By Bill Yee
Recently Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown. At the ceremony he made a heartwarming and humorous speech. It was in English … no translator needed. He is the first Asian ballplayer to be enshrined at Cooperstown.
One of the former Japanese MLB players he paid tribute to in his speech was the former Dodger Hideo Nomo.
Of all the major professional sports, Asians and Asian Americans have had the greatest impact in baseball!
As a Giants fan growing up, my heroes were Willie Mays, Willie McCovey and Masanori Murakami. Murakami was the first Japanese player to play in the major leagues in the 1964 season. It fueled my ambition at 11 years old to aspire to become a left-handed relief pitcher for the Giants. Unfortunately, I never had a fastball greater than 60 mph.
Later in my teens there were other Asian American players. Hawaiian Mike Lum played outfield for the Braves and Len Sakata was an infielder with the Brewers. Neither one achieved superstar status.
I can remember before large numbers of Japanese and Korean ballplayers came to play in the big leagues, they were considered at be minor league in their abilities.
The Japanese have had a long love affair with “America’s Pastime.” In the 1920s the Japanese embraced the American sport. Superstars like Babe Ruth, Jimmie Foxx, Lou Gehrig, and Charlie Gehringer made goodwill tours to Japan. The first Japanese professional league was formed in 1936.
But this began to change! In later years, gifted MLB players of Asian descent included Chan Ho Park, Hideo Nomo, Hideki Matsui, and, of course, Ichiro Suzuki, to mention just a few.
Recent notable Asian and Asian American players include Yu Darvish, Shota Imanaga, Kenta Maeda, Tommy Pham, Kolten Wong, Kurt Suzuki, Steven Kwan, and SoCal native and UC Irvine alumnus Keston Hiura.
There are 60 Japanese former players and 15 current ones.
Dave Roberts, the manager of the Dodgers, is part Japanese. Former Seattle Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu is of Japanese descent.
Perhaps up to this point, the best Asian or Japanese MLB player has been Ichiro.
We have come a long way since Masanori Murakami. Today the best baseball player in the world is Japanese. Shohei Ohtani has taken the baseball world by storm. Sadly, though, he probably has made a generation of Japanese baseball fans Dodger fans! (Remember the author is a Giants fan.)
According to my son Derek, who is living in Japan, Ohtani is on billboards all over Japan endorsing a variety of products. On our FaceTime visits with Derek’s family, my grandson Lewis sports a Dodger sweatshirt. He too is growing up a Dodger fan.
Japanese fans can watch Dodger games on a daily basis. I believe there is a site that plays back every Shohei at-bat.
Baseball has become an international game. Besides players from Asia, Latin American players make up a large portion of MLB rosters. It is not unusual to hear to hear Japanese, Korean, and Spanish in locker rooms.
Every few years MLB sponsors the World Baseball Classic. Teams enter from countries all over the world. I remember Bruce Bochy was the manager of the team from France one year.
Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto helped Japan win the title in 2023, beating an American team 3-2.
The Dodgers currently have three players who have come from Japan. Dodger starter Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki have captured the interest of the Japanese public and Dodger fans. In addition, Korean Hyeseong Kim has made a significant contribution to the team.
Who would have predicted this in 1964 when Masanori Murakami made his San Francisco Giants major league debut?
Finally, because of this we can relate to each other as baseball fans. It may not bring about world peace but at least open conversations to understanding each other.
Bill Yee is a retired Alhambra High School history teacher. He can be reached at paperson52@gmail.com. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of The Rafu Shimpo.