Masanori Murakami's Baseball Career
Masanori Murakami, a high school star, was initially hesitant to play for the Nankai Hawks in the Nippon Professional Baseball league.
However, Manager Kazuto Tsuruoka's promise to send him to America to "study baseball" changed his mind.
"I changed my mind," Murakami said. "I had seen 'Rawhide' and Hollywood movies with John Wayne and Marilyn Monroe, and I wanted to come (to America)."
On February 24, 1964, Tsuruoka informed Murakami and two other Hawks players, catcher Hiroshi Takahashi and infielder Tatsuhiko Tanaka, that they would be sent to the U.S. to play in the San Francisco Giants system.
Author's summary: Murakami recalls his pioneering baseball career.