I’ve heard of Wally Yonamine and seen him mentioned in books, but never thought too much about the man some call “The Jackie Robinson” of Japanese baseball. Yonamine was the first ethnic Japanese to play professional football in America, and then following a career ending injury became the first American to play professional baseball in Japan after World War II.
Apparently there was a presentation about Yonamine at the recent SABR conference by Robert Fitts, who has written a book titled Wally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball. Fantastic.
I did a little poking around and found www.wallyyonamine.com, a site set up by Fitts in order to promote the book. Here’s something from it:
Wally Yonamine was born in 1925 on a Maui sugar plantation to poor Japanese immigrants. His success on the gridiron allowed him to escape the plantation and eventually sign with the San Francisco 49ers in 1947. After an injury ended his football career, Yonamine turned to baseball. In 1951, the Tokyo Yomiuri Giants chose him to become the first American to play in Japan during the Allied occupation. Yonamine adopted his football skills to baseball and played hard–stealing bases, sliding hard, and knocking down opponents. The Japanese were aghast at the aggressive American. Opposing fans hurled insults and rocks at him, but he quickly became one of the most dominant players in the league. His success changed the way the Japanese played the game, and opened the door for other Americans to come to Japan. Although it was often trying, Yonamine adapted to Japanese culture and stayed in Japan as a player, coach, and manager for 37 years. He was elected to the Japanese Hall of Fame in 1994. Now, at 80 years-old, Yonamine’s friendly and down-to-earth personality make him a role model in both Hawaii and Japan. He has been decorated for his contributions in American and Japanese foreign relations by the Emperor of Japan and is involved in a variety of charitable organizations.
The BR Bullpen has a biography about Yonamine as does Wikipedia. The book will be published by University of Nebraska Press and comes out this fall.
4 responses so far ↓
1 yoshi // Jul 2, 2008 at 12:35 pm
wow. the jackie robinson of japan. what a title. mr yonamine is a big name in hawaii. most people know him as a baseball player and probably dont know too much about his nfl career. im just as impressed that he as able to make it to the nfl being an asian from hawaii.
2 Simon Currie // Jul 2, 2008 at 4:55 pm
I find it pretty incredible that that the 49ers signed an ethnic Japanese player so shortly after the war. I always knew his name and some of the stats from reading Japanese baseball record books, but didn’t know that he is a Japanese-Hawaiian for the longest time.
3 Simon Currie // Jul 2, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Actually, from his name he’d be Okinawan-Hawaiian, makes sense as many of the Japanese that migrated to Hawaii were from Okinawa.
4 David Chan // Jul 3, 2008 at 11:20 am
Wally Kaname Yonamine was honored in 2004 by the LA Dodgers in their annual Japanese Community Night.
When he played for the Chunichi Dragons in 1962, one of his teammates was former dodger great, Don Newcombe.
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