| Yamato Baseball Club | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| League | Japanese Baseball League |
| Ballpark | Korakuen Stadium |
| Established | 1937 |
| Folded | 1944 |
| Former name | Korakuen Eagles (1937–1939) Kurowashi (1940–1941) |
| Colors | Light blue and yellow |
| Ownership | Dai-Nippon Beer (1939–1941) Yamato Ironworks (1942–1943) |
| Manager | Shigeo Mori (1938–1939) Kazutaka Terauchi (1940–1942) Hisanori Karita (1942–1943) Toshio Kojima (1943) |
TheYamato Baseball Club was a Japanese baseball team in theJapanese Baseball League (JBL). Based inTokyo, the franchise was founded as theKorakuen Eagles before the 1937 season and was dissolved before the 1944 season.
In 1937, catcherHarris McGalliard (better known asBucky Harris), won theJBL Most Valuable Player Award[1] with a batting average of .285 and 25 RBI (in 39 games).
The team was owned by Ryutaro Takahashi ofDai-Nippon Beer from 1939 to 1941. For the 1940 and 1941 seasons, the team changed its name toKurowashi (Black Eagles in Japanese; in October 1940, responding to rising hostility toward the West due toWorld War II, the league outlawed the use of English words in Japanese baseball).[citation needed]
Tadashi Kameda pitched twono-hitters for Kurowashi, on March 18, 1940, against theLion Baseball Club, and on April 14, 1941, against theOsaka Tigers.[2]
Kenkichi Saeki, president ofYamato Ironworks, purchased the team in 1942. As a result, the team changed its name to theYamato Baseball Club.[citation needed]
During its nine seasons of existence (including split fall and spring campaigns in 1937–1938), the franchise only had two winning campaigns and never finished higher than third in the JBL standings. (They usually finished in the second division.) As a result, the team was dissolved before the 1944 season (along with another JBL team, theNishitetsu Baseball Club).
| Year | Team name | Games | Wins | Losses | Ties | Win/Loss Percentage | Standings | Games behind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1937 | Eagles | 105 | 12 | 44 | 0 | .214 | 8/8 | 30 |
| 28 | 19 | 2 | .596 | 3/8 | 10.5 | |||
| 1938 | 75 | 18 | 15 | 2 | .545 | 4/9 | 10 | |
| 15 | 20 | 5 | .429 | 7/9 | 13 | |||
| 1939 | 96 | 29 | 65 | 2 | .309 | 9/9 | 38 | |
| 1940 | Kurowashi | 104 | 46 | 54 | 4 | .460 | 6/8 | 28 |
| 1941 | 85 | 28 | 56 | 1 | .333 | 7/8 | 34 | |
| 1942 | Yamato | 105 | 27 | 68 | 10 | .284 | 8/8 | 43.5 |
| 1943 | 84 | 35 | 43 | 6 | .449 | 6/8 | 17.5 | |
| Overall record | 654 | 238 | 384 | 34 | .388 | |||
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