Most people who know the name of the first Japanese major leaguer probably only know it as the answer to a trivia question. After all, between his time with the San Francisco Giants and Hideo Nomo’s exciting career with the Dodgers (and the rest), 30 full years had passed without any Japanese on any MLB roster. So Masanori “Mashi” Murakami was a trailblazer, but not in the way that, say, Jackie Robinson was, because his time in America did not open the floodgates to a new demographic playing the highest level of professional baseball possible.
The fact that Mashi became a household name in America in 1964 and 1965 is just a tiny part of the narrative. In fact, the driving force behind his story is his pure love of American life, the adjustments he made to fit in, and the tactics employed by the team that dispatched him to America in the first place, the Nankai Hawks. Without giving too much away, it is so easy to root for Mashi and resent the Hawks as you read this one through. He is a delightful, sincere, affable young man whose success story was completely unexpected.
What wasn’t unexpected, at least for me, was how easy and pleasurable a read this one was. This is the third Robert Fitts book I have reviewed, and I have enjoyed all three of them almost equally. (That said, Banzai Babe Ruth is a true standout.) Fitts’ writing style is extremely reader-friendly, and at the same time, exudes academic prowess and depth. Obviously, Fitts was assisted greatly in his writing by Mashi himself, who did numerous interviews for the sake of this book. There were also interviews conducted of some of the secondary characters, including the children of the family who hosted Mashi in Fresno (?) for a spell while he was struggling in the minors in America.
As I said, this story reads very quickly but is packed with human interest. Baseball is what threads the narrative together, but international relations are the driving force that makes this story worth reading and sharing.
And by the way, though it is not mentioned in the book, Mashi did play a season for our Hanshin Tigers. Not a highlight of his career, but it is great knowing that he was with the team for a year!