As a player I had kind of an up and down career. I played a year and a half, two years, in the big leagues, off and on, and it just didn't look as though that [an MLB career] was going to happen. I played for Charlie Manuel, who managed the Phillies in the World Series and had played in Japan as well. He was managing Cleveland Indians AAA team, and he wanted me on his team. I ended up being kind of a utility player. I went to him and said, “Hey man, I would love to play in Ja

The Clyde Sukeforth Chapter (ME/NH) in conjunction with the Gardner-Waterman Chapter (VT) offers a special presentation with SABR Member Rob Fitts in a Zoom Meeting on Wednesday, November 5, 2025 at 7 PM Eastern, 4 PM Pacific. All baseball fans are welcome!Fitts will talk about his new book and provide an introduction to Japanese baseball. Registration link: https://tinyurl.com/ydyc3uhy In the Japanese Ballpark: Behind the Scenes of Nippon Professional Baseball This book tak

After a seven-year MLB career Gail Hopkins joined the Carp in 1975 helping the team to its first Central League title. I had the pleasure...

After a seven-year MLB career Gail Hopkins joined the Carp in 1975 helping the team to its first Central League title. I had the pleasure...

In October 2003, I had the pleasure of interviewing former Carp manager Takeshi Koba before an oldtimers' game at Tokyo Dome. Koba played...

Kobe, Japan in 1871 In 2022 Japanese baseball celebrated its official 150th birthday. Most officials and historians date the introduction...

2025 is the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima Carp. To mark the occasion I decided to interview Americans who have played for the Carp...

While researching my latest book, The Pioneers of Japanese American Baseball, I uncovered this intriguing story. Bigotry towards Japanese...

William Watkins aka Naga aka Big Chief Harry Saisho had a problem. He wanted to transform his Los Angeles-based Japanese Base Ball...

I'm often asked if I know the uniform numbers of the 1934 All American team that toured the Far East so I decided to post them here. 1...

Presented at the 2020 Virtual SABR Conference, this 16 minutes powerpoint video tells the story of how Tetsusaburo "Tom" Uyeda played on...

The history of early Japanese American baseball is still being discovered. There is so much we do not know. Mainstream, English-language...

The first Japanese professional baseball game took place not in Tokyo, not in Osaka, or even in Japan, but in a tiny town in Northeastern...

Last week my wife and I were lucky enough to get tickets to the Hiroshima Carp's final home game. We sat in the right field bleachers...

Hanshin Tiger Great Gene Bacque passed away this week. In this memory I am reposting his story that I published in remembering Japanese...

Brooklyn Dodger and Kintetsu Buffaloes pitcher Glenn Mickens passed away on July 9 2019. In 2003 I had the pleasure of interviewing Glenn...