Promotional Information

How a shy young man from the sugar plantations of Hawai'i overcame prejudice to integrate two professional sports in two countries

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Prologue: A Gamble

1. "Just a Country Boy from Olowalu, Maui"

2. Football Star

3. The San Francisco 49ers

4. Lucky Breaks

5. Of Seals and Bees

6. A Winter of Uncertainty

7. Debut

8. The Jackie Robinson of Japan

9. Settling In

10. Lessons from Santa Maria

11. Gaijin Dageki Oh--Foreign Batting Champion

12. World Travelers

13. Hard Labor

14. Lucky Seven

15. Young Giants

16. End of an Era

17. Coach

18. Yonamine Kantoku

19. Sometimes Nice Guys Do Finish First

20. Suketto

21. Hall of Fame

Appendix

Bibliographic Essay

Index

About the Author

Robert K. Fitts is the author of Remembering Japanese Baseball: An Oral History of the Game, for which he won the 2005 Sporting News–SABR Award for best baseball research.

Reviews

"I got to know Wally in 1977 while he was still managing the Dragons, but wish I had seen him play 25 years earlier. Reading this biography is the next best thing. [Robert] Fitts leaves no stories untold about Yonamine's life in this excellent book." - Wayne Graczyk, Japan Times "Fitts's expertise in Japanese baseball emerges throughout the narrative, as readers come to understand the evolution of baseball in Japan. Because the book covers such a broad time period - Yonamine stayed in Japan as a player, coach, and manager for thirty-seven years - it serves as a great primer on the general historical evolution of Japanese baseball, seen through the career of Wally Yonamine." - Eric B. Salo, NINE "Extensively researched, well-written, and endlessly informative and fascinating, this book makes an excellent addition to anyone's baseball library and is absolutely required reading for anyone interested in Japanese-American baseball relations." - Michael Street, Baseball Daily Digest "A great read about a Japanese baseball player who has been too long overlooked." - L. A. Heapy, CHOICE "2005 Sporting News-SABR award winner Fitts deserves high marks for bringing forth this title sure to grasp pro football and baseball enthusiasts alike." - Southern New England Chapter Society for American Baseball Research "This is a must-read and a must-add to the bookshelf for those with an interest in the history of Japanese baseball, and a worthwhile read for any baseball fan looking to broaden their knowledge of this great game that has spread around the globe." - Pat Lagreid, Baseballbookreview.com