Kenichi Zenimura, Japanese American Baseball Pioneer

Bill Staples, Jr., is a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), a board member of the Nisei Baseball Research Project, and a past speaker at the Cooperstown Symposium on Baseball and American Culture at the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He lives in Chandler, Arizona. Visit his website at www.zenimura.com/.

Table of Contents



Acknowledgments     

Foreword by Don Wakamatsu     

Preface    

Introduction     



1. Athlete in the Making (1900–1920)     

2. Breaking Down Barriers (1920–1924)     

3. Only the Ball Was Small (1925–1929)     

4. The Twilight Era (1930–1941)     

5. Relocating and Rebuilding Hope (1942–1943)     

6. A Taste of Freedom (1944)     

7. Rounding Third and Heading Home (1945)     

8. Passing the Torch (1946–1968)     



Appendix A: Select Box Scores     

Appendix B: Who’s Who in Zenimura’s Career     

Appendix C: F.A.C. 1924 Tour of Japan     

Appendix D: Nisei League vs. Negro League     

Appendix E: Butte Baseball League Statistics, 1943–1945     

Appendix F: Zenimura Legacy Timeline     

Appendix G: Japanese American Glossary of Terms     

Notes     

Bibliography     

Index