TOKYO — An interesting book came in the mail recently. Entitled “NICHIBEI YAKYU: US TOURS OF JAPAN.” VOLUME I: 1907-1958. It is the first volume of a planned two-volume series on the subject, published by the Society For American Baseball Research. Edited By Robert K. Fitts, author of Banzai Babe Ruth and other books on Japanese baseball, along with Bill Nowlin and James Forr, it provides a wealth of information on a subject that has not received a lot of in-depth coverage over the years.
According to NICHIBEI YAKYU, there have been more than 100 visits to Japan by U.S. teams, both amateur and professional, starting with a visit by a semi-pro team from Honolulu in 1907 named St. Louis of Hawaii.
The first professional team to play in Japan came in 1908 in the form of the Reach All-Americans, a group of major leaguers sponsored by the A.J. Reach Sporting Goods Company. The Reach squad won all 17 games versus amateur competition by a combined score of 164-19, prompting one Keio University player to conclude, “We are insects compared with the giants.”
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