[ARETE] Fitts, Issei Baseball

[Duncan Jamieson]

All,
Please find below and attached Lisa Timpf's review of Robert Fitts, *Issei
Baseball*

Lisa Timpf



email: lisa.timpf at gmail.com



*Fitts, Robert K. Issei Baseball: The Story of the First Japanese American
Ballplayers*

Reviewed by Lisa Timpf



In *Issei Baseball: The Story of the First Japanese American Ballplayers,*
Robert K. Fitts provides an intriguing in-depth look at a previously
undocumented piece of sports history.

The “Issei” of the title refers to Japanese-born individuals who have
emigrated to other countries, in this case the United States. While the
book primarily focuses on Issei experiences with the sport of baseball,
Fitts also touches on the sport’s introduction to Japan, and its importance
to Japanese immigrants. The bulk of the book is set in the first two
decades of the 20th century, although Fitts also provides insight into the
experiences of some of the Issei ballplayers whose families were sent to
relocation camps during World War II.

Three main aspects of Issei baseball involvement are discussed: league and
pick-up play, barnstorming teams, and visits to the United States by squads
representing Japanese universities. But Fitts goes deeper than recounting
scores and team histories. Background information about the lives and
experiences of Ken Kitsuse, Harry Saisho, Kiichi Suzuki, and other key
figures personalizes the events.

Many of the earliest Issei baseball enthusiasts were first exposed to the
sport at private schools in Japan, where they were sent “to study Western
ideas and knowledge.” (2) It was here that many of them “fell in love with
the new American game of baseball.” (2) Some were so smitten with the sport
that they decided to forego the expected path of developing a career and
life in Japan, and instead traveled to the United States to pursue their
dreams of baseball stardom.

A significant portion of the book is devoted to the various barnstorming
teams that roamed across the country playing local nines for a share of the
gate. In the early 1900s, barnstorming teams were in vogue for a very
practical reason. As Fitts notes, “In most small towns the game was the
primary form of entertainment, offering respite from the drudgery of
back-breaking rural life.” (74) Owing to the difficulty and slowness of the
transportation of the day, many people were unable to take time off to
travel to games. Instead, they waited for the games to come to them. Thus,
barnstorming teams which criss-crossed the country to play against
home-town teams were immensely popular. To enhance their draw, many of
these barnstorming teams focused on novelty themes: for example, Guy Green,
who would go on to found the first Japanese barnstorming team, also had a
team composed entirely of Native Americans.

Just after the turn of the century, many Americans were “enthralled by
Japan and all things Japanese.” (78) In 1906 Guy Green “decided to
capitalize on the interest in Japan by creating an all-Japanese baseball
team to barnstorm across the Midwest.” (79) The 1906 tour lasted 25 weeks,
with the team logging over 2,500 miles while playing between 150 and 170
games. Though he advertised the team as “all-Japanese,” Green supplemented
his roster with Native Americans and Caucasian players. Nonetheless, it’s
true that many of the positions on the squad were filled by Japanese
players. Those who participated saw it as a life-changing experience.

Green did not renew the Japanese barnstorming team for subsequent seasons.
However, it did serve as the model for numerous similar efforts over the
years, some more successful than others. A team formed by Harry Saisho in
1911 was one of the most productive of these ventures. A ledger containing
information about gate receipts, expenses, players’ salaries, and other
information survived through the years, providing an intriguing look at the
financial aspects of the tour. Fitts notes that, “daily expenses included
about $8 for hotels, $10 for meals, and a few dollars for miscellaneous
items.” (174) Gate receipts varied. At times, the team’s bank account was
well in the black, but a succession of games with low attendance, or a
spate of rain-outs, would rapidly eat into reserve funds. At one point in
the tour, “the team had only $11.39 to its name.” (185)

At the end of the season, some players had to borrow money to get back
home. But most did not begrudge the experience. As Fitts explains, “for a
season they had been professional ballplayers, minor celebrities playing in
front of tens of thousands of people and featured in hundreds of newspapers
across seven states.” (205)

In addition to recounting the baseball exploits of Japanese Issei, Fitts
also provides a flavor for what the immigrant experience was like for these
individuals. Japanese immigrants were not necessarily welcomed to the
United States with open arms, though the degree of animosity varied from
city to city and state to state. Organizations like the Asiatic Exclusion
League fomented negative sentiment. In some cities, there were physical
attacks against individuals of Japanese descent. The Issei baseball players
were not insulated from these effects. Particularly with the early teams,
newspaper coverage was often derogatory toward Japanese players and fans
alike.

Despite the less than congenial reception, Japanese ballplayers helped to
break down existing prejudices. In some cases, “baseball would serve as a
bridge between the two cultures, bringing them together with a shared
passion for the game and providing a path toward respect, acceptance and
assimilation.” (73) Players on the university teams “acted as ambassadors,
spreading goodwill toward Japan through their gentlemanly behavior and
expressions of friendship.” (170) For the Japanese immigrants who enjoyed
the sport as spectators, attending baseball games strengthened a sense of
community.

*Issei Baseball* includes 18 pages of pictures and images. These range from
team and individual photos to artifacts like advertising cards from the
tours, as well as cartoons representative of some of the negative
portrayals of the Japanese ballplayers in the media.

Fitts’ research materials included newspapers, periodicals, and books, as
well as primary source items like schedules and log books from the various
tours. Fitts also conducted oral history interviews and pored through
unpublished manuscripts. The supplementary material in the back part of the
book includes a list of known Issei baseball clubs from 1904-1920, partial
rosters of selected teams, and schedules and game results.

The product of four years of research, *Issei Baseball* provides a
fascinating insight into the experiences of Japanese baseball enthusiasts
in the early 1900s, placed within the context of American culture. The
inclusion of background information about the personal lives and
experiences of the players lends depth to the book and lifts it above a
mere recitation of facts. Three-dimensional and unflinching, *Issei
Baseball* is, in the end, a testament to the trials and tribulations these
players, bitten hard by the baseball bug, were willing to endure in order
to participate in their chosen sport.

*-END-*

Fitts, Robert K. Issei Baseball: The Story of the First Japanese American
Ballplayers. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2020. 344 pp.
Photographs, illustrations, tables, appendices, bibliography, index.




Remember to smell the roses as you recumber past

Duncan R. Jamieson, Ph. D.
Professor of History
Book Review Editor
*AETHLON: The Journal of Sport Literature*
Ashland University
Ashland, OH  44805
USA
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