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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.”
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Tom O’Malley Signed Hanshin Tigers Card (1993 TOMY I.D.)
$13.00In six NPB seasons, Tom O’Malley hit over .300 six times (including leading the league once), was a Central League All-Star three times, won the All-Star game MVP, and won a Gold Glove at first base. He was MVP of both the 1995 Central League regular season and the 1995 Japan Series. He is one of the greatest and most beloved import players in NPB history.
O’Malley used a bat-control approach to shoot through the minor league ranks of the San Francisco Giants, earning a big league roster spot at age 21 in 1982 and then becoming the primary third baseman in 1983, when he had only 47 strikeouts against 52 walks. He bounced around after that, always performing well at AAA but never receiving enough playing time to get into a groove in the major leagues.
He finally became a regular after signing with the Hanshin Tigers for the 1991 season, and instantly become a fan-favorite of the Koshien faithful.
Four years in the black and gold made him a Tigers legend, but Tigers fans reluctantly had to say goodbye to him after the 1994 season, when he left for the Yakult Swallows. The Tigers apparently wanted more power from their first baseman, and O’Malley suddenly became a prodigious home run hitter, hitting 31 for the Swallows en route to earning Central League MVP. Even worse for the Tigers fans, O’Malley led the Swallows to the Japan Series title. He was now a Swallows legend too, and added to his legacy with another productive year in 1996.
O’Malley returned to the states and managed the Newark Bears before the Tigers asked him back to work with their hitters. He subsequently became a hitting coach and scout with the Tigers, much to the delight of Tigers fans who were happy to see him back with the franchise.