Manzanar Men’s Softball, 1943 Season: Knight Time

Batter’s Up

“Batter’s up,” the umpire calls.
So clear, so loud, so true.
Before the crowd, the umpire stands.
Amid cheers, jeers, and boos.
The batter stands with feet apart,
He stands with shoulders back;
His bronzed hands hold the hefty bat.
The ball to try and hack.
The chucker starts his windup.
The ball goes straight and fast.
Before the batter can gather wits.
The horsehide sizzles past.
“Strike one,” yells the ump,
The batter mutters, “D___ you.”
And then before another word.
This time the call, “Strike two.”
The chucker’s got his arm now,
Spectators jump and shout;
The batter swings a mighty blow,
Too late, ump cries, “you’re out!”
“Batter’s up,” the umpire calls.

— (Tom) Yamada, published in the Manzanar Free Press sports section, Saturday, June 26, 1943

 

 

Men’s fastpitch softball resumed at Manzanar in mid-June 1943. The highest-caliber league was known as the AA League, which was composed of the following teams:

• YBA
• San Pedro Skippers
• Sears (previously called the 7-11s)
• Manzaknights
• Yogores
• Bulldogs
• Has-Beens

The first game of the season officially kicked off on Saturday evening, June 19, 1943, between the San Pedro Skippers and YBA. YBA’s pitchers were rusty and struggled to get the ball over the plate. Those walks came back to haunt YBA as the Skippers, who only had three hits in the game, walked away with a 7-2 victory.

The Manzaknights opened against Sears, who had played the previous year under the name of 7-11s. Sears drew first blood in the second inning, scoring a run after S. Seko and M. Okamoto both reached base on walks. After tying the game 1-1 in the second inning, the Knights erupted for four runs in the fourth inning thanks to a two-out grand slam off the bat of Yamaguchi. The Knights scored two more runs in the fifth inning, leaving Sears down by six runs in their final seventh frame. With two outs and the bases loaded, Ohara came to bat, stroked a double, and brought Sears to within three runs. But Ohara, perhaps foolishly, tried to steal third base and instead found himself caught stealing for the final out of the game, giving the Manzaknights the 7-4 win.

The Yogores squad came out with all engines firing as they began their season by winning their first three contests, led by their lanky, whirlwind chucker Harry Tashima. In their first game of the season against the Has-Beens, the Yogies found themselves with a commanding 13-1 lead by the end of the third inning. Their 13-run barrage was made possible by a grand slam in the second inning off the bat of G. Shimizu followed by two more home runs in an eight-run third inning. The Yogies fielders experienced a case of the yips in the sixth inning as the Has-Beens scored six runs on just two hits. But it wasn’t enough to catch Yogores, who walked off with a 13-9 victory.

The Yogies’ second game was a much tighter, back-and-forth affair against YBA. YBA held the lead twice, but each time Yogores came back. Ultimately, it was a three-hit day from Ohno that enabled Yogores to edge out YBA by a score of 6-4.

In their third game of the season, Yogores engaged in a thrilling contest with the Manzaknights. The Knights had their hitting shoes on as N. Hino, G. Kanemoto, and Toshikazu Terasawa all had two hits. With the game tied at two runs each in the fifth inning, the Knights had their chance to take the lead when, with two outs, Yamaguchi was on third base and Kitaoka on second. But Yogores’ pitcher Tashima bore down and got the Knights’ Maruki to pop back to him to end the threat. Yogores then scored two runs in the sixth inning and held the Knights scoreless in the seventh for the 4-2 win.

Sears regrouped from their loss to the Manzaknights in a big way when they met the Bulldogs. Sears’ pitcher T. Ohara fired a no-hitter; however, he also issued six walks and encountered some bad luck as his teammates committed errors that led to Sears finding itself down, 2-1, with their last three outs to go. But Sears pushed across two runs in their half of the seventh inning to claim a 3-2 victory.

Prior to the Fourth of July break, the Skippers and Bulldogs matched up in an extra-inning affair that almost got called on account of darkness. Errors in the fifth inning by the Bulldogs caused their 4-1 lead to evaporate into a 4-4 tie. The Bulldogs had the first opportunity to score in extra innings, but the Skippers’ pitching and defense were up to the task, setting the Bulldog batters down in order. In the bottom of the eighth inning, it was the Bulldogs’ pitcher who succumbed to pressure as he issued a leadoff walk to the Skippers’ Miyake. S. Hashimoto followed with a hit to advance Miyake to second. Then Yamasaki proceeded to hit the game winner, driving in Miyake to give the Skippers the 5-4 win.

