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An injury cut
short the career of the first Asian American in professional
football, but it may have actually been a blessing in disguise.
Born in Maui, Hawaii, Wally Yonamine was a star at Farrington
High School in Honolulu, where he starred in football and
baseball. Although he never played college football, he was
drafted by the SanFrancisco 49ers because coach Buck Shaw
considered him an outstanding breakaway runner.
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"He possesses amazing poise on the gridiron and is a
slashing runner, a fine passer and kicker," notes his
1947 team biography.
Starting three of the team's 12 games, the 23-year-old halfback
gained 74 yards on 19 carries in 1947, a respectable 3.89
yards per carry average. He also caught three passes for 40
yards (11.3 yards average) and caught one interception for
a 20-yard return.
In just a few years after the war, seeing a Japanese American
on the gridiron helped to raise spirits for fellow Nisei.
"He made us proud that we were Japanese," recalls
Hats Aizawa, 77, a 49ers season ticket holder for about 30
years. "He had this burst of speed." Aizawa was
among a group of four Nisei who went to 49 games at the old
Kezar Stadium to cheer on Yonamine.
The next season was a turning point in Yonamine's athletic
career. He fractured his wrist while playing exhibition baseball
about a week before the 49er training camp started. "My
contract said that I had to be physically fit when reporting
to camp. So I went to play for the Hawaiian Warriors. But
by then I knew you couldn't make any money playing football
so I switched to baseball," recalled Yonamine.
He played one year for the San Francisco Seals' Salt Lake
farm team and a year for the Hawaiian Asahi team before going
abroad to play for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan at the suggestion
of Seals manager Lefty O'Doul.
"O'Doul told me to play my
style," Yonamine said. "He told me ' you're going
to change Japanese baseball because of your aggressiveness.
The Japanese will love the way you play'"
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| BASEBALL
CAREER |
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Season.
11
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| Lifetime
batting avg -. 311 |
3 batting
titles
7-time All Star |
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Japan
Series championship
(Giants)- 1951 - 1953 |
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Most
Valuable Player
(Central League) - 1957 |
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Japanese
Baseball Hall of
Fame - 1994
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| HALL
OF FAME CAREER |
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Indeed, the wrist injury led to bigger and better things to
come, as he went on to make a name for himself on the diamond
- this time as the first foreign player in Japanese pro baseball.
Asserts Gary Otake, co-curator of the exhibit "Diamonds
in the Rough: Japanese Americans in Baseball" (co-produced
by the National Japanese American Historical Society and the
Nisei Baseball Research Project): "I think he would have
dramatically altered the course of baseball history if he
decided to stay in the U.S. and become the first Japanese
American player in Major League Baseball."
A look at his career numbers confirms Yonamine's abilities.
He hit .354 as a rookie in Japan in 1951 and ended with a
lifetime batting average in Japan's all-time top 10. From
1951 to 1953, Yonamine helped the Giants win three consecutive
Japan Series championships and was the Central League's Most
Valuable Player in 1957.
He played 11 seasons, ending with a .311 lifetime batting
average, and went on to coach or manage for 26 years for various
professional teams in Japan - most notably the Chunichi Dragons,
which he led to the Central League title in 1974. Over his
career, he won three batting titles and was a seven-time all-star.
But Yonamine's transition to Japanese baseball was not without
bumps. Rocks and debris often flew out of the stands as Yonamine
stood in the outfied, and once a couple of fans charged at
him and threatened to kill him on the spot.
"Like Jackie Robinson, Wally was breaking new ground."
writes Kerry Yo Nakagawa, in his book Through a Diamond:100
years of Japanese Americans in Baseball. He referred to
Yonamine as the "Jim Thorpe of the Nisei" due to
his two-sport ability. But Nakagawa notes that the situation
was complicated since it had been only a few years since the
end of the war. "As a foreigner he paid his harsh dues
on and off the field, but...he helped to pioneer the way for
future American players.
A non-native speaker of Japanese, Yonamine "was treated
as a foreigner in Japan, and was not initially welcomed by
his teammates or league, especially because of his aggressive
' American style ' of play."
In 1994, Yonamine became the third Nisei and 112th person
to enter the Japan Baseball Hall of Fame, following Hanshin
Tigers' great Bozo Wakabayashi of Hawaii and Hisashi Koshimoto
, the pre-war manager of the 1926 Meiji University club.
| HONORED
BY NINERS |
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Over half a century later, Yonamine's football legacy was
honored during the 49ers' exhibition game on August 3 at Japan's
Osaka Dome.
He joined in festivities at Osaka Mayor Takafumi Isomura's
residence and was head coach Steve Mariucci's guest at practice.
But Yonamine's shining moment came when the football pioneer's
brief, but momentous career finally received recognition. Yonamine was designated the 49ers'honorary team captain.
The league pieced together a highlight tape of Yonamine's
1947 season, and the team's owner presented him with a No.1
jersey with "Yonamine" on the back. He was announced
as the first Asian American to play professional football
to a rousing ovation, and then sat in the 49ers' owners' box
to view the game.
"It was an honor to be the first Asian American in the
NFL, Yonamine stated." I hope that other players from
Japan can reach the same level."
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