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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 waiving Japanese and American flags, welcomed the team with shouts of “Banzai!  Banzai Babe Ruth!”  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 tour—and the two nations’ shared love of the game—could help heal their growing political differences.  But the Babe and baseball could not overcome Japan’s growing nationalism, as a bloody coup d’état by young army officers and an assassination attempt by the ultranationalist War Gods Society jeopardized the tour’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. 

"Banzai Babe Ruth reads like a multi-stranded mystery novel.  Fitts has an eye for the quirky details that make historical writing vivid."

Michael R. Stevens

Books & Culture

"A fascinating story of international intrigue. ... 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."

James Bailey