View source for Wally Yonamine

{{Short description|American multi-sport athlete (1925–2011)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2019}}
{{Infobox baseball biography
| name        = Wally Yonamine
| image       = Wally Yonamine 1951 cropped.jpg
| image_size  = 250
| caption     = Wally Yonamine in 1951
| number      = 
| position    = [[Outfielder]]
| birth_date  = {{Birth date|1925|6|24|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [[Olowalu]], [[Hawaii Territory]]
|death_date   = {{Death date and age|2011|2|28|1925|6|24|mf=y}}
|death_place  = [[Honolulu]], [[Hawaii]]
| bats        = 
| throws      = 
| debutleague = [[Nippon Professional Baseball|NPB]]
| debutdate   = June 19
| debutyear   = 1951
| debutteam   = Yomiuri Giants
| finaldate   = October 12
| finalyear   = 1962
| finalteam   = Chunichi Dragons
| statleague  = NPB
| stat1label  = Batting average
| stat1value  = .311
| stat3label  = Home runs
| stat3value  = 82
| stat2label  = Hits
| stat2value  = 1,337
| stat4label  = Runs batted in
| stat4value  = 482
| teams       =
'''As Player'''
* [[Yomiuri Giants]] ({{Baseball year|1951}}–{{Baseball year|1960}})
* [[Chunichi Dragons]] ({{Baseball year|1961}}–{{Baseball year|1962}})
'''As Manager'''
* [[Chunichi Dragons]] ({{Baseball year|1972}}–{{Baseball year|1977}})
|awards = 
*4x [[Japan Series]] Champion:  [[1951 Japan Series|1951]], [[1952 Japan Series|1952]], [[1953 Japan Series|1953]], [[1955 Japan Series|1955]]
* [[Nippon Professional Baseball Most Valuable Player Award|CL MVP]] (1957)
* 8× [[Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star Game|NPB All-Star]] (1952-1959)
* 7× [[Best Nine Award]] (1952-1958)
| hoflink       = Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame
| hoftype       = Japanese
| hofdate       = 1994
| hofvote       = 
| hofmethod     = 
| module =
{{Infobox NFL biography
| embed         = yes
| number        = 94
| position      = [[Running back]]
| height_ft     = 5
| height_in     = 9
| weight_lbs    = 180
| high_school   = [[Farrington High School|Farrington]] ([[Honolulu, Hawaii]])
| college       =
| undraftedyear = 
| pastteams     = * [[San Francisco 49ers]] ([[1947 San Francisco 49ers season|1947]])
| pfr           = Y/YonaWa20
| statlabel1    = Rushing yards
| statvalue1    = 74
| statlabel2    = Receiving yards
| statvalue2    = 40
| statlabel3    = Touchdowns
| statvalue3    = 0 
}}}}

{{nihongo|'''Wallace Kaname Yonamine'''|与那嶺要|Yonamine Kaname|June 24, 1925 – February 28, 2011}} was a Japanese-American multi-sport athlete who played in the [[All-America Football Conference]] (AAFC) and Japan's [[Nippon Professional Baseball]].

==Early life==
Kaname Yonamine, a [[Nisei|Nisei Japanese American]], was born in [[Olowalu, Hawaii|Olowalu]], [[Maui]],<ref name="weber">{{citation |author=Weber, Bruce |title=Wally Yonamine, 85, Dies; Changed Japanese Baseball |date=March 4, 2011 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/sports/baseball/05yonamine.html?_r=1&hpw |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref> [[Hawaii]] to parents Matsusai (September 1, 1890 – July 31, 1988) and Kikue (February 14, 1901 – February 26, 1999). Matsusai was an ''[[Okinawans in Hawaii|uchinānchu]]'' immigrant and Kikue came from [[Hiroshima]].<ref name="weber" /> Yonamine attended [[Lahainaluna High School|Lahainaluna]] and Wallace Rider [[Farrington High School]].<ref name=lewis>{{cite web|title=Hawaii sports pioneer Wally Yonamine dies|url=https://www.staradvertiser.com/2011/03/01/breaking-news/hawaii-sports-pioneer-wally-yonamine-dies/|work=Star Advertiser|author=Lewis, Ferd|date=March 1, 2011|access-date=December 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213204853/https://www.staradvertiser.com/2011/03/01/breaking-news/hawaii-sports-pioneer-wally-yonamine-dies/|archive-date=December 13, 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> The name of his high school was the origin of his nickname, originally Wallace, but quickly changed to Wally,<ref name=":0">{{harvnb|Fitts|2008|p=20}}</ref> which would later become his legal name.<ref name="weber" />

==Professional football career==
Yonamine signed a $14,000 contract, playing [[running back]] for the [[San Francisco 49ers]] in their second season (1947). Doing so, he became the first [[American football|football]] player of [[Japanese American]] ancestry to play professional football<ref name="fitts2">{{harvnb|Fitts|2008|p=33}}</ref> ([[Walter Achiu]] was the first Asian-American). In his one season with the team, he had 19 carries for 74 yards and caught 3 passes for 40 yards. His football career ended during the off-season, when he broke his wrist playing in an amateur baseball league in Hawaii.<ref name=weber/>

==Professional baseball career==
A multi-skilled [[outfielder]], Yonamine was also noted for his flexible [[Batting (baseball)|batting]] style and aggressive [[baserunning]] during his career with the [[Yomiuri Giants]] and [[Chunichi Dragons]]. In Japan, Yonamine was a member of four [[Japan Series|Japan Series Championship]] teams, the [[Central League]] MVP in 1957, a consecutive seven-time [[Best Nine Award]] winner (1952–58), an eleven-time All-Star, a three-time batting champion.

