Yonamine will be honored — for football
By Ferd Lewis
Advertiser Staff Writer
When Wally Yonamine began ferociously breaking up double plays for the Yomiuri Giants in the 1950s, irate fans in Japan yelled reminders that he was supposed to be playing baseball, not American football.
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What they didn't know at the time — and most still don't know to this day — is that the future Japan Hall of Fame baseball player had been an NFL player in the U.S.
Wally Yonamine, well known for his baseball accomplishments, also played high school and professional football.
So, it will be quite a surprise when they find out about his "other" career as Yonamine is introduced during the San Francisco 49ers-Washington Redskins game Saturday in the Osaka Dome.
Yonamine, who was the first American of Japanese ancestry to play in the NFL when he was a halfback for the 49ers in 1947, will be featured in ceremonies during the internationally televised exhibition game.
Ironically, fans in Osaka, home of the Hanshin Tigers, were some of Yonamine's strongest critics during a 10-year career with the rival Giants of Tokyo.
"They used to really get on me," said Yonamine, an all-star outfielder. "They know me as a baseball player, not as a football player. They'll be pretty surprised."
Yonamine spent 12 years as a player and another 25-plus years as a manager and coach in Japan, where his wife, Jane, still operates a pearl business.
Yonamine, who was one of the first Americans to play baseball in Japan in the post-World War II period, is credited with helping to change baseball there. Until his arrival in 1951, baserunners in Japan didn't barrel into second base to break up double plays as was customary in the U.S. and rarely ran out sacrifice bunts.
Football, Yonamine, said, was his first sporting love even though he played several sports at Lahainaluna and Farrington high schools. He was offered a football scholarship to Ohio State out of high school but chose to sign with the 49ers for a three-year contract.
But after playing for San Francisco in 1947, where he appeared alongside Frankie Albert, the 5-foot-9, 165-pound Yonamine broke his hand and was cut in 1948. He played two seasons with the Hawaiian Warriors and then was signed to a pro baseball contract by the San Francisco Seals, who sent him to Salt Lake City, where he hit .335.
Occupation authorities in Japan wanted to bring in an American to help the baseball ties between the two countries and Seals manager Lefty O'Doul recommended Yonamine. A two-year "trial" agreement with the Giants turned into a 37-year baseball career in Japan.
Yonamine hit .311, won three batting titles, was a seven-time all-star and won an MVP award.
"I'm really looking forward to going back for this game," Yonamine said. "I think it will surprise some of the fans who thought I was just a baseball player."
