Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, & Assassination During the 1934 Tour of Japan

Banzai Babe Ruth, by Robert Fitts, is an account of the 1934 tour of MLB All-Stars to Japan. It was originally published in 2012. It covers not just the tour, but the formation of the Japanese Professional Baseball League and contains information on Japanese culture and politics. The book covers the major personalities involved, such as Babe Ruth, Eiji Sawamura, Matsutaro Shoriki, Victor Starffin, Moe Berg and Connie Mack, but also tells the story of lesser-known individuals such as Jimmy Horio and Sotaro Suzuki.

It was awarded the Seymour Medal in 2013 as the best book about baseball published during the preceding year.

Further Reading

• Robert K. Fitts: Banzai Babe Ruth: Baseball, Espionage, & Assassination During the 1934 Tour of Japan, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, NE, 2012. ISBN 978-0803229846