QUEENS, N.Y. — Before Shohei Ohtani won an MVP for his historic two-way playing style... and before Hideo Nomo won Rookie of the Year as he stormed across Southern California... there was Masanori Murakami.
Murakami's MLB career was not long -- spanning just two seasons from 1964 to 1965. But 58 years ago today, Murakami made history as the first Japanese player to debut in the majors.
He was born on May 6, 1944 just outside of Tokyo, Japan. Murakami's family wanted him to either become a doctor or run the family business. But his baseball talent was undeniable and earned the teenager a spot on one of Japan's top baseball teams.
The Nankai Hawks (now known as the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks) drafted Murakami out of high school for the 1963 season. He spent most of his time in the minors, before getting called up at the end of the season. Murakami appeared in just three games for the Hawks, letting up one run over two innings of work with a pair of strikeouts.
Just months later, Murakami would find himself in a completely new and different setting on the other side of the Pacific.
Murakami was just 19 years old when he was sent to the San Francisco Giants with two other Japanese players as part of a cultural exchange program. The goal was to allow those players to learn new skills under MLB coaches, which they could hopefully bring back to Japanese baseball. Meanwhile, the Giants would build a closer relationship with its neighbor across the Pacific.
He debuted with the San Francisco Giants Class-A affiliate in Fresno on April 24, 1964. His first game was in Southern California against the Santa Barbara Dodgers. Murakami entered in the fifth inning, and finished the game allowing no hits.
Murakami, who was called "Mashi" by his American teammates, quickly became a fan favorite. The Fresno Giants held a Japanese American Day celebration about a month after his debut. He was even named Rookie of the Year for the California League thanks to his 11 - 7 record, 1.78 ERA and 159 strikeouts in 106 innings.
As the calendar turned to September, the San Francisco Giants were making a playoff push. They decided to call up the young Japanese pitcher to the majors.
The 20-year-old budding star took the mound in his major league debut on Sept. 1, 1964 at Shea Stadium in New York. He was called upon in the eighth inning as the Giants trailed the Mets 4 - 0.
This setting was quite different from what he was used to. For starters, he was now pitching in front of 39,739 fans instead of a couple hundred. Some of those watching Murakami included a couple future Hall of Famers. In center field stood Willie Mays. At first base was Orlando Cepeda. And in the dugout was Willie McCovey and the Giants ace, Juan Marichal.
"I was just focused on not getting tense, not getting nervous," Murakami said in an interview with MLB.com. "As I was walking from the bullpen, I was singing a very famous song called 'Sukiyaki' by Kyu Sakamoto. Just to keep my nerves down, I hummed the song all the way over to the mound."
It worked.
Murakami struck out the very first batter he faced. He let up a single to the next batter, but then retired the following two hitters to end the inning.
San Francisco was unable to squeak into the playoffs, but Murakami finished the '64 season with a solid stat line: 1 - 0, 1.80 ERA over 15 innings, and 15 strikeouts to 1 walk.
Even though Murakami was looking forward to next season, contract issues between MLB and Japanese baseball put that dream into doubt. The Hawks wanted the young star to return to Japan, while the Giants hoped to keep him in America. Ultimately, everyone reached a compromise: Murakami would return to the Giants for the '65 season, but could then go back to Japan next year.
Murakami struggled at first that season, but settled down throughout the year. He finished the '65 season with a 4 - 1 record and 3.75 ERA in 74.1 innings. Murakami hoped to continue playing in the U.S., but he had promised his old manager that he would return to Japan.
He returned to Japanese baseball in 1966, pitching another 17 seasons there. His final career stats (including both Japan and MLB): 124 - 93, 3.47 ERA in 1,893.2 innings.
Why did it take so long for another Japanese player to debut in MLB after Murakami?
After his contact dispute, the main baseball leagues in the United States and Japan agreed not to pursue each other's players. This remained in place for almost 30 years before Hideo Nomo found a loophole in the agreement that allowed him to play in America.
Some of baseball's current biggest stars are from Japan. These include Shohei Ohtani, the reigning MVP, and Padres starter Yu Darvish. But there would not be such a close connection between American and Japanese baseball if Masanori Murakami did not take the mound 58 years ago today.
