Photo: Left to right: Kenso Zenimura, me, Fibber Hirayama, October 9, 2011, Clovis, CA
The people of Central California were great. Everywhere we went my family and I were treated well. In addition to seeing familiar friends like Kenso Zenimura and Kerry Yo Nakagawa, I was able to meet Satoshi "Fibber" Hirayama for the first time. Fibber is awesome, so kind, so gracious and great with the kids (Josh and Ali) too. Fibber was an all-star outfielder with the Hiroshima Carp during the 1950s. According to him, his career in Japan was made possible by Kenichi Zenimura:
“(Coach) Zenimura was a constant student of the game. He always looked for the little details. He would beat you with speed, bunt, double steal. It was a very fast and aggressive style of baseball. He was the best at teaching those principles. His sons were already stars with the Hiroshima Carp, so I went to join them soon after. The reason I was able to go to Japan and have a great career was because of Mr. Zenimura’s faith in me.” - Satoshi "Fibber" Hirayama