Yonamine was inducted into the [[Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame]], admitted in 1994 for his achievements during his 12-year career with the Giants and Dragons.<ref name=weber/>

==Post-career==
Yonamine operated a highly successful [[pearl]] store, "Wally Yonamine Pearls", with his wife, Jane. The store is located in [[Roppongi]], [[Tokyo]]. They also had a branch of their store in California run by their children.<ref>{{cite news|author=Gustkey|first=Earl|date=June 18, 1989|title=WARMING UP TO WALLY : Yonamine, First American to Play in Japan, Was Not an Instant Hit|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-06-18-sp-3883-story.html|url-status=live|access-date=December 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213211203/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-06-18-sp-3883-story.html|archive-date=December 13, 2020}}</ref> In 2008, Yonamine joined the Japanese Master League team Nagoya 80 D'sers as a coach/part-time player.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wally Yonamine: Sportsman who fought prejudice in two sports and in two countries|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/wally-yonamine-sportsman-who-fought-prejudice-in-two-sports-and-in-two-countries-2291894.html|author=Carlson, Michael|work=[[The Independent]]|date=June 2, 2011|access-date=December 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401112029/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/wally-yonamine-sportsman-who-fought-prejudice-in-two-sports-and-in-two-countries-2291894.html|archive-date=April 1, 2019|url-status=live}}</ref>

After an extended battle with prostate cancer, Yonamine died on February 28, 2011, aged 85, in Honolulu.<ref name=lewis /><ref name=song>{{citation|last=Song|first=Jaymes|title='Nisei Jackie Robinson' dies at age 85|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=March 1, 2011|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/01/AR2011030105741.html}}</ref>

Yonamine's grand-nephew, Micah, was selected by the [[Philadelphia Phillies]] in the 29th round of the [[2019 Major League Baseball draft]].<ref>{{cite book |title=Baseball America 2020 Prospect Handbook Digital Edition |date=24 March 2020 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=978-1-932391-94-7 |page=134 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mZyeDwAAQBAJ&pg=RA1-PA134 |access-date=27 December 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Micah Yonamine Minor Leagues Statistics & History |url=https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=yonami000mic |website=[[Baseball-Reference.com]] |publisher=[[Sports Reference]] |access-date=27 December 2021}}</ref> He is currently a developmental player for the [[Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=大叔父は中日監督も務めたウォーリー与那嶺さん…日本ハム、育成新外国人でマイカ与那嶺を獲得 ハワイにちなみ背番号は「150」：中日スポーツ・東京中日スポーツ |url=https://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/1025214 |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=中日スポーツ・東京中日スポーツ |language=ja}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=マイカ与那嶺選手と育成選手契約締結 |url=https://www.fighters.co.jp/news/detail/202500656153.html |access-date=2025-02-15 |website=北海道日本ハムファイターズ |language=ja}}</ref>

== See also ==
* [[American expatriate baseball players in Japan]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
*{{Cite book|title=Wally Yonamine: The Man Who Changed Japanese Baseball|first=Robert K.|last=Fitts|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8032-1381-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tdZGtIG19H8C}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Wally Kaname Yonamine}}
{{Baseballstats|brm=yonami001wal}}
*{{in lang|ja}}<!--Japanese--> [http://www.baseball-museum.or.jp/ Japan Baseball Hall of Fame]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20040915030927/http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/la/news/la_press_release.jsp?ymd=20040426&content_id=729786&vkey=pr_la&fext=.jsp Dodgers to celebrate Japanese American Community Night]
*{{cite web| title=Densho interview: Wally Yonamine| url=https://ddr.densho.org/narrators/183/| date=2003-12-16|access-date=2021-06-13}}

{{Central League MVPs}}
{{Chunichi Dragons Managers}}
{{Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yonamine, Wally Kaname}}
[[Category:1925 births]]
[[Category:2011 deaths]]
[[Category:American expatriate baseball players in Japan]]
[[Category:Hawaii people of Okinawan descent]]
[[Category:American football running backs]]
[[Category:Baseball players from Hawaii]]
[[Category:Chunichi Dragons managers]]
[[Category:Chunichi Dragons players]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in Hawaii]]
[[Category:Deaths from prostate cancer in the United States]]
[[Category:Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Managers of baseball teams in Japan]]
[[Category:Nippon Professional Baseball MVP Award winners]]
[[Category:People from Maui]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Maui County, Hawaii]]
[[Category:Players of American football from Hawaii]]
[[Category:Salt Lake City Bees players]]
[[Category:San Francisco 49ers (AAFC) players]]
[[Category:Yomiuri Giants players]]
[[Category:American players of American football of Asian descent]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]
[[Category:American people of Japanese descent]]
[[Category:Sportspeople of Japanese descent]]
[[Category:Hawaii people of Japanese descent]]