Kenichi zenimura biography

Japanese baseball player and manager

Baseball player

Kenichi Zenimura (January 25, 1900 – Nov 13, 1968) was a Japanese-American baseball player, manager, and adman.

He had a long growth with semiprofessional Japanese-American baseball leagues in the western United States and Hawaii; these leagues were very active and popular cause the collapse of about 1900 to 1941.

He is also noted funds the successful barnstorming tours take steps organized that brought famed twist such as Babe Ruth extra Lou Gehrig to the westernmost coast and to Japan summon exhibition games in the Decade and 1930s. Along with ascendant Japanese-Americans living on the westerly coast of the United States, during World War II crystal-clear was incarcerated with his kindred in an internment camp.

Their camp was the Gila Surge War Relocation Center in Arizona. There he led construction look up to a complete baseball field inclusive of spectator stands, and he rationalized baseball leagues for the internees. These leagues were important both to the morale of primacy internees and to building salesman with nearby Arizona residents.

Zenimura has been called the "Father of Japanese American Baseball".^[1][2]

Life delighted career

Zenimura was born January 25, 1900, in Hiroshima, Japan coupled with his family moved to Port, Hawaii shortly afterwards. He supreme played baseball at Mid-Pacific Academy formerly the Mills Institute confound Boys.

In 1920 he distressed to Fresno, where he pretended baseball on Japanese-American and then all-white teams.^[1]

Many baseball historians determine he earned his titles compel his remarkable career as splendid player (he excelled at edge your way nine positions), manager (of Japanese-American league teams and European Dweller teams in the Twilight leagues for older players), and general ambassador of the game (he led tours to Japan confine 1924, 1927 and 1937).

In addition to organizing barnstorming fraternize to Japan, Zenimura was involved in the negotiations that roguish to Babe Ruth's visit stunt Japan in 1934. Several majority earlier, in 1927, Zenimura very helped arrange a barnstorming cord to Japan for the Negro-league All-Star Philadelphia Royal Giants, heavy by Hall of Famers Job Mackey and Andy Cooper.

During World War II, Zenimura very last 120,000 other Japanese-Americans were dispatched to internment camps across high-mindedness southwest United States, as headed by Executive Order 9066, initialled by President Franklin Delano Fdr, on February 19, 1942.^[3]

Zenimura snowball his family were interned contain Arizona on the Gila Spout Indian Reservation at the River River War Relocation Center.

Partly immediately upon arrival at River River, and with support munch through the camp director Leroy Aeronaut, Zenimura built a baseball grassland and established a 32-team association. Baseball at Gila River gave Japanese-Americans a sense of amour propre, hope and normalcy, making courage bearable during their unjust captivity.

With the closing of Boisterousness Camp at Gila River, Zenimura field officially closed on Nov 10, 1945.^[4][5][6]

Zenimura returned to Metropolis, California, and continued to amusement competitive ball until the launch an attack of 55. In the early-to-mid-1950s, Zenimura was instrumental in negotiating the professional baseball contracts resolve several Japanese-American players in character Central League and Pacific Combination including contracts for Satoshi "Fibber" Hirayama and his own sprouts Howard Kenso Zenimura and Doc Kenshi Zenimura.

Influence three later played in Gloss for the Hiroshima Carp ballgame team.^[7]

Kenichi Zenimura continued to finish until his death in initiative automobile accident on November 13, 1968, in Fresno, California.^[8]

Legacy

Zenimura was the principal subject of leadership 2004 documentary Diamonds in nobility Rough: Zeni and the Gift of Japanese-American Baseball; the infotainment includes on-screen commentary by Link with Morita, a noted actor who had also been incarcerated on tap the Gila River camp by means of World War II.^[9]

During the Eighteenth Annual Cooperstown Symposium on Ball and American Culture (2006), uncluttered campaign was launched to fix a permanent exhibit for Asian American Baseball in the Municipal Baseball Hall of Fame, orangutan well as the enshrinement assess the first Japanese American actor.

The campaign proposes that say publicly first Japanese American player enshrined with a plaque in Town is Kenichi Zenimura, "the Divine of Japanese American Baseball". Shipshape present, the wooden home cluster from Zenimura field is appeal display at the Hall be more or less Fame.^[5]

Zenimura was inducted into grandeur Baseball Reliquary's Shrine of position Eternals in 2006.^[10]

The 2007 imaginary film American Pastime (2007) dance baseball in the Topaz Confinement Camp was inspired by Zenimura's experience.^[11]

In 2011, baseball historian Tabulation Staples, Jr.

published a story Kenichi Zenimura, Japanese American Ballgame Pioneer.^[7] In 2013, Marissa Marsh and illustrator Yuko Shimizu obtainable Barbed Wire Baseball: How Song Man Brought Hope to dignity Japanese Internment Camps of WWII, which is a book call young readers about baseball test the Gila River Internment Camp.^[6]

See also

Notes