Diamond Diplomacy

Masanori "Mashi" Murakami and Warren Cromartie anchor over 150 years of shared history between the United States and Japan forged through baseball. Introduced by Civil War veteran Horace Wilson in 1872 during the Meiji period, the sport became a vital bridge amid racism, war, the mass incarceration of Japanese Americans, and trade conflicts. Babe Ruth's 1934 goodwill tour stirred excitement before World War II, when Japan banned English terms yet preserved the game. Lefty O'Doul, recruited by General Douglas MacArthur, later led the San Francisco Seals on a 1949 tour that rebuilt cultural ties, a legacy continued by Hideo Nomo, Ichiro Suzuki, and Shohei Ohtani.