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 1931 Tour of Japan Photo Gallery
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The 1930s Baseball Tours of Japan, Part I:

The 1931Tour

Those of you who read Bill Gutman’s interesting post about Lefty O’Doul will recall Bill mentioned that Lefty went on numerous tours to Japan in the 1930s which did much to establish baseball in the Orient. Today we’ll take a  closer look at the 1931 tour. A future post will feature the1934 exhibition, by far the most successful, due to the presence of one George Herman Ruth.

Not many baseball historians know that the 1931 tour was organized by former major leaguer Herb Hunter, a rather mediocre utility infielder/outfielder, who went on to bigger and better things after his playing days ended.

In the featured photo above, we see the ballplayers assembled on the deck of the Tatsuta Maru as it steamed across the Pacific on the way to Japan. Herb Hunter, the tour organizer, is standing in the back, center. Lou Gehrig is in the top row, far right, and Lefty O’Doul is in the front row to the right of the Japanese captain (complete identifications below). 

A true baseball entrepreneur, Herb Hunter became a something of a “Japanese Tour Impresario” and is largely credited with getting Japanese baseball established on a solid foundation in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He put together three successful tours to the Land of the Rising Sun. Before Lefty O’Doul took over in 1934, Herb Hunter was known as “Baseball’s Ambassador to the Orient.”

Just in case you’re wondering what I mean by “mediocre,” check this out: Hunter made his debut in 1916 with the Giants, appearing in 21 games, collecting seven hits in 28 at-bats. One of the hits was a home run, which turned out to be the only extra-base hit of his entire career. Over the rest of his career, he appeared in just 39 games over parts of four seasons, hitting a robust .163 with one home run and four RBI. 

Apparently Hunter had the reputation of a bit of an eccentric, and one account said he was “the butt of almost every clubhouse joke.” Another said, “He was so absentminded that his manager would escort him to the railroad station to ensure that he would not miss the team’s road trips.” Not exactly the attributes you’d expect from a tour organizer!

During the 1920 season while in Boston, Hunter came up with the idea of organizing a barnstorming tour of Japan with an all-star team of major and minor leaguers. After the season ended, he pulled it off and the trip was a success. It became the first of three such trips he would put together. With Japanese authorities trying to get the American pastime established, Hunter made extensive contacts while in Japan; and, as we would say today, it established him as the American “go-to-guy” in all things related to Japanese baseball.

Following the 1921 baseball season, Hunter realized his career was over. After all, a career .163 average wasn’t going to impress anyone.  If he was going to continue to contribute to the game, it would have to be in another capacity. And so Hunter, seemingly having found his niche, put together another barnstorming tour of Japan, this time with a larger contingent of major league players. The tour set sail on October 19, 1922 aboard the Empress of Canada. Among the “Herb Hunter All-Stars” on the tour were Casey Stengel, Waite Hoyt, Herb Pennock, Bullet Joe Bush, Bibb Falk, George “High Pockets” Kelly, Luke Sewell, and Irish Meusel. The trip was another success and further cemented Hunter in his role as the Japanese tour impresario.

Then, in 1931, Hunter, along with sportswriter Fred Leib, put together his most successful tour. This 17-game, two-month trip had a roster that was much more impressive than the previous tours, featuring future Hall-of-Famers Lefty Grove, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Cochrane, Rabbit Maranville, Al Simmons, George “High Pockets” Kelly, and Frankie Frisch. Here’s a few words about the tour from the Herb Hunter SABR Bioproject:

A group of wealthy Japanese determined to establish Japan’s first professional baseball league, an eight-team circuit, and the March 28, 1931, New York Times said that Hunter had been offered a three-year contract to serve as an adviser to the group. After their travels, Lieb wrote a lengthy piece in January 7, 1932, Sporting News which claimed that more youngsters in Japan were playing baseball than were in the United States. They played before as many as a half a million fans. Hunter was the guest of such political figures as the foreign minister of Japan, Count Yasuya Uchida, and the vice minister of foreign affairs, Mamoru Shigemitsu. The December 21, 1931, New York Times featured a large photo of the ballplayers and “baseball ambassador” Hunter, arriving in San Francisco after the tour. Lou Gehrig’s post-tour comments were reported at length in the December 23 Times.

There was only one thing lacking from the 1931 tour: the presence of the Sultan of Swat, Babe Ruth, who was hugely popular in Japan. Hunter’s Japanese contacts were pressing him hard to work out a deal to bring Ruth over. Christy Walsh, the Babe’s personal manager, and Hunter began negotiations for just such a deal.

By 1934, financial concerns caused Hunter to get out of the touring team business, and he turned future operations over to Lefty O’Doul. Under Lefty’s guidance, the deal was made and the Babe was now the top billing for the 1934 tour to Japan. The 1934 trip overshadowed the previous ones, and it was clearly due to the addition of the Bambino. 

After again serving in the U.S. Navy in World War II, Japanese “Tour Impresario” Herb Hunter moved to Orlando, Florida, going into the real estate business. He passed away in 1970 at the age of 74.

1931 Tour of Japan Player Identifications

Top, standing: Herb Hunter. Top Row, L-R: Rabbit Maranville, Unidentified, Ralph Shinners, George “Highpockets” Kelly, Al Simmons, Tom Oliver, Willie Kamm, Trainer “Doc” Knolls, Lou Gehrig. Front Row: Larry French, Lefty Grove, Muddy Ruel, Fred Lieb (sportswriter), Sotaro Suzuki (Captain), Lefty O’Doul, Bruce Cunningham, Frankie Frisch, Mickey Cochrane.

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Gary Livacari 

Photo Credits: All from Google search

Information: Excerpts and quotes edited from Herb Hunter biography by Bill Nowlin: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/herb-hunter/; and from Herb Hunter Wikipedia page. 

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