Contact Rob

asianbaseball@mindspring.com

212-828-6678

About Rob Fitts 

Born in Philadelphia in 1965, Robert K. Fitts graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1987 and earned a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Brown University in 1995.  As an archaeologist, Fitts specialized in slavery in eighteenth-century New England and in Victorian New York City, publishing eight academic papers in peer-reviewed journals, co-editing an issue of Historical Archaeology and publishing Inventing New England's Slave Paradise : Master/Slave Relations in Eighteenth Century Narragansett, Rhode Island (Routledge, 1998).

In 2000, Fitts left archaeology to focus on his passion - Japanese Baseball.  His articles have appeared in The National Pastime, Baseball Research Journal, Journal of American Culture, Tuff Stuff and on MLB.com.  His first book, Remembering Japanese Baseball won the 2005 Society of American Baseball Research & The Sporting News Award for Best Baseball Research.  His second book, Wally Yonamime: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball, is a biography of the first American to play professional baseball in Japan after World War II.  His forthcoming book, Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, and Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan (University of Nebraska Press, 2012) is the story of the attempt to reconcile the United States and Japan through the tour of Major League all-stars in 1934 and the efforts of fanatical ultra-nationalists to drive the nations apart. 

While living in Tokyo in 1993-94, Fitts began collecting Japanese Baseball cards.  He is now recognized as one of the leading experts in the field and has created the ebusiness and the web site www.RobsJapaneseCards.com.

Rob is currently writing for the baseball website www.Seamheads.com

Baseball Articles by Rob Fitts

2011                Wally Yonamine and the Integration of Japanese Baseball.  Seamheads.com September 16, 2011.

2010                1931 Tour Yields Rare Gehrig Card.  Sports Collector's Digest 37 (17): April 6, 2010:33.

2008                For Barry, Ruth and Aaron down ... Oh to Go.  Sports Collector's Digest  January 14, 2008.

2007                 The Evolution of Japanese Baseball Strategy.  Baseball Research Journal. Number 36:61-67.

2007                 Collecting Sadaharu Oh.  Sports Collectors Digest.  September 14, 2007.

2005                 The Odyssey of Carlton Hanta.  The National Pastime.  Number 25: 24-29.

2003-2004      Columnist for www.Matsui55.com

2002                 Major League Tours of Japan.  MLB.com, November 6, 2002.

2002                 No Laughing Matter: Thanks to Ichiro, Nomo and Sasaki, Japanese Baseball Treasures Are Being Taken         Seriously.

                         Tuff Stuff 19 (1):46-47.

2001                 Tips on Collecting Japanese Cards.  The Vintage and Classic Baseball Collector 28:50-52.

2000                 The Japanese Collector: 1963 Flag Back Menko.  The Vintage and Classic Baseball Collector 23:48-51.