heal their growing political differences. But the Babe and baseball could not overcome Japanand#8217;s growing nationalism, as a bloody coup dand#8217;and#233;tat by young army officers and an assassination attempt by the ultranationalist War Gods Society jeopardized the tourand#8217;s success. A tale of international intrigue, espionage, attempted murder, and, of course, baseball, Banzai Babe Ruth is the first detailed account of the doomed attempt to reconcile the United States and Japan through the 1934 All American baseball tour. Robert K. Fitts provides a wonderful story about baseball, nationalism, and American and Japanese cultural history.
Review
"[Wally Yonamine is] a fitting tribute to a ballplayer who shattered barriers and revolutionized a league, yet is unfailingly modest and gracious about it. No doubt this is the reason why so few of us have heard of Wally Yonamine. This book should go a long way towards rectifying that injusticedo your part by reading it."Michael Street, LoveMyTeam.com -- Michael Street - Baseball Daily Digest
Review
"This book is much more than a smart biography of Wally Yonamine, the first American to play professional baseball in Japan; it is also a fascinating account of the game and culture of the Japanese national pastime."-George Gmelch, author of Baseball without Borders: The International Pastime
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
"2005 Sporting News-SABR award winner Fitts deserves high marks for bringing forth this title sure to grasp pro football and baseball enthusiasts alike."Southern New England Chapter Society for American Baseball Research -- Wayne Graczyk - Japan Times
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."Pat Lagreid, Baseballbookreview.com -- L. A. Heapy - Choice
Review
"A great read about a Japanese baseball player who has been too long overlooked."L. A. Heapy, CHOICE -- Southern New England Chapter Society for American Baseball Research
Review
"Fitts's expertise in Japanese baseball emerges throughout the narrative, as readers come to understand the evolution of baseball in Japan. Because the book covers such a broad time periodand#8212;Yonamine stayed in Japan as a player, coach, and manager for thirty-seven yearsand#8212;it serves as a great primer on the general historical evolution of Japanese baseball, seen through the career of Wally Yonamine."and#8212;Eric B. Salo, NINE
Review
"Banzai Babe deserves a spot in any baseball (or Japan) lover's library."and#8212;Robert Whiting, Wall Street Journal
Review
"Fitts, a master at depicting all of the key elements in prewar Japanese social and political life, gives the reader valuable insights into the influential moderates trying to hold the line against the army, as well as the American ballplayers taking a victory lap in front of adoring foreign fans. This book is a powerful snapshot of men from two contrasting cultures attempting to stop a slide into aggression."and#8212;Publishers Weekly
Review
"This dramatic story, equal parts baseball and history, should appeal to anyone interested in Japanese cultural and political history and the sports-politics nexus."and#8212;Library Journal
Review
"The history lessons in Banzai Babe Ruth go well beyond merely chronicling the games and the players. This is a well-researched, fascinatingly told tale of two super powers whose shared passion for baseball wasn't enough to maintain the peace, though it did help to restore it in the years following World War II."and#8212;James Bailey, Baseball America
Review
"Banzai Babe Ruth reads like a multi-stranded mystery novel . . . . Fitts has an eye for the quirky details that make historical writing vivid."and#8212;Michael R. Stevens, Books and Culture
Review
"Banzai Babe Ruth is far more than just a sports story. . . . No one could have told this incredible story better than Robert K. Fitts."and#8212;ForeWord Reviews
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 graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and received a PhD from Brown University. Originally trained as an archeologist of colonial America, Fitts left that field to focus on his passion, Japanese baseball. He is also the author of Remembering Japanese Baseball: An Oral History of the Game and Wally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball (Nebraska, 2008).