The third time was the charm for YBA as they finally experienced their first victory of the season when they shut out the Has-Beens, 3-0. Oda was the batting star for YBA with his two key hits on the day.

The Has-Beens next met up with the Manzaknights, who proceeded to bang out nine hits and twelve runs. The Has-Beens tried to make it a competitive game, but after they scored four runs by the fourth inning, Knights’ pitcher T. Kitaoka held the Has-Beens hitless for the rest of the game as they fell by a score of 12-4.

Commemorating the Fourth of July holiday, the men’s all-star game featured Yogores versus an all-star squad of players from the other AA teams. The rosters for the game were as follows:

 

YOGORES	POSITION
Y. Fujii	catcher
H. Tashima	pitcher
S. Mitsui	pitcher
M. Uragami	first base
T. Uyematsu	second base
I. Higashi	third base
G. Shimizu	shortstop
T. Seko	left field
N. Murakami	center field
F. Ohara	right field

ALL STARS	POSITION	TEAM
F. Takade	fielder	Skippers
S. Morikawa	fielder	YBA
G. Sugawara	fielder	YBA
W. Yamada	fielder	Has-beens
G. Kanemoto	fielder	Manzaknights
T. Terasawa	fielder	Manzaknights
T. Kitaoka	pitcher	Manzaknights
H. Okamura	pitcher	Bulldogs
H. Tochioka	pitcher	Has-beens
D. Izumida	catcher	Bulldogs
M. Okamoto	catcher	Sears
L. Kawauchi	first base	Skippers
C. Nishikawa	first base	Bulldogs
D. Murata	second base	Skippers
N. Hino	second base	Manzaknights
J. Yamaguchi	shortstop	Manzaknights
G. Tamura	shortstop	Bulldogs
M. Kusaba	third base	Sears
B. Yoshiwara	third base	Has-beens

 

The Yogores and camp all-stars put on an absolute thriller for the capacity crowd in attendance. The all-stars came up to bat first and started scoring early. Walks to Nob Hino and George Sugawara brought up YBA all-star Shig Morikawa, who hammered a double to score Hino. Sugawara, too, scored when the center fielder made a wild throw.

Yogores quickly answered in their half of the first inning, scoring two runs of their own thanks to hits by T. Uyematsu and George Shimizu who both came home on errors by the all-stars.

All-star pitcher T. Kitaoka accounted for the run scored in the second inning, as he walked, stole second base, and later came home on an error by the shortstop to tie the game, 2-2.

Yogores had an excellent opportunity to come back and take the lead in the third inning when Maxie Uragami led off with a single and stole second base. Teammate Isao Higashi walked to put men on first and second with no outs. Both Uyematsu and Shimizu proceeded to fly out, followed by a walk to Ohara that loaded the bases with two outs. But there would be no heroics as the next batter popped out to end the threat.

In the all-stars’ half of the fourth inning, Kitaoka led off with a hit followed by a walk to W. Yamada. Pitcher Mitsui struck out the next batter, Lanky Kawauchi, for the first out of the inning. Nob Hino then reached first base on a fielder’s choice that was bobbled. George Sugawara followed by hitting into a run-scoring fielder’s choice, after which S. Morikawa got a clean hit to plate two more. Mitsui was pulled from the mound in favor of Harry Tashima, who proceeded to get Yoshiwara to ground into a fielder’s choice but not before the all-stars had taken the lead by a score of 5-2.

Yogores looked to stage a comeback in the fifth inning, as they touched up all-star relief pitcher H. Okamura for two runs, bringing Yogores within a run. But the all-stars pulled further ahead in the sixth, scoring a run to increase their lead to two runs. Yogores was only able to answer with one run, as they went down to defeat, 6-5.

Coming out of the all-star contest, Yogores looked to keep their undefeated streak alive against Sears. It was Sears who jumped on Yogores’ pitcher Sats Mitsui early, scoring two runs in both the second and third innings that included a home run by pitcher T. Ohara. Ohara was the star of the game, as he had three hits while limiting Yogores to just three hits in the 4-2 win, the first defeat of the season for the Yogies.

Unfortunately for the Yogies, things did not get better as they next matched up against the San Pedro Skippers. Yogores lost their second straight, by a score of 8-1. Skipper pitcher A. Hashimoto was masterful in hurling a no-hit, one-run game.

Someone let the dogs out when the Bulldogs encountered YBA, as they put on a hitting attack that led to an easy 8-2 win. The Dogs scored one run in the first inning, five runs in the second inning, and another two in the fourth inning. Izumida and Nishikawa each scored twice for the Bulldogs.

