Densho Digital Archive
Manzanar National Historic Site Collection
Title: Sumiye Takeno Interview
Narrator: Sumiye Takeno
Interviewer: Richard Potashin
Location: Denver, Colorado
Date: July 5, 2008
Densho ID: denshovh-tsumiye-01-0009

<Begin Segment 9>

RP: Florin also had a baseball team, too, didn't they?

ST: Yes. I played baseball and I was a pitcher a few times.

RP: Were you?

ST: And a catcher. And then I played shortstop.

RP: Was that a softball team that you played on or...

ST: Uh-huh. Softball, yeah. No, baseball was too hard for us.

RP: But the, but the town didn't have a baseball team?

ST: Yes, they had a baseball, they had a fairly good baseball team. They... the older men were very good ballplayers.

RP: Did any of your brothers play on that team?

ST: Yes, my brother Daniel played. I don't know about David. I don't think he did. And then of course Leo and Sei, they were too young.

RP: So would you go regularly to watch baseball games?

ST: Oh, yes. I still remember. I would be about two or three miles, I would walk by myself. Nobody else wanted to go so I would go and watch the baseball. I really liked the baseball. Hot day, that's what I remember.

RP: You were a very dedicated fan.

ST: Yes, I was a...

RP: Walked three miles.

ST: Maybe because I had a special friend, too.

RP: Who was that?

ST: His name was Bill and he was, he was one of the top players.

RP: What was his last name?

ST: Tsukamoto.

RP: Tsukamoto.

ST: Uh-huh. He, he was a very good ball player.

RP: Bill Tsukamoto was, was he related to Mary Tsukamoto?

ST: No. It's a different family.

RP: Oh, okay.

ST: He and I were classmates, too. He was a real nice guy but he died early, too.

<End Segment 9> - Copyright © 2008 Manzanar National Historic Site and Densho. All Rights Reserved.