<Begin Segment 39>

AH: John, before I ask a final question, do you have some questions that you would like to ask Wally?

JE: Maybe when you were finally selected for the Hall of Fame, what kind of feelings did you have?

WY: ...I know that I had some good years and stuff like that, but being a foreigner, I didn't think that the Japanese media would vote me in, because all the years that I played ball in Japan, I thought I had some other things that... I mean, I thought maybe one or two, I should have been MVP for one or two other things, but I didn't get it. And so when I, when my name went in the ballot there, I thought I was going to have a hard time because I was in Japanese baseball for thirty-eight years, and the only reason why I quit was because my friend with the Hochi newspaper told me -- see, in order to get into the Hall of Fame, you got to rest five years. You got to be out of uniform for five years just like in the States. Then I thought, well, if I can, I sure would like to get into the Hall of Fame, so I quit. I was seventy years old, but I could have gone a couple more years. But I thought, well, I might as well get out of uniform. In the meantime, my wife and my son told me, "Dad, maybe about time you retire." So I retired. So after five years, my name went in, and you have to get 75 percent vote from the sports media, and I had, the first time I had only about 65. So, I thought maybe I'm going to, hard time. But the next year, Sadaharu Oh, I know that he was going to get in right away. He was entitled to get in, so, he got in. So, I thought with Sadaharu Oh in, maybe I'm going to hard time to get in. But then I was lucky, I got 78 votes. So I got inducted, see. But to get inducted in Japan Hall of Fame was the greatest thing, I think, that happened to me.

Plus, when I got award from the emperor, was another great thing because before that, when I, before I got the award from the emperor or when I got in the Hall of Fame, they never include me. All the things, the commissioner had some kind of parties and things, never include me, because I guess I'm a foreigner. But as soon as I got into the Hall of Fame and I got the award from the emperor, every little thing, I'm invited now. [Laughs] I can't believe it, you know. But, so my wife and I, she go here, things like, if I didn't get into things like that, I wouldn't get invited to a lot of these things. Now, anything what the commissioner has, I'm always invited. So, when I got the award from the emperor, the Japanese government gave me a party. And the prime minister and all these guys all came to my party, because the Japanese government gave me the party. Then, like, the ambassador at that time was Foley, Foley, and they all came to my party. It was so great. I was so happy and proud of myself because you have all these big guys coming to my party. And so, but, so to get into the Hall of Fame was, I thought it just was fantastic.

AH: Did it also have a big impact on you to be inducted into the Hawaiian Sports Hall of Fame?

WY: Not as much as Japan. I thought Japan was, when I got in there, I was so happy. But, Hawaii, well, I was one of the guys. It's the first time, the Hawaii Hall of Fame, they had about thirty, thirty-five guys that got inducted at one time, because before that they didn't have that. So when we got into the Hawaiian Hall of Fame was, thirty-five of us got inducted. But I felt that, Hawaii, eventually I'm going to get in. So, I wasn't too worried about Hawaii. I was more worried about Japan, get in. But see, but when I got into the Hall of Fame in the San Francisco League, that was, I was really happy, because...

AH: It's the Japanese American Hall of Fame.

WY: Yeah. So they have Misaka, and they had Tommy Kono and Kristi Yamaguchi and Ann (Kiyomura) and myself. So when I got into that, that I was happy, too. Because that night, when they had the banquet, I thought maybe only about a hundred people could show. I didn't think that... they had about six, seven hundred people at that PacBell Stadium there. And the thing that was real great was, see, all the people got inducted at that time, they had a person that would introduce the person. And the guy that introduced me was Dr. York, who was owner of the 49ers. He asked this guy, Paul Ozaki, that he wanted to introduce me. And Dr. York really did his homework, because he knew a lot of things about me, some I didn't know. And I met Dr. York last year in Osaka, Japan. He, the 49ers honored me in Osaka, Japan, for the football. So the Japanese, they couldn't believe that I played for the 49ers. Which was so great, because I wanted the Japanese to know that I played for the 49ers. So when they introduced me, when they had the coin flip, when the commissioner, myself and the mayor went to the 50-yard line, and when they flip the coin, and the first quarter, Dr. York and I went to the goalpost and he presented me with the 49ers jersey. And the announcer would tell them who I was and what I did. And the only reason why the 49ers honored me that day, because when Paul Ozaki went to the 49ers office, or went to the NFL office and told them that I made the Japan Hall of Fame, now they were very interested. So, so they said sure, they want to honor me in Osaka, Japan because they didn't know that I made the Japan Hall of Fame in baseball, see. So that's how it started, but it's so great.

<End Segment 39> - Copyright © 2003 Japanese American National Museum. All Rights Reserved.