Baseball at Manzanar: Baseball Behind Barbed Wire – Society for American Baseball Research

Introduction Executive Order 9066 Daily Life Baseball Behind Barbed Wire Reconstruction & Reclamation

The September 4, 1943, edition of the Manzanar Free Press reported, “Hardball is Coming.” A large diamond for playing baseball was being constructed, as the paper went on to state that “the ground will be leveled out, and the fence will be put up soon with the help of all teams that are to participate. Voluntary helps are welcome.” The area of the firebreaks between blocks 19 and 25 was decided on as the location, near the camp’s northern corner.

The plot provided ample room for the field to be laid out to major league baseball specifications. The tall tower that had been over the AA League diamond was moved to the new field to be used as an announcer’s booth with a public address system. It hovered behind the backstop that reportedly rose 24 feet and measured 60 feet from home plate. The fence was intended to extend approximately 168 feet to the right- and left-field lines and be nine feet tall. The playing field was purported to measure approximately 400 feet to left field and just about 350 feet to right field.

Layers upon layers of red dirt were hauled to the diamond to create the infield, while the ground was watered each evening. Eventually a scoreboard was constructed in center field, as well as two players’ benches, two foul poles, four bleachers, and two spectators’ benches. Though there was talk of growing grass to enhance the field and make it “the envy of all the internment camp ballparks,” there is no evidence this came to fruition.

The Free Press declared the new field the “Pride of Manzanar” by and for the incarcerees.

In an oral history interview, Rosie Maruki Kakuuchi described the intense atmosphere at the Manzanar ballfield for the season finale in 1943:

“Baseball to me and to the camp people was the American pastime. If you think of the World Series, the final game they had in Manzanar had the whole camp out there to watch the final. The Manzaknights played against the San Pedro Terminal Island boys [called the Yogores]. And they’d been playing together all their lives. They were a baseball team, just like San Fernando [Aces]. Well, the Manzaknights were made up of all these guys that met in camp and became a club. … The Terminal Island people, they’ve played all their life together, so naturally they [thought they] were a cinch to win.

“In the last inning, the San Pedro team was up to bat. One out, and they had a man on base. … There was a line drive towards first base. Ishida caught it, tagged first base, and that was three outs. They were so mad. They thought for sure they were gonna win, and so the Manzaknights won. The announcer at that time was the father of one of the San Pedro players, and he said, ‘Boys, boys, a little more sportsmanship’ or something, we could hear him saying. They were mad because they were supposed to win. And all we did was cheer because we were so happy for the Manzaknights. That was thrilling, and that was just like a World Series.”

Rosie Maruki Kakuuchi oral history interview, October 19, 2006, courtesy of Manzanar National Historic Site

Read more: “The Pride of Manzanar,” by Russ Speiller

A view from center field at the baseball field erected in 1943 for the playing of hardball and dubbed “The Pride of Manzanar” by the Manzanar Free Press. (Courtesy of Toyo Miyatake Studios)

Japanese American Baseball History

Similar to the story of Negro League baseball, Japanese Americans were forced to play in their own leagues between the late 1890s and the early 1950s because of widespread prejudice and exclusionary policies in White America. When Japanese immigrants first arrived in the United States in the late 1800s, they brought with them both a passion for and knowledge of baseball, a game first introduced to Japan in the early 1870s.

For the Issei (first-generation Japanese Americans), playing the national pastime offered a chance to demonstrate their athletic skill and to build connections with those already familiar with the sport in their new country. Although ballplayers of Japanese ancestry first attempted to join the majors in the late 1890s, no Japanese American reached the big leagues until the 1960s. Since then, only a handful of Nikkei (Americans of Japanese ancestry) have competed at the highest level. Despite their small numbers, the collective impact of their story and legacy continues to resonate throughout the game today.

Read more: “History of Japanese American Baseball,” by Kerry Yo Nakagawa and Bill Staples Jr.