It took until mid-July, but the Has-Beens finally tasted their first victory when they beat Sears by a score of 4-1. The Has-Beens’ Wataru Okamoto tossed a four-hitter to earn the win. They were aided by F. Kunitomi and S. Hasegawa who each got a hit and scored a run in the second inning.

Riding the high of their first victory, the Has-Beens next took on the Skippers, who were undefeated and sitting atop the AA League standings. The Has-Beens began the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff home run from Shigeo Tochioka. W. Yamada proceeded to work a walk, and later scored on a hit by F. Kunitomi, giving the Has-Beens the early 2-0 lead. The Has-Beens added a run in the sixth inning, leaving the Skippers down 3-0 as they came to bat in their half of the final seventh inning. Skipper T. Mikuriya stroked a hit to left field, then proceeded to steal second base. An error by the Has-Beens allowed Mikuriya to cross home plate while his teammate Tatsumi reached base. After Skipper D. Murata struck out, Lanky Kawauchi met the hide for a hit driving in Tatsumi, which brought the Skippers within one run. But the comeback ran out of gas as the next two Skipper hitters fizzled as the Has-Beens handed the Skippers their first loss of the season.

Pitcher Harry Tashima was in fine form when his Yogores team faced the Bulldogs. Yogores came out on top thanks to sloppy play from the Bulldogs. All four runs in the 4-0 Yogores win were unearned, much to the dismay of Bulldogs’ starting pitcher Tsukashima, who gave up just three hits in four innings, while his teammate, George Tamura, proceeded to hold Yogores hitless in relief over the final two frames.

Not much seemed to be going YBA’s way until they encountered the Manzaknights in the latter half of July. The game produced an epic pitcher’s duel between Pete Mitsui of YBA and Kitaoka of the Manzaknights. Mitsui ended up getting the better of his opponent as he gave up just one hit to the Knights. The game required extra innings to settle as the winning run scored in the ninth inning when M. Nakadaira reached base on a walk and then scored on a hit from S. Katayama.

The Skippers bounced back after suffering their first loss of the season, first by beating Sears in a hard-fought 9-5 battle and then by battering YBA, 21-3. Against YBA, the Skippers’ hurler G. Yamasaki nabbed top batting honors by rapping three hits in four trips to the plate while teammates F. Takade and I. Mikuriya each had two hits in their three turns at bat.

Next up for the Skippers, who now co-led the AA League standings alongside Yogores, was the Manzaknights. The Skippers started strong, scoring three runs in the first inning aided by a two-run double off the bat of L. Kawauchi. Down 4-2 in the fifth inning, the Manzaknights’ E. Hochi reached first on an error. T. Kitaoka was walked, putting two men on base. Up came K. Maruki who met the onion for a three-run home run. The Knights continued to add runs, leaving the Skippers down, 7-4, as they reached their final at-bats. After two hits to the outfield that scored two runs, the Skippers needed one run to tie and two to win. With one out, Skipper batter M. Shimizu reached scoring position after a hit. But the comeback stalled out there as the next Skipper batter flied out, followed by a strikeout, leading to a 7-6 victory for the Manzaknights.

In a weekend contest in late July, the San Pedro Yogores took on the Has-Beens. With two outs in the top of the third inning, the Yogies’ Uyematsu scalded a double to left and scored a moment later on Higashi’s hit to center. The Has-Beens quickly answered in their half of the third inning when Hasegawa blasted a two-run homer, giving the Has-Beens the 2-1 lead.

But that lead evaporated in the top half of the next inning as the Yogies erupted for five big runs. Shimizu and Seko led off with singles to left, followed by a walk to Mitsui which loaded the bases. Fujii hit a roller to third base, forcing out Shimizu. The next batter popped out to the third baseman for the second out. Nakaji sent a stinging single to right, scoring Seko and Mitsui. Uyematsu then slapped the horsehide way over the left fielder’s head for a three-run home run. Yogores made the big inning stand as they emerged victorious by a score of 7-4.

With the calendar flipping to August, it was anybody’s guess who would emerge as the champion of the AA League. The Has-Beens were taken down in a 10-0 massacre by YBA as pitcher Pete Mitsui twirled a masterful one-hitter. YBA iced the game early, scoring five runs in the first inning.

Yogores was humbled by the Manzaknights, 6-3, thanks to a five-run outburst in the second inning. For the Knights, K. Maruki, Y. Ishida, G. Kanemoto, T. Terasawa, and N. Hino all came around to score in that fateful second inning, in which Yogores committed four errors.

