Remembering Japanese Baseball

Featuring the Narratives of:
Cappy Harada
Hirofumi Naito
Wally Yonamine
Futoshi Nakanishi
Takashi Iwamoto
Dick Kashiwaeda
Satoshi “Fibber” Hirayama
Glenn Mickens
Gene Bacque
Masanori Murakami
Daryl Spencer
Gordy Windhorn
Don Blasingame
Gene Martin
Clyde Wright
Leron Lee
Masaaki Mori
Greg “Boomer” Wells
Brad “Animal” Lesley
Rick Lancellotti
Ralph Bryant
Orestes Destrade
Jack Howell
Alonzo Powell
Eric Hillman

Remembering Japanese Baseball: An Oral History of the Game

(Southern Illinois University Press, 2005)

Winner 2005 Society of American Baseball Research & The Sporting News Award for Best Baseball Research

"A compelling read." Roberta Newman, Nine

"A fun and interesting read." Gary Garland, JapanBaseballDaily.com

"Fascinating to read. Well planned and well executed." Ralph Pearce, author of From Asahi to Zebras

Fitts presents a spectrum of candid and engaging stories that cover nearly the entire history of Japanese Professional Baseball. And, it's a great read. John Gall, author of Sayonora Home Run!

"An excellent addition to the library of anyone who wants to learn about Japanese baseball." Jim Albright, of Baseball Guru.com

"Through these narratives Fitts grants us unrivaled firsthand knowledge of Japanese baseball." Jerry Klinkowitz, author of Owning a Piece of the Minors and Basepaths

Remembering Japanese Baseball: An Oral History of the Game transports us onto diamonds and into dugouts on the other side of the globe, where the vigorous sportsmanship of the game and the impassioned devotion of its fans transcend cultural and geographic borders and prove that baseball is fast becoming an international pastime.

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Called Yakyu, baseball has been played in Japan since the 1890s but has only recently gained a substantial global following. Robert K. Fitts chronicles the nation’s distinctive version of the sport as recounted by twenty-five of its players. Fitts’s careful choice of subjects represents the experiences of a mix of American and Japanese players—including stars, titleholders, and members of the Japanese Hall of Fame. Informal, candid, and remarkably specific, these recollections describe teammates and opponents, corporate owners and loyal fans, triumphs and frustrations, collectively capturing all the spirit and emotion engendered by the game from decidedly personal vantage points. Throughout, readers glimpse the unique traits of baseball in Japan and discern how the game has evolved since its inception as well as how it differs from its American counterpart.

An unparalleled introduction for an American audience, Remembering Japanese Baseball is augmented by photos of its twenty-five interviewees and a timeline demarking milestone moments in the game’s Japanese history. Robert Whiting, author of You Gotta Have Wa! and The Meaning of Ichiro, provides the foreword.