Review: “Banzai Babe Ruth” by Robert K. Fitts

Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, and Assassination during the 1934 Tour of Japan is a new book by Robert. K. Fitts released earlier this month. I was fortunate enough to receive a copy for review from the publisher.

This book was tough to put down, mainly because of the subtitle: unlike most other baseball books, this one is a narrative that provides a detailed account of the complex political situation in the years before and after the tour of a major-league All-Star team in Japan in 1934. As tensions between Japan and western powers had grown in the 1920s and 30s, many hoped this series of exhibition games would serve to lower the barrier between Japan and the U.S. While many felt after the fact this goal had been achieved, by the 1940s it was clear that peace had not been achieved. We now know that the bombing of Pearl Harbor nevertheless occurred in 1941, leading to a prolonged world war and the devastation of Japan.

Amid the political scene of Japan, the book includes a detailed account of how the 1934 tour came to pass, as well as a day-by-day diary of the touring party’s activities and each of the 22 games they played while abroad. But don’t be fooled–Fitts was not able to include a lot of baseball stories. Keep in mind that the tour was 75 years old when he researched the book, and the only surviving American from the group was Babe Ruth’s step-daughter, Julia. As sources of the actual game action, then, Fitts was limited to published accounts of the day, meaning that there is simply little inside detail to relay.

Nevertheless, the book is tremendously revealing about the forces at play in Japan, the meaning of the All American tour to people from both countries, and the evolution of baseball in Japan to the Nippon Professional Baseball Association, which started immediately after the 1934 tour.

Despite the fact that All Americans contained numerous superstar players (Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Fox, Charlie Gehringer, Earl Averill, and Lefty Gomez), it is Lefty O’Doul who reads as the hero of the account. It was he who was able to overcome the unprofessionalism of earlier American touring teams and who returned as manager of the San Francisco Seals after World War II to re-establish baseball in Japan.

The other player of particular interest is Moe Berg, who brought a video camera with him on the trip and apparently photographed many areas of military strategic interest. Near the conclusion of his book, Fitts does a wonderful job of teasing apart the various accounts of Berg’s career as a spy, separating what is known fact from  conjecture and untruths.

Fitts’ book is limited by the amount of time that has passed since the events he describes. While much is made of how Matsutaro Shoriki came to own the Yomiuri Shimbun, the newspaper that sponsored the 1934 tour, he quickly fades into the background of the story, save for a brief mention of an assassination attempt against him occurring after the tour. One must presume that little information was available on how the tour affected the newspaper’s finances or how Shoriki spent the remainder of his life.

Similarly, there are frequent mentions of Jimmie Foxx’s struggles to recover from a beaning and Connie Mack’s intention to switch him to catcher, but following the series of games Foxx isn’t mentioned a single time despite having 8 more spectacular seasons in the majors after the tour.

These shortcomings, however, are a product of what material is available, and there’s no doubt that Fitts mined every resource available for this book, as he has unearthed hundreds of relevant facts and published accounts.

I enthusiastically recommend Banzai Babe Ruth. You can purchase a copy from Amazon.com. You can also visit the book’s website.

Stay tuned for an upcoming interview with the author and a chance to win a copy of his book.

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Hartvig
Hartvig
12 years ago

Any book that contains stories about Moe Berg, Lefty O’Doul in pre-WWII Japan and a bunch of baseballs biggest stars of the ’30’s has got my attention.

Lawrence Azrin
Lawrence Azrin
12 years ago

Moe Berg is one of most fascinating characters in the history of MLB. His biography, “The Catcher Was A Spy”, is highly recommended.

Jason Z
12 years ago

If memory serves, Moe Berg was on the MLB players tour of Japan
following the 1934 season. He took many pictures which were
later found to be useful during WWII.

Players who played with Berg remembered him as someone who always wore
a black suit with white shirt and tie while traveling with the team.

Certainly dressed the part.

Also, carried a suitcase that was filled with newspapers.

Lawrence Azrin
Lawrence Azrin
12 years ago
Reply to  Jason Z

Berg had a fascination with newspapers, reading several a day, and refusing to let anybody touch them while they were “fresh” (i.e., he had not read them yet).

MicahelPat
MicahelPat
12 years ago

Matsutaro Shoriki is a fascinating character; see the wikipedia entry on him (Class A war criminal, ethnic cleanser, as well as founder of Nippon league and the father of nuclear power in Japan). A book, Shiroki Miracle Man of Japan, is available as an e-book at http://archive.org/details/shorikimiraclema001551mbp.

I don`t think Berg brought a video camera on the 1934 trip….

Andy
Andy
12 years ago
Reply to  MicahelPat

Unless Mr. Fitts’ many sources are all wrong, Berg certainly did bring a video camera on the trip. There is even a photo showing it. OK, I guess it’s not what we’d call a video camera today, but it was a film camera that took moving pictures.

MicahelPat
MicahelPat
12 years ago
Reply to  Andy

Poor (I guess) attempt at humour. I have a videographer friend who takes great pains to correct any reference to his work that mentions film.

Murphy Grimes
Murphy Grimes
11 years ago

Thanks for the info on the book it is areal pity I did not know about it being written earlier as I could have contributed a little since I once spoke to Lefty Gomez and he told me a couple of stories. Plus some years ago I met Mike Burke former Yankee Pres. Also a member of the OSS and asked. him about Moe Berg his comments were quite interesting, additionally Moes sister long deceased tried to self publish a book pn him which was comprised largely of letters and photos. A friend has an original copy which he lent… Read more »

fotosesija
11 years ago

Great post! Thanks.