Meanwhile the Bulldogs eked out a 4-3 victory over the Skippers. A. Hashimoto started on the mound for the Skippers and hurled a beautiful four-hit game except for one bad inning in which the Dogs bunched across four big runs that proved fatal to the Skippers.

Fortunes were reversed for both the Skippers and Bulldogs in their next contests as the Skippers toppled Sears, 6-4, while the Bulldogs were upset by the Has-Beens, 11-9. In the Skippers’ game, pitcher A. Hashimoto battled tough both on the mound and at the plate. He had a two-run single to tie the ballgame in the fifth inning and retired the side 1-2-3 in the final frame to preserve the win. Meanwhile, in the contest between the Has-Beens and Bulldogs, the Has-Beens stunned the Dogs by jumping on Bulldogs’ starting pitcher H. Okamura for four runs in the first inning and knocking Okamura out of the game in the second inning when Shigeo Tochioka pasted one of Okamura’s pitches for a home run over the left fielder’s head.

The Has-Beens almost had a second upset victory when they met up with the Manzaknights. In what was described by the Manzanar Free Press sports editors as a “movie finish,” the Manzaknights edged out the Has-Beens, 8-7, thanks to contributions by the Hochi brothers. Going into the bottom of the seventh, the Has-Beens held a seemingly comfortable 7-2 lead. N. Hino and E. Hochi each walked. Yamaguchi next reached base on an error that also scored Hino. A fielder’s choice allowed Hochi to score. K. Hochi came up to bat and scorched a single to left that scored Yamaguchi. Another fielder’s choice and walk loaded the bases for the Knights. Terasawa then reached base on an error that scored Hochi. Hino walked with the bases loaded to bring in Ishida and reload the bases. E. Hochi completed the walk-off comeback victory by driving in Kanemoto.

The Bulldogs recovered from their loss to the Has-Beens by earning a 7-2 victory over YBA. Despite playing errorless ball throughout the game, YBA pitcher Pete Mitsui was touched up by the Bulldogs, whose scoring was highlighted by a home run off the bat of H. Takechi.

Now it was the Manzaknights turn to accumulate victories as they tamed the Bulldogs in a late August contest by a score of 6-2, in which the game ended after six innings due to darkness. Hits by J. Yamaguchi, K. Maruki, and K. Hochi helped propel the Knights to the win.

The Knights’ positive momentum was staved off in a meeting against YBA, another match that had to be ended after six innings due to darkness. Despite two-hit games from Knights batters K. Maruki and G. Kanemoto, it was YBA who ran amok, thanks to walks issued by the Knights, easily cruising to a 15-5 victory.

The Has-Beens and Sears teams engaged in a close battle, with the Has-Beens winning by a score of 4-2. Sears chose to give regular left fielder M. Murata the starting pitching assignment against the Has-Beens, and he pitched well, combining in relief with teammate T. Ohara to allow just three hits. Has-Beens pitcher Wataru Okamoto was up to the task, too, giving up only four hits. But in the fourth inning, with the game tied at two runs each, the Has-Beens’ Yoshiwara led off with a hit to right. Yamada followed with a hit to center, later scoring on an error by the Sears third baseman to give the Has-Beens the lead they did not relinquish.

Sears was unable to bounce back from the loss when they met up with Yogores. Behind the superb hurling of Harry Tashima, Yogores had no difficulty in subduing Sears by a 6-0 score. Yogores was slow to get started, breaking the ice in the third inning when they scored two runs. They followed an inning later with four more runs highlighted by successive hits from Uyematsu, Higashi, and Uragami.

As September rolled in, a showdown commenced between the Manzaknights and San Pedro Skippers. Both teams scored runs in the first inning. After Knights leadoff man N. Hino struck out, E. Hochi reached first base after the Skippers misplayed his ground ball. J. Yamaguchi followed with a line drive double. T. Kitaoka beat out an infield hit to load the bases. After Maruki popped out, K. Hochi walked to bring in the Knights’ first run. Y. Ishida then rapped a single that went past the left fielder, bringing in three runs.

In the bottom half of the first, the Skips’ T. Shimizu led off with a single, followed by a walk to Y. Tatsumi. F. Takade was called out on strikes, after which L. Kawauchi blasted a line drive down the left-field line. The ball got past Maruki for a round-tripper that pulled the Skips to within one run at 4-3.

A wild throw and error allowed the Skippers to tie the game in the second inning. In the third, the Knights’ Kitaoka reached first base on an error. Maruki came to bat and smashed a home run to left center, giving the Knights a two-run lead. The gap widened another notch when Ishida next stepped to the plate and blasted a home run that went out past the road.