The Tule Lake Center boys from Manzanar pose for their end-of-season team photo. Jimmie Tamura is in the middle row, second from the left. Barry Tamura is third from the left next to Jimmie. George Tamura was relocated from the camp before this photo was taken. (Courtesy of Willie Tamura)

Kenichi Zenimura was a multi-position player, coach, captain, manager, and organizer, including at the Gila River incarceration camp in Arizona. He actively played ball until he was 55 years old. Many have called Zenimura the father of Japanese American baseball. (Courtesy of the Nisei Baseball Research Project)

Kenichi Zenimura: Father of Japanese American Baseball

Inside each of the ten camps scattered across the western United States and in Arkansas, baseball became essential to survival. It lifted morale, created a sense of normalcy, and gave both players and spectators moments of dignity in the face of injustice. Every camp had at least one field and organized leagues. In camps with particularly strong talent—such as Gila River (Arizona), Heart Mountain (Wyoming), and Jerome (Arkansas)—incarcerated teams even scheduled games against top high school, college, and semipro clubs from nearby towns. The scoreboard mattered less than the goodwill built between Japanese Americans confined behind barbed wire and the free Americans beyond the fences.

Between 1923 and 1940, Kenichi Zenimura was involved with more than a dozen tours of Japanese baseball teams visiting the US or Nikkei teams visiting Japan. During one of those tours, in 1927, he and three other Japanese American players took the field with New York Yankees stars Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in Fresno, California.

While incarcerated at Gila River in Arizona, Zenimura used baseball to break down barriers, bond communities, and bring joy to the lives of others. After the war, he continued to play, manage, scout, and help others coordinate tours to Hawaii and Japan. He continued to scout and connect talent with Japanese teams. His two sons, Kenshi and Kenso, were among the first Americans to play for the Hiroshima Carp in 1953.

Read more: “Kenichi Zenimura, ‘The Father of Japanese American Baseball,’ and the 1924, 1927, and 1937 Goodwill Tours,” by Bill Staples Jr.

Harry Tashima: Thornhill of the Diamond

As sweat dripped from brows and dust bounced into eyes, Harry Tashima gave people reasons to keep looking up. The 6-foot-1-inch pitcher stood a head taller than teammates and competitors alike. His speed and control demanded attention, though it usually did his strikeout victims no good. The Manzanar Free Press described him as a “Thornhill of the diamond,” a nod to his stature: elm-like, even in a desert.

He joined the Sierra Padres of the International League, one of the 12 leagues formed inside Manzanar. He routinely practiced pitching for two to three hours a day, throwing with different speeds, grips, and deliveries to his batterymate, team catcher Victor Yokota.

Beyond the novelty of Tashima and the 5-foot-1 Yokota comprising the “tallest and shortest battery” in the league, the Free Press remarked, “Harry Tashima’s 10 musical fingers can do more than pound the keyboard.”

Read more: “Harry Tashima,” by Harrison Golden

Harry Tashima (rear center) photographed with the Vandals, one of the many softball teams he played for. (Courtesy of the Tashima family)

Harry Tashima oral history interview, March 17, 2006, courtesy of Manzanar National Historic Site

Photograph of the Modernaires social club taken in 1944. Chiyeko Hiraoka stands in the top row, fifth from the left. (Courtesy of County of Inyo, Eastern California Museum)

“Chickie” Hiraoka: Sliding Into Third

Traditionally, daughters were not given as many opportunities for higher education beyond high school that sons were, a practice the young Chiyeko Hiraoka rebelled against. “I was very athletic, so I was in sports. I was not an aggressive person, but I wanted to show them I was just as good. I enjoyed sports and many times I was much better than my younger brother in sports. That was my way of saying, ‘Hey, you know, I’m here.’” Chiyeko was further Americanized when she was given the nickname she’d be known as her entire life: Chickie. She later recalled, “I mean, what girl in Japan would be climbing trees and playing baseball, sliding into third. That was me.”

