Wally Kaname Yonamine

Wallace Kaname Yonamine (与那嶺 要, born June 24, 1925), also known as Wally Yonamine, is a former multi-sport American athlete who played in the National Football League (NFL) and Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. Yonamine, a Nisei Japanese American, was born in Hawaii to parents Matsusai (September 1, 1890–July 31, 1988) and Kikue (February 14, 1901–February 26, 1999). A two-sport star, he played running back on the San Francisco 49ers in their second season (1947), becoming the first football player of Japanese ancestry to play in the NFL. In baseball, he was the first American to play professional baseball in Japan after World War II. A multi-skilled outfielder, Yonamine was also noted for his flexible batting style and aggressive baserunning during his career with the Yomiuri Giants and Chunichi Dragons.

In Japan, Yonamine was a member of four Japan Series Championship teams, the Central League MVP in 1957, a consecutive seven-time Best Nine Award winner (1952–58), an eleven-time All-Star, a three-time batting champion, and the first foreigner to be a manager (Dragons, 1972–77).

Wally Kaname Yonamine was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 1994 for his achievements during his 12-year career with the Giants and Dragons. He is the only American yet admitted into the Hall as a player.

Wally Yonamine now operates a highly successful pearl store—Wally Yonamine Pearls—in Roppongi, Tokyo, Japan, with his wife Jane. They also have a branch of their store in California run by their children.

In 2008, Wally Kaname Yonamine joins Pro Baseball master League team Nagoya 80 D'sers as a coach/part time player.
(http://www.89master.com/team/nagoya_html/yonamine.html)

External links

*Languageicon|ja|Japanese [http://www.baseball-museum.or.jp/ Japan Baseball Hall of Fame]
* [http://baseballguru.com/jalbright/best9.htm Japan Best Nine Award at "The Baseball Guru"]
* [http://thediamondangle.com/archive/may01/yonamine.html Wally Yonamine - The Nisei Jackie Robinson]
* [http://starbulletin.com/2000/05/25/sports/kwon.html Yonamine article at the "Star Bulletin"]
* [http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/la/news/la_press_release.jsp?ymd=20040426&content_id=729786&vkey=pr_la&fext=.jsp Dodgers to celebrate Japanese American Community Night]
* [http://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/product/Wally-Yonamine,673417.aspx Wally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball] by Robert K. Fitts (University of Nebraska Press, 2008)