Mike Dupree 1980 Calbee Baseball card Don Newcombe and I were the only two people who pitched in the big leagues and were position players in Japan. Newcombe pitched with the Dodgers and played first base in Japan. I pitched for the Padres for just for a little while, and then I played outfield in Japan. That's what I'm the proudest of, that I could do a little bit of everything. All through high school and during two years in college, I pitched and played right field. Righ

April 15, 2026, marks the 120 th anniversary of the first professional game in Japanese baseball history. Thirty years before the formation of a professional league in Japan, Guy W. Green, the owner of the Nebraska Indians Baseball Team, gathered a dozen immigrants from Japan to form an all-Japanese baseball squad to barnstorm across the Midwest of the United States. Like Green’s Nebraska Indians players, the Japanese players signed contracts and were paid to play, making th

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