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Banzai Babe Ruth Baseball Espionage and Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan Robert K Fitts 9780803229846 Books

Download As PDF : Banzai Babe Ruth Baseball Espionage and Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan Robert K Fitts 9780803229846 Books

Banzai Babe Ruth Baseball Espionage and Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan Robert K Fitts 9780803229846 Books

I've never written a review on amazon.com before, but I wrote my take on this book on a baseball history forum I belong to and thought it should be on here as well...

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!


Tags : Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, and Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan [Robert K. Fitts] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <DIV>In November 1934 as the United States and Japan drifted toward war, a team of American League all-stars that included Babe Ruth,Robert K. Fitts,Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, and Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan,Univ of Nebraska Pr,0803229844,Baseball - Japan - History - 20th century,Baseball - United States - History - 20th century,Baseball;Japan;History;20th century.,Baseball;United States;History;20th century.,Civilization - American influences,Ruth, Babe,Sports and state - United States,Sports and state;United States.,United States - Foreign relations - 20th century,20th century,Asia - Japan,Asian,BASEBALL,Baseball - History,General Adult,History,HistoryAsia - Japan,HistoryUnited States - 20th Century,Japan,Non-Fiction,Political ScienceHistory & Theory - General,Political ScienceInternational Relations - General,SPORTS & RECREATION Baseball History,Sports,Sports & Recreation,Sports and state,UNIVERSITY PRESS,United States,United States - 20th Century

Banzai Babe Ruth Baseball Espionage and Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan Robert K Fitts 9780803229846 Books Reviews

Great book! Very interesting history and a fun baseball book. A good one to read and learn history without working too hard.
not finished yet but a great read like his other books i've readfast prompt courteous service a pleasure to do business with you hope to do more buys with you thank you
In 1934 a group of baseball players barnstormed across Japan. Included in this group were Connie Mack, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Moe Berg and Babe Ruth. Robert K. Fitts gives a great account of this tour in his fine book "Banzai Babe Ruth." The people in Japan gave a large welcome to this group, especially Babe Ruth. Although the Japanese teams were overmatched, most of the games drew overflow crowds. These games decreased tensions between the two nations. Unfortunately, tensions would increase, leading to Japan's bombinging of Pearl Harbor several years later. Much is written about the history of Japan and the changes going back hundreds of years.
I thought this was a fair book and I learned from it, but it really felt in places that the author was trying to get more out of the story than was there. The narrative of the Japanese American kid who played with the Japanese all-stars but who really had his heart set on playing in the big leagues is a good example of this. Fitts kept returing to this kid in the book, that you almost expected him to be a star at the end and get a try-out with the Yankees. But in fact he was one of the worst performing of the Japanese "stars" during the tour. I think he ended up hitting .111 or somthing and that was the end of the story. The assassination plot that was concurrent with the tour was also over-dramaticized I felt.

Overall, it was OK and, as I said I learned some interesting facts, but neverthelss a disappointment.
I was living in Japan and enjoying the avid baseball fans when I stumbled upon this book. It was a great read, with detailed history of some of the more obscure details of pre-professional baseball in Japan.
While it would have been wonderful if this game could have brought our two nations together and avoided WWII, today as more countries step to the plate, we begin to see much more inclusion.
In Japan today baseball is alive and well, Banzai!
this book was given as a gift and as long as the subject matter is baseball it's wonderful
Well-researched and interesting. Fascinating look into not only the off-line lives of famous 30s-era baseball players but also of pre-WWII Imperial Japan. Add a star if you are into baseball statistics.
I've never written a review on before, but I wrote my take on this book on a baseball history forum I belong to and thought it should be on here as well...

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!