Women’s fastpitch softball was divided into an ‘A’ league and a ‘B’ league. The A league consisted of seven teams composed of older and more experienced players. Of these, the Dusty Chicks were the powerhouse, since their roster had played together before Pearl Harbor as the Los Angeles Chickadees. Among the other teams were the Termites, Jiggerettes, Invaders, and Lucky Strikers. Several of the B league teams served as de facto minor league teams for A league clubs. It was on one of those feeder teams, the Jr. Invaders, that 15-year-old Chickie won a third-base spot.

Read more: “Chiyeko Hiraoka Matoba,” by Gary Cieradkowski

Chiyeko Hiraoka Matoba oral history interview, September 17, 2007, courtesy of Manzanar National Historic Site

The 1942 (Incomplete) Little World Series

On September 7, 1942, the Manzanar Free Press reported, “The game of all games will be the fitting climax of the playoff titles in Manzanar’s little world series. The cream of each league will put forth their boastful teams in: American [L]eague’s San Pedro Gophers, National’s San Fernando Aces, International’s Island Marlins, Manzanar’s Has-Beens, and Owens’ [San] Pedro Pirates. Each team will have a chance to play against the other in a battle for the [fastpitch] softball crown of Manzanar.”

Then came the devastating news for baseball fans and playoff teams alike:

WORLD SERIES ENDED

From the Community Recreation Office – Due to the fact that baseball teams participating in the play-off have been unable to see that good sportsmanship prevails among the players, the play-off schedules have been cancelled. The season will end with the winning team of each league being recognized as champion of that particular league.

Read more: “The 1942 (Incomplete) Little World Series,” by Russ Speiller

Fans gather to watch ball games at Manzanar in 1942. Most of the playing was done between the blocks of barracks in the firebreak space. (Photo: Dorothea Lange, WRA, National Archives Collection)

Ben Yoshiwara

On Sunday, December 7, 1941, at 2:00 PM, Los Angeles Nippons pitcher Ben Yoshiwara stood on the mound in Los Angeles, staring down a lineup of Paramount Studio Cubs. In the third inning, FBI agents arrived, and murmurs about the attack on Pearl Harbor spread quickly through the ballpark. Yet, in this moment of extraordinary circumstances, the game continued. Under the watchful eyes of federal officials, Yoshiwara continued to wind up, deliver, and compete. He pitched the entire game, refusing to let the gathering storm break his concentration.

After he and his family were forcibly removed to Manzanar in 1942, Ben was named the assistant men’s athletic director, where he helped plan and organize the recreational activities of the camp. He acted as the primary liaison for team managers and was tasked with collecting rosters to organize the first formal baseball and softball seasons. His work during this period was crucial in transforming a desolate environment into a community with structured social activities, giving incarcerees a sense of normalcy and hope behind barbed wire. He was also one of the most versatile athletes in the camp and became the most feared hitter in Manzanar’s final baseball season in 1945.

Read more: “Ben Yoshiwara,” by Bill Staples Jr.

Ben Yoshiwara’s senior photo in 1940 from the University High School Chieftain yearbook, Los Angeles, California

George (left) and Jimmie (right) Tamura in their Ace Cub uniforms. (Courtesy of Willie Tamura)

The Tamura Brothers

The Aces were a powerful team that won the championship both in 1942 in the “National League,” one of the many leagues that were formed to play baseball and softball inside the Manzanar incarceration camp, and in the Manzanar Association’s winter league in 1943. For each game that the Aces played, one-third of their lineup card often included the names of the three Tamura brothers: Barry, Jimmie, and George.

Before they were incarcerated after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the three brothers played amateur ball for the San Fernando Aces in the Japanese Athletic League. George, who was 16 years old when he entered Manzanar, was the youngest Ace and was regarded by his peers as one of the best shortstops in Manzanar. His brother Jimmie, three years older than George, was one of the camp’s best pitchers. The oldest of the three siblings, Barry, was the team’s catcher.

For the Tamuras, Manzanar was not as pastoral as an apple orchard, the English translation of the Spanish word “Manzanar.” And their time behind barbed wire, even with baseball, was not as idyllic as Japanese haiku.