The Skippers answered with two runs in their half of the third inning before the Knights erupted for five runs on five hits in the sixth inning, highlighted by doubles from Kitaoka, Maruki, and Ishida. At the game’s end, the Manzaknights claimed not just a 13-7 victory but also a share of first place in the AA League alongside the Skippers and Yogores.

With one game to go in the league schedule for each team, the Yogores, Skippers, and Manzaknights found themselves in a three-way tie for first place, all with records of 7-4. The Yogores and Skippers met in their final game knowing that one team was going to knock the other out of first position. It was Yogores who won that survival of the fittest as they knocked out Skipper starting pitcher Yamasaki with a six-run barrage en route to a 7-2 victory. Yogores stud pitcher Harry Tashima struck out 12 Skipper batters in the game.

Battling to gain entrance into the finals, the Manzaknights trounced Sears, 5-1, giving them a tie with the Yogies for first place and forcing a one-game-take-all showdown. Playing till the ball was barely visible due to oncoming darkness, the Knights emerged as victors of the AA League as they beat Yogores by a score of 2-0. Ishida was the hero as he drove in the two runs and made the final two outs of the game with a nifty twin-killing.

The end-of-season batting title was shared by Ben Yoshiwara and Kats Nishikawa, who each finished with a .371 average. Others in the top five included M. Uragami of Yogores with a .350 average, K. Maruki of the Manzaknights at .341, and several players tied at .333.

The 1943 AA softball season came to an end with a ballgame pitting the champion Manzaknights against a squad of all-stars from the other league teams. The rosters were as follows:

 

MANZAKNIGHTS	POSITION
N. Hino	second base
E. Hochi	third base
J. Yamaguchi	shortstop
T. Kitaoka	pitcher / left field
K. Maruki	left field / pitcher
K. Hochi	center field
Y. Ishida	first base
G. Kanemoto	right field
T. Terasawa	catcher

ALL STARS	TEAM	POSITION
M. Nakadaira	YBA	shortstop
H. Nishikawa	Bulldogs	right field
M. Shimizu	Skippers	catcher
D. Izumida	Bulldogs	catcher
K. Nishikawa	Bulldogs	left field
L. Kawauchi	Skippers	first base
F. Takade	Skippers	center field
G. Sugawara	YBA	center field
B. Yoshiwara	Has-Beens	third base
C. Miyaki	Skippers	third base
M. Kusaba	Sears	second base
H. Okamura	Bulldogs	pitcher
H. Tashima	Yogores	pitcher

 

The combined talents of the all-stars proved too much for the Manzaknights on the evening of Sunday, September 12, 1943. In the second inning, the all-stars broke the ice, scoring two runs. Kawauchi walked and advanced to third base on a double by Yoshiwara. Kusaba hit a high fly ball back of second base that the center fielder couldn’t hang on to, which scored Kawauchi and moved Yoshiwara to third. With Okamura up at bat, Manzaknight catcher Toshikazu Terasawa tried to catch Kusaba going to second base, but his throw sailed over the head of the second baseman, allowing Yoshiwara to cross the plate.

In the third inning, the all-stars exploded for five runs, highlighted by a sizzling hit past third base by F. Takade with the bases loaded to bring in two of the five runs. Meanwhile, all-star starting pitcher Okamura was masterful in keeping the Knights off the scoreboard for the first three innings.

In the fourth, Okamura was relieved by the usually reliable Harry Tashima. The Manzaknights tagged Tashima for three hits and four runs as they attempted a comeback. But there would be no more scoring for the Manzaknights, who fell by a final score of 8-4.

In a matter of weeks, fall would transition to winter, and softball would step aside to make way for the Manzanar men’s winter baseball season to commence on the newly constructed large baseball diamond.

The authors of this book would also like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Manzanar Historic National Site Park Ranger Sarah Bone for helping to connect us to the many resources used to tell these important stories, while educating us all in the process.

RUSS SPEILLER has been a SABR member since 2023 and could not be more grateful to the writers, editors, and consultants who contributed to this book. Having graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Chemical Engineering, Russ lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with his incredible family. He has contributed to numerous SABR books, the BioProject, and Turnstyle magazine. This is his first time leading the construction of a SABR book and he is appreciative of the SABR publications board for choosing to greenlight this effort. He really hopes you all enjoy and learn from How We Played the Game. To read more of Russ’ work, please visit russspeiller.substack.com.

 

SOURCES

Unless otherwise noted, all information used to construct summaries was compiled using game summaries and the comments of the sports editors of the Manzanar Free Press, accessed via digitized copies of the paper found online at the Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84025948/?st=calendar&year=1943.