Tweet
I just received this yesterday and read the whole thing already!
Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball Espionage & Assassination During the 1934 Tour of Japan
By Robert K. Fitts
One of my favorite subjects is 1930's baseball and in particular barnstorming so this book on the 1934 MLB tour to Japan was right down my strike zone. I read countless numbers of baseball books doing research for my own stories and drawings and most of them seem to fall in 2 categories - either they are too pedestrian, edited down to appeal to the broadest common reader - or they are meticulously researched but dry as burnt toast.
This book hits the sweet spot, well written, a bunch of different story lines all weaved into a thoroughly well-written book. Of course the subject matter doesn't hurt. It's 1934 and the Babe is at the end of his career but he's a God in Japan and it's his last hurrah as a player. Connie Mack, leading the expedition, secretly uses the tour as an on-the-job tryout to see if Ruth would be responsible enough to manage the Athletics the following season. The Japanese put together a national all-star team of the country's best players to meet the Americans and so as not to be embarrassed when they play each other - this team forms the nucleus of the famed Tokyo Giants. The culture clash between east and west is vividly described in the players' own recollections and the nationalistic undercurrent in 1930's Japan gives a great background to the coming war with the US and the player's ambivalence to it because of the warm reception the Japanese people gave them. There's Moe Berg, journeyman catcher and future WWII spy who films strategic locations throughout the country. With story lines like this you can't go wrong but, like I said, it isn't a dry balls and strikes sports book, it is extremely well written and the author moves the story along at a nice pace.
If you haven't noticed, I highly recommend this book!
Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball Espionage & Assassination During the 1934 Tour of Japan
By Robert K. Fitts
One of my favorite subjects is 1930's baseball and in particular barnstorming so this book on the 1934 MLB tour to Japan was right down my strike zone. I read countless numbers of baseball books doing research for my own stories and drawings and most of them seem to fall in 2 categories - either they are too pedestrian, edited down to appeal to the broadest common reader - or they are meticulously researched but dry as burnt toast.
This book hits the sweet spot, well written, a bunch of different story lines all weaved into a thoroughly well-written book. Of course the subject matter doesn't hurt. It's 1934 and the Babe is at the end of his career but he's a God in Japan and it's his last hurrah as a player. Connie Mack, leading the expedition, secretly uses the tour as an on-the-job tryout to see if Ruth would be responsible enough to manage the Athletics the following season. The Japanese put together a national all-star team of the country's best players to meet the Americans and so as not to be embarrassed when they play each other - this team forms the nucleus of the famed Tokyo Giants. The culture clash between east and west is vividly described in the players' own recollections and the nationalistic undercurrent in 1930's Japan gives a great background to the coming war with the US and the player's ambivalence to it because of the warm reception the Japanese people gave them. There's Moe Berg, journeyman catcher and future WWII spy who films strategic locations throughout the country. With story lines like this you can't go wrong but, like I said, it isn't a dry balls and strikes sports book, it is extremely well written and the author moves the story along at a nice pace.
If you haven't noticed, I highly recommend this book!
Comment