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Mashi: The Unfulfilled Baseball Dreams of Masanori Murakami, the First Japanese Major Leaguer
Did you know that 30+ years before Hideo Nomo, the San Francisco Giants had a Japanese pitching sensation on their club? I don’t blame you if you don’t, because Masanori Murakami’s tale is not well-known. “Mashi” had an adventurous and courageous spirit to pair with a talented left arm, and his place in history is iron-clad: he was the first Japanese player in Major League Baseball.
Read our full review of the book. Author Rob Fitts appeared on JapanBall’s “Chatter Up!” Zoom call in 2020 – check out our recap of that episode here. Want to own a piece of baseball history? Purchase an autographed Masanori Murakami trading card here.
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Masanori Murakami Signed San Francisco Giants Card
$20.00Baseball is a romantic game that lends itself to tradition and hero worship. The game’s many pioneers and legends are immortalized in halls of fame, books, and films. However, the tale of Masanori Murakami, the first Japanese MLB player, is not known well enough. Murakami’s story is one of adventure, under-the-table dealings, international conflict, and thrilling moments on the playing field.
When “Mashi” debuted for the San Francisco Giants in 1964, the 20-year-old lefty didn’t speak English or have a dedicated interpreter, which helped him ignore the racist taunts directed at him. He pitched well for the Giants, convincing them that he would be a steady contributor to their pitching staff. However, the Nankai Hawks, Murakami’s original team in Japan, felt that their young prospect was being stolen from them. Murakami became the focal point of a tug-of-war not just between the Hawks and the Giants but also between MLB and NPB. Murakami reluctantly returned to Japan, and the icy relations between the two leagues created a freeze of players coming from Japan to the U.S. until another brave, young hurler crossed the Pacific 30+ years later: Hideo Nomo.
Interested in learning more about Murakami’s story? Check out Rob Fitts’s excellent biography. Still not sure? Read our review of the book here. Want to know more about Asian baseball trailblazers? Read our article, “The Importance of Asian Americans in Baseball.”