Wally Yonamine

by Fitts, Robert K.; Inouye, Daniel K.

• ISBN13: 9780803213814
• ISBN10: 0803213816
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-09-01
• Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr

Summary

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.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 high-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 1958 MVP, coached and managed for twenty-five years, and was honoured by the emperor of Japan. Overcoming bigotry and hardship on and off the field, Yonamine became a true national hero and a member of Japan's Baseball Hall of Fame.

Author Biography

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.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Prologue: A Gamble	p. 1
"Just a Country Boy from Olowalu, Maui"	p. 7
Football Star	p. 19
The San Francisco 49ers	p. 34
Lucky Breaks	p. 48
Of Seals and Bees	p. 63
A Winter of Uncertainty	p. 73
Debut	p. 84
The Jackie Robinson of Japan	p. 91
Settling In	p. 117
Lessons from Santa Maria	p. 136
Gaijin Dageki Oh-Foreign Batting Champion	p. 161
World Travelers	p. 174
Hard Labor	p. 187
Lucky Seven	p. 211
Young Giants	p. 226
End of an Era	p. 248
Coach	p. 259
Yonamine Kantoku	p. 271
Sometimes Nice Guys Do Finish First	p. 282
Suketto	p. 301
Hall of Fame	p. 312
Appendix	p. 321
Bibliographic Essay	p. 323
Index	p. 333
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