Shunzo
Takaki
Positions: Second base, Outfield
Bats: Unknown, Throws: Right
Height: 5' 7", Weight: 160 lb.
Born: January 1, 1883, Tokyo, Japan
Schools: Hitotsubashi University (formerly
known as Tokyo Higher
Commercial School); University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia, PA)
Degree: BS in Economics (1908)
Other Sports: Tennis, Gymnastics,
Football
Occupation: Executive, Mitsui & Co (1908 to 1919)
Died: January 29, 1919, New York,
NY (age 36)
**
Shunzo Takaki was a multi-talented student athlete who earned a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) in three short years while lettering in multiple sports: tennis, gymnastics, football and baseball.
As both a second baseman and outfielder
for the Penn varsity ball club in 1907, Takaki is believed to be the first
person of Japanese ancestry to play baseball for a mainland U.S. college. For years, Goro
Mikami was commonly
recognized as the first collegiate player when he suited up for Knox College (IL)
in 1913. We now know that this was six years after Takaki’s letter-winning season at Penn.
It's also worth noting that for many years Mikami was recognized as the first person of Japanese ancestry to play professionally in the U.S. with the All-Nations team of 1915. He no longer holds this distinction either, as baseball historians now recognize the barnstorming Guy Green's Japanese ball club of 1906, some nine years before Mikami, as the first professional players of Japanese ancestry in the U.S.
It's also worth noting that for many years Mikami was recognized as the first person of Japanese ancestry to play professionally in the U.S. with the All-Nations team of 1915. He no longer holds this distinction either, as baseball historians now recognize the barnstorming Guy Green's Japanese ball club of 1906, some nine years before Mikami, as the first professional players of Japanese ancestry in the U.S.
1907 Quaker Baseball Team. Photo from the Collections of the University of Pennsylvania Archives.
The son of Japanese naval physician
Baron Kanehiro Takaki, 21-year old Shunzo arrived in the
U.S. in 1904 to attend the World’s Fair in St. Louis and to represent his home
country in an exhibition tennis tournament.
He impressed the locals with his tennis
play and was invited to compete in a state-wide tournament. In 1905 Takaki enrolled
in Penn where he achieved immediate success in social circles and as an athlete
in tennis, gymnastics and as an infielder with the freshman baseball team.
In September 1905 he was invited to
try out for the Penn football squad as a 5’ 7”, 160 lb defensive end. He
experienced a season-ending injury by breaking his ankle during a practice, and
was eventually forced to give up his gridiron dreams when he was diagnosed with
an enlarged heart in 1906.
In the spring of 1907 he made the
varsity baseball team and got off to a fast start offensively (scarce box
scores suggest he batted over .300), and contributing solidly on defense at
second base and the outfield.
Unfortunately, “the grim face of misfortune”
turned its eyes yet again on Takaki. In a game against Niagara University
(Lewiston, NY) on April 17, 1907, Takaki successfully stole second base but broke
his hand after it was stepped on by the opposing shortstop. After a few months
on the disabled list he returned to the lineup and helped the club finish the
season with an 18-15 (.545) record. It appears that despite the injuries,
Takaki contributed enough to earn a varsity letter for the season.
After graduation in 1908 Takaki
joined Mitsui & Co. in New York as an assistant manager overseeing the
trade of raw silk between the U.S. and Japan. On October 9, 1909, he married
Tatsuo Mitsui, a young woman whose father was the head of the mining division
of Mitsui & Co. The press reported that had a net-worth of over one million
dollars (a value over $26 million in 2015).
Over the next decade both his
professional and personal life flourished. His leadership role with Mitsui
& Co. expanded to include importing rubber, chemicals and business
development in the emerging aviation industry.
On January 1, 1919, Shunzo
celebrated his 36th birthday, entered his 10th year of
marriage, and was enjoying life as the father of four beautiful children. Twenty-seven
days later it would all come to an end.
According to reports Takaki was
struck by a Fifth Avenue bus on Riverside Drive Tuesday (Jan 28) and died
Wednesday (Jan 29) in St. Luke's Hospital. Some local papers questioned the
nature of the accident and initially reported his death as a suicide. Officials
quickly addressed the misinformation in the press:
TAKAKI
NOT SELF SLAIN
Police Blotter Entry Says Death Was
Accidental
“An
entry in the police blotter as the West 125th Street Police Station records the
death (of Shunzo Takaki) as accidental ... Assistant Superintendent J.C.
Gardner denied he had reported the death as a suicide to Medical Examiner
Holman, as stated in some evening papers."
--
Source: The Evening World, January 31, 1919, pg. 16
As expected, the community expressed
their sadness with the passing of their friend and colleague. Industry
publications such as The Paint, Oil and
Chemical Review; The India Rubber World; and The Annual Report of the Silk Association of America, honored Takaki
by posting his obituary and personal reflections in the spring of 1919. One sentiment
common in all tributes included his love for sports and passion for building a
cultural bridge between the two countries he loved:
“Shunzo Takaki always took an
active part in athletics in this country as well as in Japan, especially in
tennis and baseball ... (He) was loved by his friends for his hearty support in
business, social and international affairs, and especially it was his desire to
create equal friendly relations between Japan and the United States."
**
Research
Note:
A special thanks to Nisei baseball
pioneer Tets Furukawa and baseball artist and historian Gary Cieradkowski for
(indirectly) introducing me to Shunzo Takaki. In a recent post to his blog The Infinite Card Set, Cieradkowski asked
a thought-provoking question about Shumza Sugimoto, an outfielder from Japan
who, according to articles from the
spring of 1905, participated
in a tryout for the New York Giants. He asked, “Did Shumza Sugimoto even exist
in the first place?” Gary says “no” (read
why).
I think Sugimoto did exist. Despite our different perspectives, I think Gary’s question is very important, and helped me gain a
better insight into the mysterious ballplayer whose true identity I believe was
“lost in translation”.
In my opinion, Shumza Sugimoto
was a real person, but I don’t think that his first name was “Shumza.” Instead, I think that the name “Shumza” is a
misinterpretation of Sugimoto’s true first name, either Shunzo or Shinzo. Here's why.
In a conversation with Tets
Furukawa (a fine historian in his own right), I asked, “In your opinion, if
the first name ‘Shumza’ was a mistranslation of a Japanese first name, what do
you think is the correct first name?” Tets responded, “Shumza doesn’t sound like
a real name in Japanese … and if it was a real name it would be a woman’s because
it’s feminine, ending with the letter ‘a’.”
Tets then shared this insight, “You
know, it reminds me of someone I once knew whose first name was Shunzo.” He
added that both Shunzo and Shinzo are more common names for males and, that in
his opinion, this most likely was the name of the mysterious Sugimoto of 1905.
Inspired by Gary’s question, and
armed with Tets’ personal insight, I hit the newspaper archives and searched
for “Shunzo AND baseball” … and was immediately introduced to the
multi-talented athlete and college baseball pioneer, Shunzo Takaki.
Research can be a funny thing.
Sometime in our efforts to learn more about a certain topic, we get introduced to (and sidetracked by) fascinating individuals and interesting anecdotes. At first
they appear to be distractions, but I think if you stay open to the creative
possibilities, they just might provide some insight into your primary research
effort.
Such is the case with Shunzo
Takaki. His story not only introduces us to a fascinating human being who might very well be the first person of Japanese ancestry to compete with a
U.S. college baseball team, I believe he brings us one step closer to confirming
the identity of the ballplayer who impressed John McGraw in the spring of 1905,
quite possibly named Shunzo Sugimoto.
**