The Challenge to the Major Leagues Began in Mita: Tsunamachi Field

2017/11/11

Image: The Keio University Baseball Club vs. "St. Louis" game held at Tsunamachi Field in 1907 (From "The Centennial History of the Keio University Baseball Club")

More than 20 years have passed since Hideo Nomo made his Major League debut in 1995 (Heisei 7), and we have entered an era where it is no longer rare for Japanese players to go to America and succeed. Currently, the movements of "two-way" player Shohei Ohtani are drawing much attention. However, it is little known that more than 100 years ago, in 1913 (Taisho 2), a game between two Major League teams—the Chicago White Sox and the New York Giants—was held in Japan, specifically in Mita. The venue was Keio University's Mita Tsunamachi Field. In this article, we will unravel this little-known history of Japanese-American baseball.

Both teams arrived in Yokohama on December 5 after a 16-day sea voyage from Vancouver as part of a world tour baseball troupe. The following day, the 6th, they stood on Mita Tsunamachi Field. Keio University President Eikichi Kamata threw the ceremonial first pitch, and the game between the White Sox and the Giants began. The White Sox won with a score of 9 to 4.

The next day, Keio University faced a combined team from both Major League clubs. Although the Juku sent Kazuma Sugase—the ace considered the best in Japan at the time—to the mound, they were hammered with 14 hits, and this memorable first confrontation with the Majors ended in a crushing 16-3 defeat.

It was a doubleheader that day, and the second game was again between the White Sox and the Giants. The White Sox won their second straight game with a score of 12-9, but in this game, Giants first baseman Fred Merkle hit an out-of-the-park home run that cleared the left-field fence and even the Furukawa River flowing beyond it. The next day's newspaper reported, "The ball cleared the left-field fence and reached from Shiba to Azabu" (Tokyo Nichi Nichi Shimbun). Tokyo at that time had a 15-ward system. Tsunamachi Field was in Shiba Ward, and the other side of the Furukawa River, which served as the ward boundary, was Azabu Ward (after World War II, the three wards of Shiba, Azabu, and Akasaka merged to become the current Minato Ward).

This was a period when the Waseda-Keio rivalry had been suspended since 1906 (Meiji 39) due to overheated fan support. However, to see authentic Major League play and to cheer for Keio, baseball players from various universities, including Waseda, rushed to Mita and reportedly watched the field intently.

The legendary manager John McGraw, who led the Giants for 30 years, was surprised by the excellent control of the Japanese pitchers and remarked, "One day, advertisements saying \"Japan-US Baseball Game Today\" will appear on the streets of Japan." Furthermore, having received direct coaching from Major League players during this visit, the Juku baseball club opened the doors to modern baseball and made significant strides forward.

Mita Tsunamachi Field, which was the site of the first Waseda-Keio rivalry game that began with a challenge from Waseda in 1903 (Meiji 36), was also the stage that served as the starting point for the internationalization of Japanese baseball. The challenge to the Majors—it started right here in Mita.

(Editorial Department)