Densho Digital Archive - Tom I. Mine Interview (denshovh-mtom

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TI: Now, amongst all the Nisei teams you would play, was there, like, certain players that just stood out that you would all talk about?

TM: Well, we knew about it, and there were outstanding players, they were good. So some of those players went to Japan and played ball, picked the better players, and they had teams going to Japan.

TI: Oh, so they'd pick, like, an all-star team?

TM: Yeah, they picked an all-star team.

TI: Do you recall some of the better players like the better pitchers that you had to face?

TM: Well, let's see now. You know, that's hard to remember everything like that, but yeah, there were, San Jose had Hinaga brothers, George, and Yoshiokas, and Florin had the Kurima brothers. Sacramento I just forgot. But there was, each team had two or three good players that played for the all-star team, they went to Japan. But I was a little bit younger than those fellows. I started playing right after I got out of high school in 1936, well, this team started playing in the late '20s and '30s, continued on. So by the time I started playing, they didn't form all-star team. I don't know, it just kind of faded out.

TI: Well, so in the Watsonville, kind of, history of Nisei baseball, who were some of the better players in Watsonville?

TM: Oh, we had a pitcher, Benny Matsuda, he was the druggist, and he was a fastball pitcher. And Wada brothers, there were three Wada brothers, and Chick Ogi was a real nice, a good shortstop. And let's see, Takemoto, our third basemen, catcher was Porky Takada, he was one of the older fellows. Pitchers was, let's see, Lanky Nagase, he was one of the old-timers. And, let's see, then after they faded out, then I started trying to get some players. But there weren't too many Nisei kids continued to play ball, or went out to play baseball. I guess they were all busy working on the ranch, because we were a berry town, they all were sharecroppers and they had to help. So they didn't get a chance to participate in high school. So myself, and then there was Toru Asada, he was a catcher. Let's see, Larry Tsuyuki, he's still alive, he's a, he played in the infield, so we played high school baseball... Walter Hashimoto.

TI: So I'm curious, when... let's first talk about the Nisei team. Was there a distinctive style that the Nisei teams played that was perhaps different than when you played high school? If you compared...

TM: No, I don't think, you know, baseball is baseball. We remembered the fellows, they had a good arm, or real good shortstop or fielder, outfielder, outstanding in certain departments. But we were just all about the same as far as playing. We enjoyed the game, so...

TI: How would you compare the quality of the Nisei baseball team with, when you played high school baseball?

TM: Well, high school we had some very good teams. Well, they're just about equal, on an equal basis. The Nisei, we played good baseball, Niseis did.

TI: And so when the pitchers, about how, when you fastball, how fast were they, were they throwing?

TM: Well, Benny Matsuda was about the fastest, I mean, he was strong, and he threw about ninety miles an hour.

TI: Oh, really? So that fast?

TM: Oh, yeah.

TI: Okay. Wow.

TM: I pitched, I faced, in high school I faced... they were in the big leagues, they threw about ninety-five in those days. He was just outstanding, because ninety-five, you get up to the plate and just watch the ball go by. You didn't have a chance to swing. But they were good enough to get in the majors.

TI: Oh, yeah, I mean, that's, I'm shocked at, I was going to guess maybe about eighty miles an hour, but they're in the nineties.

TM: Oh, no, eighty, yeah, strong arm pitchers, there weren't too many. For Japanese, there was Tosh Shiraki of Salinas, he was a curveball pitcher, and he'd get you out with junk ball, and curveball, outsmart you, that's all.

TI: And so when you think of the quality of baseball back when you played, and you watch baseball today, is it, earlier you said "baseball is baseball." Is it still pretty much the same game?

TM: Yeah, same game. Hit and run, I mean, everything. I was fortunate to have a good player as a, as a junior, we had a major leaguer, he was a former big league catcher, he taught us a lot, he played in big league.

TI: Now, you were left-handed and you batted left, and you played outfield.

TM: I played outfield.

TI: And so I'm from Seattle, and we have another famous outfielder up there who bats left, and that's Ichiro.

TM: Yeah, Ichiro.

TI: And so when you watch the way he plays, was that similar to what, how the Niseis played?

TM: Oh, yeah.

TI: Sort of quick, he was fast.

TM: Quick, oh yeah, he's fast, he had a good arm.

TI: He could run bases...

TM: Yeah, I admired Ichiro, he has a good arm and everything. He's got a strong arm, too, not good, but strong. He threw it right to the point where he's throwing it.

TI: So really good fundamentals, always in good position.

TM: Oh yeah, we were, see, we had a big leaguer as a coach, big leaguer. So he always, they always talked fundamental baseball, and that's a very smart thing to do, to teach youngsters, you gotta have the basics.

TI: And so this was your high school coach or your, who was this?

TM: Well, no, my, that was our, when we started baseball. High school coach, we had, they had their own coaches, you know.

TI: But you had a, you said, a major leaguer early on to kind of show you...

TM: No, fortunately, younger, later on, there was one or two fellows, just before the war broke out, they were gonna, they said that he's gonna go to the big league. But he joined the Air Force and never came back. Nobody that actually -- well, there was kids that played ball when my kids were playing. You know, they didn't quite make the big leagues, but they were good ballplayers because I like baseball, and I used to watch my sons, all three of 'em played baseball, so I used to go watch them play. Or they used to watch me when I was playing, so kind of, they got in the groove.

TI: Yeah, that's good.