Jimmy Newberry

What are you looking for? I'm sure there's a short blurb on him in the Negro Leagues biographical dictionary, but it's unlikely to say a lot about Japan. Carlos Bauer's book has his stats in Japan. After that, I don't have much, but if that helps, let me know.

Jim Albright

I'm only curious about Newberry, so basically I'm looking for whatever I can find. I'd never heard of him until a couple days ago.

I found a Japanese Negro League site that has a bit about him, as well as John Britton, Larry Raines, and Rufus Gaines. Newberry had played for the Chicago American Giants, and was an All Star in 1952.

If you can take attachments to e-mail, I can scan and send you his data as given in SABR's Negro Leagues book and the blurb in the Negro Leagues Biographical Dictionary. The site you found already has his NPB record. Please note I'd be using the e-mail address given in your profile for the site. If I need to use another, we can work that out off this forum.

Jim Albright

I would be interested in reading that. Thank you for your generous offer. I've never had any trouble with attachments on the e-mail account I listed, so why don't you try sending it up.

An African-American named Jimmy Bonna was with a group of Americans who came over in 1936 with Herb North, Harrison (Bucky Harris) McGalliard, and George Matsuura.

I am sending it today. It is rather large, in that it is a copy of an entire 8 1/2 by 11 inch sheet of paper. I sent it in jpeg format to keep down the size of the file while retaining clarity of the image. Also, you should be able to open it in your browser if you don't have any other means of viewing pictures. If you don't get it in the next day or so, let me know and we'll try to figure out how to get the info to you. You are quite welcome, by the way.

Jim Albright

Albright-san, I just wanted to say thanks publicly for sending the info. It was quite interesting.

Kiyoshi-san, do you know if Bonna was a Negro Leaguer, or if he played for the All-Nippons or another team like that?

I had a discussion with a friend recently about which would have been tougher: breaking the color barrier in the big leagues, or breaking it in Japan? We honestly had no idea.

You're quite welcome. I can't speak to the Japanese end of things, but I'd suspect that the lack of an uproar similar to Jackie Robinson (and the fact a few Negro Leaguers were able to go to Japan) without generating significant notoriety indicates that the American situation was harder. After all, a black or caucasian import is still an outsider in Japan. Jackie Robinson was challenging the existing order, and the racists (especially racist marginal players, because they faced loss of a job to a member of their hated group of people) reacted accordingly. Did Japan ever have segregate facilities like the States? That was another issue.

It seems from what I know that, at least in Japan, the issues would have been less overt than in the States -- and the stakes certainly weren't as high. If Jackie Robinson failed, blacks may not have gotten a chance for years to come. A failed Negro Leaguer in Japan wasn't carrying that baggage.

Jim Albright

You've got a good point in saying that the issues would have been less overt than in the States -- Japanese culture, for the most part, is less overt than American culture. However, there is some opposition to foreigners being in Japan, even today, and I wonder what the situation would have been like in 1952. Jimmy Newberry played for one season in Japan, his teammate John Britton, too. I do think the difficulties they faced were probably less intense than what Jackie dealt with, but certainly they played under trying conditions.

I don't want to sound like I'm underrating what Jackie Robinson did, because I honestly feel that his accomplishments changed the entire world for the better (Jesse Owens as well). But I think people forget that his first black teammate, Dan Bankhead, joined the Dodgers in 1947 (he wasn't nearly as successful). Larry Doby also crossed the American League's colour line the same year.

That because first black players in Japan aren't well-known would suggest that they played at least somewhat anonymously. Still, it would interesting to know more.

I'm not taking issue with anything you say, but the thought that keeps occurring to me is: how was the experience of the first black players in Japan different from that of their white counterparts in the early 50s? The issue of being an outsider in a foreign land is significant, but the issue we're getting at, as I see it here, is that of race.

As for Jackie Robinson getting a black teammate in 1947, the real keys were his performance in Montreal (minor league team then) in 1946 and his success early in 1947, when he was alone. Those black teammates may have never come had he fallen on his face. That, friends, is performance under pressure -- especially when one considers the hatred and venom regularly directed at him during those times. His success in the face of such adversity is a tribute to both his talent and his mental toughness -- and he had both in rarely seen quantities.

Jim Albright

This might be the same book Jim was talking about, but I've got a copy of The Biographical Encyclopedia of the Negro Baseball Leagues. It makes mention of the fact that he played in Japan (with the Hankyu Braves). They have a couple other graphs on him, but it's summed up: "Throughout his career he was a top-notch pitcher when not encumbered by ... drinking."

That's the one.