Peter Rivera, a reader, sent me a photograph of the great Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella from the 1950s. He was wearing a lei. I wondered what the occasion was.
I looked into it and found that the photo was taken when the 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers were on a goodwill tour of Japan. They spent six days in Hawaii on the way there and played two games at Honolulu Stadium and one on Maui.
The Dodgers and Yankees met in the World Series this week. The Dodgers won the series Wednesday, 4 games to 1. They hadn’t faced each other in the World Series since 1981, but when I was young, many years ago, it was much more common.
The rivals have met 12 times in the World Series, which is more than any other two teams. Many young men from Hawaii have played for the two teams. I thought I’d explore a few of those Hawaii connections today.
Hilo and Honolulu
Babe Ruth came to Hawaii in 1933 and played with local teams in Hilo and Honolulu. He convinced Gov. Lawrence Judd to pitch to him in pregame batting practice at Honolulu Stadium, and hit at least one home run.
George Herman “Babe” Ruth (1895-1948) played 22 seasons, mostly as a Yankee, from 1914 to 1935. As he approached 40 years of age, he could still hit, but the rest of his game was deteriorating.
“I don’t feel old,” Babe told reporters, “but when the old legs begin to sag, then it’s time to slow up a bit. I can still whang that old apple, and the pitchers know it.”
Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin that “Babe has talked nothing but Honolulu since he visited the islands last year. In fact, I have heard so much about different people he met here that I feel I know them myself.
“In fact, the Ruths liked Hawaii so much that they are coming back here next year. Claire Ruth said their plan is to spend about three months in Honolulu.”
“Babe isn’t playing ball anymore,” she said, “and so we will not be tied down. We are going to get a cottage at the beach and have a real holiday.”
Goodwill tour of Japan
In 1934, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Lefty Gomez, Charlie Gehringer and many other American League stars were invited on a goodwill tour to Japan.
The American All-Stars stopped in Hawaii, where they relaxed, went sightseeing, swimming or played a round of golf at Waialae.
On Oct. 25 they played a Hawaii All-Star team at Honolulu Stadium, beating them 8-1 in front of 9,000 fans. The Star-Bulletin called it the “biggest sports event of the year.”
Several days later they left for Japan where more than 500,000 fans greeted them. The American team played 18 games in Tokyo, Kobe, Sendai, Nagoya, Osaka and other cities, winning all 18 games against the Japanese all-stars. Ruth hit 13 home runs.
The tour was credited with the beginnings of professional baseball in Japan. The Japanese all-star team later became the Yomiuri Giants.
Subway series
The Brooklyn Dodgers met the New York Yankees in the 1955 and 1956 World Series. The 1956 Dodgers were led by Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese and Gil Hodges. Walter Alston was the manager.
The Yankees top players were Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Don Larson, Phil Rizzuto and Billy Martin. Casey Stengel was their manager.
The Dodgers won the 1955 series in seven games, and the Yankees did the same in 1956.
Dodgers goodwill tour
Less than 20 hours after the end of the 1956 World Series, the Dodgers boarded a plane for California, Honolulu and Japan.
They arrived in Honolulu on Oct. 12 and stayed at the Royal Hawaiian hotel. The Dodgers flew to Maui to play an all-star team there. They won 19-0. Then they returned for two games in Honolulu, winning both.
The Dodgers took time off to visit patients at Tripler Army Medical Center. A car skidded on the wet pavement of Puuloa Avenue and went into a ditch. The Dodgers got off their bus and pulled the car out of the ditch, turning the driver, Mrs. G. V. Gifford of Pearl City, into a fan.
Japan
You might have wondered what the Dodgers are dodging. At one time their name offered a clue. They were the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers in 1895.
The Brooklyn Dodgers landed in Tokyo on Oct. 19, 1956. Over 5,000 people met them at Haneda Airport, even though their plane was hours late, reporter Leslie Nakashima wrote.
“They got a royal welcome seldom accorded visiting dignitaries at this much- traveled airport. The Dodgers, used to the baseball frenzy of Brooklyn, were startled by the enthusiasm shown by the fervent Japanese fans.”
The Dodgers scheduled 19 exhibition games in Japan. The first game was against the Yomiuri Giants, which featured two Maui-born players: Wally Yonamine and Andy Miyamoto. Over 15,000 fans saw the Giants beat the Dodgers 5-4.
The Dodgers won 14 of the 19 games, lost four and tied 1. Half a million fans attended.
Yonamine’s first name at birth was Kaname. He attended Lahainaluna High School on Maui and Wallace Rider Farrington High.
His nickname came from the name of his high school; it began as Wallace but was shortened to Wally, which later became his legal name.
Yonamine was the first American to play professional baseball in Japan. He played from 1951 to 1962.
Historian Robert Fitts said: “Yonamine’s positive attitude, sheer talent, and aggressive style was adopted by more and more Japanese players, whose overall skills improved.
“He became a very popular goodwill ambassador and a clear bridge between the two former adversarial nations. Other American players were soon invited to play on Japanese teams.”
If Yonamine was the first American to play professional baseball in Japan, who was the first Japanese to play on an American Major League Baseball team?
It was Masanori Murakami, who played for the San Francisco Giants in 1964. Thirty years later he was followed by Hideo Nomo, who pitched for the Dodgers in 1995. His career spanned 13 seasons, and he paved the way for others, such as Ichiro Suzuki, Yu Darvish, Hideki Matsui, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani.
Hawaii born
Many Hawaii-born young men have played for the Dodgers, such as Kolten Wong, Shane Victorino, Sid Fernandez, Carlos Diaz, Onan Masaoka, Charlie Hough and Kurt Suzuki.
Hawaii-born Yankees include Lenn Sakata, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Kirby Yates, Brian Fisher and Bronson Sardinha.
Shohei Ohtani
Dodgers superstar Ohtani might soon live in Hawaii, at least part of the year. This year he purchased property near the Mauna Kea Resort on Hawaii Island.
Ohtani’s translator from the L.A. Dodgers, Will Ireton, was born in Japan but moved to Hawaii as a teenager. He played on Mid- Pacific Institute’s baseball team and graduated from the school.
‘Hawaii Day’
Tosh Kaneshiro was the owner of Columbia Inn and the self-appointed World’s Biggest Dodgers Fan.
“The sports thing, that was my father,” his son Gene Kaneshiro recalled. “He always said, ‘Talk sports, don’t talk politics, don’t talk religion, or you’ll lose your customers.’”
Tosh Kaneshiro and his restaurant embraced the L.A. Dodgers. In 1972, to show their appreciation for Tosh’s relentless enthusiasm, the Dodgers declared Aug. 17 “Hawaii Day” at Dodger Stadium.
The stadium message board welcomed Tosh and his friends from Columbia Inn.
If you can think of other Dodgers-Yankees-Hawaii connections, let me know.
Bob Sigall is the author of the five “The Companies We Keep” books. Contact him at Sigall@Yahoo.com or sign up for his free email newsletter at RearviewMirrorInsider.com.
