Nominate Kenichi Zenimura for the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award

July 10th, 2010

Dear Friend in Baseball:

Lou Gehrig, Kenichi Zenimura, Babe Ruth

I’m writing to ask you a favor regarding our beloved national pastime. My good friend Kerry Yo Nakagawa has nominated Kenichi Zenimura (1900-1968) for the Buck O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Attached to this letter is a petition that must be delivered via hard-copy original—no emails, faxes or PDFs—in order to be counted. Also, would you print a few extras and pass them along to professional peers and personal friends?

As with so many aspects of our melting-pot history, American baseball has been shaped by immigrants and their immediate descendants. A glance at the roster of the upcoming All-Star Futures Game is but one proof of this influence.

Zenimura’s tireless efforts on both sides of the Pacific cleared the way for MLB athletes named Sasaki, Matsui, Nomo, Hasegawa, Okajima, Saito, Fukudome, Taguchi, Iguchi, Matsuzaka, Okajima, Shinjo and Iwamura. Not to mention the unique combination of an MLB manager named Wakamatsu and NPB manager named Valentine.

When Ted Williams was inaugurated into the Hall of Fame, he was gracious enough to endorse African-American ballplayers for Hall of Fame recognition:

“I’ve been a very lucky guy to have worn a baseball uniform, and I hope some day the names of Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson in some way can be added as a symbol of the great Negro players who are not here only because they weren’t given a chance.” (1966)

Buck O’Neill, Kerry Yo Nakagawa

More recently, Buck O’Neill offered the same opinion regarding our Nisei ballplayers:

“(Nisei baseball) is what America is all about. All men and women were created free and equal and (it) shows that when you make up your mind, you can be the best that you can be. Japanese Americans proved that they were the best that they could be.” (2001)

Help give Zenimura his proper place in baseball history by making sure the HOF Committee gets your endorsement no later than July 31, 2010.

Click here to print the petition

My heartfelt thanks for your support.

Anita Y. Tsuchiya — Writer, blogger, thinker

Entry Filed under: Game of Life,Major League Baseball,Minor Leagues