{"product_id":"issei-baseball-the-story-of-the-first-japanese-american-ballplayers-hardcover","title":"Issei Baseball: The Story of the First Japanese American Ballplayers - Hardcover","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eRobert K. Fitts\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e2021 SABR Baseball Research Award \u003cbr\u003e 2021 Independent Publisher Book Awards, Silver Medal Winner \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Baseball has been called America's true melting pot, a game that unites us as a people. \u003ci\u003eIssei Baseball\u003c\/i\u003e is the story of the pioneers of Japanese American baseball, Harry Saisho, Ken Kitsuse, Tom Uyeda, Tozan Masko, Kiichi Suzuki, and others--young men who came to the United States to start a new life but found bigotry and discrimination. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In 1905 they formed a baseball club in Los Angeles and began playing local amateur teams. Inspired by the Waseda University baseball team's 1905 visit to the West Coast, they became the first Japanese professional baseball club on either side of the Pacific and barnstormed across the American Midwest in 1906 and 1911. Tens of thousands came to see \"how the minions of the Mikado played the national pastime.\" As they played, the Japanese earned the respect of their opponents and fans, breaking down racial stereotypes. Baseball became a bridge between the two cultures, bringing Japanese and Americans together through the shared love of the game. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eIssei Baseball\u003c\/i\u003e focuses on the small group of men who formed the first professional and semiprofessional Japanese baseball clubs. These players' story tells the history of early Japanese American baseball, including the placement of Saisho, Kitsuse, and their families in relocation camps during World War II and the Japanese immigrant experience. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eRobert K. Fitts\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eMashi: The Unfulfilled Baseball Dreams of Masanori Murakami, the First Japanese Major Leaguer\u003c\/i\u003e (Nebraska, 2015), \u003ci\u003eWally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Baseball\u003c\/i\u003e (Nebraska, 2008), and \u003ci\u003eBanzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, and Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan\u003c\/i\u003e (Nebraska, 2012), winner of the Society of American Baseball Research's Seymour Medal. \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 344\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 01, 2020\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53755477590349,"sku":"9781496213488","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0927\/3304\/7117\/files\/Mm04NWF0VE9mRDZKclZyeWR3WjJIZz09.webp?v=1776719032","url":"https:\/\/belfastbooks.us\/products\/issei-baseball-the-story-of-the-first-japanese-american-ballplayers-hardcover","provider":"belfastbooks.us","version":"1.0","type":"link"}