1947 Portland Vets
1948 Seattle Nisei Vets
1948-7-07 Averages, box scores, and all-star team for Northwest Fourth of July tournament.
Pic of champion Seattle Vets; Edo Sasaki, Seattle pitcher; and Kay Kiyokawa, Hood River pitcher.
1948-7-07 Nisei Vets finally did it.
1948-7-07 pic of Heat Heyamoto (Seattle ss) with Hank Matsubu behind home plate.
Matsubu, Hank 1948 Ontario (OR) A.C.
1944-5-06 Hank Matsubu - 2nd base in internment camp
1947-8-01 Picture of Wally Yonamine
"Sad Shiraishi, the former Taiyo A.C. baseball flash, has a drug store in Ontario, Oreg. and also operates a film projector in a movie house there."
1949-7-20 Northwest Times picks their ideal Nisei all-star team.
1954-8-25 "Masami Ikeda, McChord Air Base hurler, was named pitcher among the stars in the Washington State semi-pro baseball tournament concluded recently in Bellingham."
Puget Sound League Blue Section
1947-3-04 Northwest Times propose that Nisei Vets combine with Western Giants to make one strong team instead of "two weak teams."
1948-3-10 Shiro Yamaguchi is baseball chairman of NVC.
1948-3-17 Team sponsored by Nisei Veterans Committee. Non veteran players will be allowed this year. Expected roster named. They were champions last year.
1947-4-22 Edo Sasaki k'd 16 for Nisei Vets; standings.
1947-8-01 Vets captured title.
"The live spirit of the hustling Vets should be credited to Shiro Yamaguchi, the pre-war shortstopping ace of the Western Giants, and Joe Kesamaru, the lightning-shifty ex-college and prep star. The two combined their talents to keep the never-say-die Vets much intact."
1950-5-03 Nisei Vets 3, Teamsters 14. Western Giants 8, Eastlake Merchants 1.
1951-4-11 Nisei Vets and Western Giants will combine for team in Puget Sound League.
1952-1-01 "After Richard Tsuji injured his throwing arm, Managers Shoichi Suyama and Joe Kesamaru of NVC called on Sasaki to carry the pitching load, and Sasaki, although off to a slugging start, finished like Citation in the long stretch. A hurler with more stuff on the ball than any Nisei hereabouts today, Sasaki was largely responsible for NVC's rousing second-half comeback in the Puget Sound league last season."
"Ray Saito, infielder-outfielder for Nisei Veterans - Possibly the most outstanding Nisei baseball player in the Pacific Northwest. Saito was a feared batsman for the N.V.C. outfit in the P.S. circuit. As an outfielder in '51, he was second to none as far as his smooth fielding and timely hitting were concerned. To the Vets he was as valuable, though not as colorful, as Jim Rivera was to the Seattle Rainiers. Saito was the ace in the NVC fly-chasing department."
1914-3-22 Tacoma Tigers 5, Japanese Nippon Club 1. Nippon made two errors. 700 ATT despite raw weather.
1914-3-22 Tacoma Tigers 5, Japanese Nippon Club 1. Nippon made two errors. 700 ATT despite raw weather.
https://www.mlb.com/cut4/4-little-known-historical-nisei-league-figures-c215019678
Fresno Athletic Club
1932-9-29 VG pic of Kenso Nushida and Lee Gum Hong.
Fresno Athletic Club
1932-9-29 VG pic of Kenso Nushida and Lee Gum Hong.
1931 LA Nippons team pic
Los Angeles Nippons
'The Los Angeles Nippon were organized in the 1920's and were originally known as the Los Angeles Japanese. They had a number of talented players including T. Ikadaki, Mori Miyahara, Isozaki and Oshio. Sammy Yakahashi [Takahashi] was their flashy shortstop and best player. In 1930, he earned a tryout with the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League.
On April 13, the Giants engaged the Los Angeles Nippon in what was billed as "the Japanese World Series". Such hyperbole was often employed to hype games. Between 1927 and 1936, the Nippon nine from the City of Angels hosted ten games with Japanese college teams and five more with the 1935 and 1936 editions of the newly-organized Japanese professionals. Eiji Sawamura's reputation as the pitcher who struck out four American League All-Stars in succession, including legendary Babe Ruth, led to White Sox Park being filled to its capacity of 5,000 for all three games. Sawamura (left), Victor Starffin and Kenichi Aoshiba made quick order of their Nippon brothers and swept the series. The Giants' record when facing semi-professional or local teams in California was a remarkable 7 - 1."
1936-2-09 Santa Barbara. Nippons in CWL? Will face White Sox. Matsuura stole the show from Satchel Paige in their previous encounter.
1936-1-19 Santa Barbara White Sox 2, L.A. Nippons 1. Matsuura lost pitching duel with Paige. 1000 fans - biggest crowd since Paige appeared last spring. Paige wore the uniform of Lloyd "Shires" Erhard, White Sox manager.
Good article.
Pic of Bucky Harris, Buster North, and Sam Takahashi - L.A. Nippons who went to Japan. Pic of George Matsuura in Nagoya uniform.
Lots of information about family.
"The Giants scheduled several games with squads consisting primarily of Japanese-Americans such as the San Jose Asahi, the Fresno Athletic Club, the Los Angeles Nippon and the Stockton Yamato.
