A week from today, we'll celebrate Jackie Robinson Day and the breaking of the color barrier in MLB. But today let's celebrate another historic milestone: The first African-American to play professional baseball in Japan.
Eleven years before Jackie Robinson!
In the closing days of the 1936 season, a black ballplayer named James Everett Bonner was signed with much fanfare to a lucrative contract and joined Dai Tokyo -- one of the forebearers of the team today known as the Yokohama DeNA BayStars.
βBlack Pitcher Rushes Onto the Scene, Excellent Fielder, Holder of Amazing Strikeout Record,β gushed one headline in a Japanese newspaper.
Who was Jimmy Bonner, how did he come to sign in Japan, and what happened next?
Bonner was an 8th grade drop-out from rural Louisiana who was about to turn 30 β though he told everybody he was five years younger. A right-handed submarine pitcher, he had bounced around California playing for semi-pro teams, industrial teams, and regional league teams, including the Oakland Black Sox and Berkeley Grays. These were black teams, but not Negro League teams. The talent level β and salaries β were far below what one would see on the Kansas City Monarchs or Homestead Grays.
So Bonner was, in today's terms, an unheralded journeyman pitching for an independent minor league team.
But 1936 was his year. In April, in a game between the black Berkeley Grays and the white Berkeley Cardinals, Bonner struck out 17 batters to set a new Berkeley International Baseball League record. In September, he would throw three complete games in two days β reportedly striking out 46 batters β to lead his team to a championship sponsored by the Oakland Tribune.
Meanwhile, in Japan...
Also in 1936, Japan had formed its first professional baseball league, the Japan Occupational Baseball League, and the Dai Tokyo team were the worst team in it, losing 13 of their first 14 games (and the other game was a tie).
Desperate to give their beleaguered fans hope for next year, they made Bonner a huge offer to lure him overseas. His salary was 400 yen a month -- more than twice the salary being paid at the time to Japan's biggest pitching star, Eiji Sawamura. The contract also stipulated the team would pay all travel and living
... keep reading on reddit β‘With Ohtani making headlines, I wondered how Japanese/Asian countries with their own leagues view American Professional Baseball
Let me preface by saying I know nearly nothing about professional baseball, non-professional baseball, any sporting event you can possibly imagine, or otherwise.
In the movie Moneyball, Brad Pitt's character speaks to Jonah Hill's character over the phone and says "Pack your bags Pete. I just bought you from the Cleveland Indians"
This came after a trade meeting between Pitt and the Indian's management team.
Based on this, what could he have meant that he 'bought' Pete? Is it just an insert in the movie to make the script pop, or can such an event actually take place in some form?
This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 57%. (I'm a bot)
> KDDI and Samsung Electronics today announced the successful completion of a 5G field trial held in Okinawa Cellular Stadium, a 30,000-person capacity baseball stadium in Japan.
> Using Samsung's 5G end-to-end solutions spanning virtualized core, virtualized RAN, one of the smallest 5G access units, and multiple prototype 5G tablet devices, the trial showcased a live feed of 4K video contents downloaded and streamed simultaneously on 5G tablets supporting the millimeter wave spectrum.
> As a result, the tablets placed on seats in this coverage area were able to have 4K videos downloaded and streamed on them via 5G. The successful trial results reflect the two companies' efforts in using 5G technology and ultra-high frequency spectrum, to redefine user experiences in crowded environments and spotlight a new approach to viewing sports games.
> "We have been working closely with Samsung to explore 5G. It is exciting to see how the technology will play out at crowded events to result in the discovery of new business models," said Yoshiaki Uchida, Senior Managing Executive Officer at KDDI. "The trial is solid evidence of our potential to generate new use cases that will take user experience in sports stadiums to new heights in the 5G era."
> The outcome of this 5G stadium trial connotes advanced connectivity, not only at sports events, but also in a wide variety of crowded entertainment spots, including live music concerts, exhibitions, and international conferences, leading to new viewing experiences.
> Since 2015, KDDI and Samsung have been working closely to demonstrate the performance of 5G in various real-life scenarios.
Summary Source | FAQ | Feedback | Top keywords: Samsung^#1 new^#2 experience^#3 KDDI^#4 tablet^#5
Post found in [/r/technology](http://np.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/875jt
... keep reading on reddit β‘
I know this is for professional baseball in Japan, but another baseball subreddit recommended trying this one.
I have some familiarity with the Spring/Summer Koshien, but beyond those tournaments do HS teams in Japan play a regular season as well? If yes, how many games do they tend to play and when?
Thank you!
