Japan Baseball

In November 1934 as the United States and Japan drifted toward war, a team of American League all-stars that included Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, future secret agent Moe Berg, and Connie Mack barnstormed across the Land of the Rising Sun. Hundreds of thousands of fans, many waving Japanese and American flags, welcomed the team with shouts of Banzai! Banzai Babe Ruth! The all-stars stayed for a month, playing 18 games, spawning professional baseball in Japan.

A real-life story of love, perseverance, in the Land of the Rising Sun. This book is like "Lost in Translation" meets "Among the Thugs," as we follow McKnight in his struggles to fit into the rigid Japanese workplace, searching for true love, and immersing himself in the fascinating culture that surrounds him. It's a unique look at life through the eyes of a foreigner in Japan, who eventually finds success and happiness.in his adopted homeland. So strap yourself in and get ready for a wild ride through the streets of Tokyo, Osaka, and the backroads of rural Japan, in Part III of the Yellow ...

Shohei Ohtani is a phenomenon. When he joined Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Angels in 2017, he brought with him skills never before seen in the MLB. He can mash home runs and throw 100 miles-per-hour fastballs. Plus, he plays baseball like a samurai, driven by an insatiable competitive spirit that spurs him to perform superhuman feats throughout every game. But to say he is an MLB All Star doesn’t give the whole picture of the man. A humble young man from rural Japan, Shohei Ohtani has worked tirelessly to perfect his craft. Overcoming multiple devastating injuries, Shohei Ohtani ...

A real-life "Lost in Translation" story of an American trying to adapt to life, work, and love in Japan who eventually finds success and happiness. A unique look at life in the Land of the Rising Sun through the eyes of a foreigner.

Follow author Robert Whiting (The Chrysanthemum and the Bat, You Gotta Have Wa, Tokyo Underworld) as he watches Tokyo transform during the 1964 Olympics, rubs shoulders with the Yakuza and comes face to face with the city’s dark underbelly, interviews Japan’s baseball elite after publishing his first best-selling book on the subject, and learns how politics and sports collide to produce a cultural landscape unlike any other, even as a new Olympics is postponed and the COVID virus ravages the nation.

From Los Angeles Dodgers all-star Shohei Ohtani comes a fast-paced and heartwarming fictional story about his real-life dog Decoy’s first pitch on Opening Day of the baseball season. Decoy can’t wait to throw the first pitch on Opening Day of the new baseball season! The stadium has hot dogs...

Like many American boys, Tony Barnette yearned to one day make it to “The Show,” playing baseball professionally. The Arizona State pitcher was drafted in 2006 by the in-state Diamondbacks. Gradually ascending the minor-league ladder, it looked like this was the beginning of a blessed life, where he could play the game he loved on the grandest of stages. But things don’t always work out the way we want. On the verge of achieving his lifelong dream after notching a league-high 14 wins in Triple A, Tony looked ahead to 2010 with optimism. That’s when Japan came calling.

A naive American leaves his comfortable life behind to teach English in Japan for a year. Initially overwhelmed with difficulties adapting to the language and culture, he eventually finds love and a sense of purpose in his work. This motivates him to immerse himself in the fascinating new world that surrounds him. As one year becomes two, and two years become three, he decides that Japan is the right place for him until a harsh dose of reality forces him to make a life decision to stay in his adopted country or return home.