On March 27th, they squared off against the San Jose Asahi. The Asahi were a local ball team in a community proud of its heritage. The game was played at the Asahi Baseball Park, a stadium constructed in 1926 and built entirely by the local Nikkei (Japanese-Americans of all generations) community. There was considerable interest in the up-coming contest against what was perceived locally as "the powerful visitors from across the Pacific." The Tokyo Giants' lean but highly talented pitching corps was both admired and feared.
Local fans had high hopes for their team. Pitching sensation Russell Noburo Hinaga (right) was considered excellent at every position he played. Fans and media alike referred to him as "Mr. Baseball." He was the oldest of the three Hinaga brothers. He started his brilliant career at the age of 15, joining the San Jose Asahi team when they were first organized in 1918. In 1925, Hinaga had toured the Orient with the Asahis, pitching against Japan's leading Universities including the powerful unit from Waseda. At one stretch he had compiled a sparkling record of 29 and 2. In the outfield, the Asahi had George "Moon" Ikeda, who it is said never dropped a fly ball. Ikeda roamed the outfie"ld pasture utilizing a glove from which he had removed all the stuffing. There was also Chitoshi "T-bone" Akizuki, whose speed left fielders flailing in the dust.
Local fans had high hopes for their team. Pitching sensation Russell Noburo Hinaga (right) was considered excellent at every position he played. Fans and media alike referred to him as "Mr. Baseball." He was the oldest of the three Hinaga brothers. He started his brilliant career at the age of 15, joining the San Jose Asahi team when they were first organized in 1918. In 1925, Hinaga had toured the Orient with the Asahis, pitching against Japan's leading Universities including the powerful unit from Waseda. At one stretch he had compiled a sparkling record of 29 and 2. In the outfield, the Asahi had George "Moon" Ikeda, who it is said never dropped a fly ball. Ikeda roamed the outfie"ld pasture utilizing a glove from which he had removed all the stuffing. There was also Chitoshi "T-bone" Akizuki, whose speed left fielders flailing in the dust.
Not surprisingly, the game turned out to be a pitching duel between Victor Starffin and Hinaga. Going into the bottom of the ninth, the Giants held a slim 2 - 1 lead. Ky Miyamoto led off for the host club with a clean single to right. A walk and a hit batter soon loaded the bases. Manager Daisuke Miyake did not have the luxury of going to the bullpen to bring in a late closer. This would be Starffin's game to win or lose.
Harry Kamemoto tried to execute a squeeze play but could not handle Starffin's blazing fastballs and struck out on three pitches. Unfortunately for Starffin, his catcher also had difficulty with the strikeout pitch and it got by him for a passed ball and the tying run scored. Starffin struck out the next two batters. With the score knotted at two and with two out and the bases loaded, who else but "Mr. Baseball", Russel/Russell Hinaga, swung hard at a Starffin fastball, drilling it through second base to drive in Adrian Yamamoto with the winning run. In 2015, this "big game" was still remembered by former Asahi players such as Frank "Tarzan" Shiraki, age 91, of San Jose. He is among the dwindling circle off former players whose exploits were an integral part of Japanese-American baseball history."
1943-9-11 Granda CO. Interment camp? AA and A Leagues - all Japanese. George Matsuura 12 for 33.
George Matsuura pic - evacuated from West Adams home in 1942 and relocated to Camp Apache before joining army.
Takahashi and Matsuura in 1942 soft ball. Santa Anita CA.
Guadalupe Produce
1928-11-15 Santa Maria. Toured Japan; were 25-4-1. Scores and averages listed. Henry Oana hit .367 - 2nd highest average on team. Virgil Alexander hit even better than Oana.
1928-7-01 Guadalupe All-Stars were champions of Central Coast League. Beat Cleveland Colored Giants 8-7.
1929-5-05 Santa Maria. No Guadalupe box. Guadalupe Produce is 4-0 in the Central Coast League - has outscored opponents 72-9.
https://www.newspapers.com/search/results/?date=1929&keyword=%22virgil+alexander%22®ion=us-ca
Los Angeles Grand Central Market
1929-2-10 San Pedro. Box. Beat Wilmington Tigers 11-6. Jimmy Horio in left.
Los Angeles Grand Central Market
1929-2-10 San Pedro. Box. Beat Wilmington Tigers 11-6. Jimmy Horio in left.
1929-3-31 Santa Ana. Box. Beat Westminster Aviators 3-2.
1927 Aratani team pic.
https://santamariatimes.com/lifestyles/local-fans-still-talk-of-big-game-59-years-ago/article_7e48c1ca-d9d0-514c-89bf-7e87cb7ba1a2.html"Virgil Alexander and Charlie Logia were two of the 15 members of Setsuo Aratani's Guadalupe Produce Company's "Aratani" baseball team. Although it has been said that all of the members of Mr. Aratani's team worked at the produce company, Ken Kitasako once told me that Mr. Aratani simply chose the best baseball players in the valley, no matter where they worked. His team was made up of Portuguese, Mexican-American and Japanese players. When he took his team to Japan in 1927 the young men competed against Japanese teams, winning 25 games, losing four and tying one."
Hank Bonetti with Santa Maria Indians in 1950.
https://www.newspapers.com/clippings/?user=9712749%3Ayyna Focus on Jimmy Horio
No comments:
Post a Comment