Wayne Tadaki is the Coordinator at Theodore Ogoshi Archives at Makiki Christian Church. He writes a series of historical articles about Makiki Christian Church for the churchʻs newsletter.
MCC’s Baseball Legacy from Rev. Okumura to Hawaii’s Heroes
Play Ball!! Baseball season is in full swing! Major League Baseball, UH Rainbows, names like Ichiro Suzuki and Shohei Ohtani, as well as Kolten Wong and Kurt Suzuki are in the news. The game of baseball has played a big part in the history of sports in Hawaii, and it has also played quite a big part in the history of Makiki Christian Church (MCC) as well. MCC could field quite an all-star team of baseball coaches and players, starting with our church’s founder, Rev. Takie Okumura.
In a book titled, “AJA Baseball in Hawaii,” (which can be found in the MCC Archives), author Michael Okihiro writes, “Reverend Takie Okumura is considered by many Japanese to be the father of AJA (Americans of Japanese Ancestry) baseball. In 1899, Reverend Okumura organized the first all-Japanese baseball team from students at his boarding school and called the team Excelsior. They played as the Japanese representative in the Youth League and won the championship in 1905. A proud Rev. Okumura reported that ‘the team turned out to be a strong one, and won several championship cups and pennants at Boys’ Field on Vineyard Street.’” After working many long, hard and boring hours on the plantations, it was baseball that kept many young, energetic and spirited young men out of gambling, fighting and other unsavory troubles. That was Rev. Okumura’s intention in starting his baseball activities, and it worked out wonderfully for decades.
Barefooted Kenneth Kaneko at batting practice with brave, unidentified, maskless catcher behind plate.
Hawaii’s WWII Baseball Heroes: Triumphs and Sacrifices
The start of World War II abruptly disrupted the greatly expanded and most popular sport of Hawaii AJA and Hawaii Major League baseball in Hawaii. Many local baseball stars volunteered for war service and were considered heroes for not only their baseball exploits, but for their combat bravery as well. In “AJA Baseball in Hawaii,” Okihiro writes that the 100th Battalion fielded a baseball team that included Joe Takata, Kenneth Kaneko (possible MCC member), Tadao Beppu, and others. Team Manager, 100th Battalion soldier and longtime MCC member, the late Ted Hirayama, wrote this account of a game against a Military Police Unit in Wisconsin, while the 100th was at Basic Training: “It looked like a sure extra base hit, but out of nowhere the right fielder snagged the ball for an out. The announcer yelled, ‘Where did he come from? What’s his name?’ I said, ‘Kenneth Kaneko,’ and the announcer said over and over, ‘Ladies and gentleman, these guys from Hawaii are showing us how the baseball game should be played.
They may be small, but they play like superb big timers.” “Although they lost two of the games, the highlight of the series was Joe Takata’s towering homerun over the right field fence which was the longest drive ever seen in that field. Sgt. Joe Shigeo Takata, who starred for Azuma and Asahi, became the first AJA soldier killed while serving with the 100th Battalion in Italy.” The baseball field at Fort Shafter in Honolulu is today called Joe Takata Field.
Architect of Hawaii Baseball Legends
Michael Okihiro starts off the 6th Inning (Chapter 6 in his book) with this: “The University of Hawaii’s baseball team began as a ‘club team’ and for many years played against other club and service teams in Hawaii, until (current MCC member) Les Murakami became head coach in 1971. He subsequently proceeded to establish one of the most distinguished coaching records in collegiate sports.” Among the many outstanding ballplayers that Makiki’s beloved Coach Les coached are the legendary pitcher Derek Tatsuno and current News/Sportscaster Howard Dashefsky. The home of the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors baseball team is officially named the Les Joe Shigeo Takata, 100th first war hero. Murakami Stadium, but many locals know it as what a Hawaii News Now headline once read, “The House That Les Built.”
Joe Shigeo Takata, 100th first war hero.
Coach Les Murakami
Makiki CC’s Baseball Legacy: Generations of Passion and Talent
Sometimes, baseball fever is contagious and is passed on through generational bloodlines, and sometimes it crosses over to the other side. Passing on that fever seems to have been the case in a number of Makiki CC families. Hiroshi Morikawa was an avid player on the Makiki CC softball team. His son-in-law, Jeff Camara, pitched for Kamehameha School, and Jeff’s son, Micah, had a solid career as an outfielder on Castle High’s team. The Stewart and Faye Matsunaga family spread some roots in both the local and mainland baseball world. Father, Stewart, was a stalwart catcher on the 1971 Champion Kalani High baseball team; son, Steven, pitched and played infield for Kaimuki High School; and daughter Lindsey (the real family star), pitched for the Kaimuki High boys JV baseball team, starred on the varsity softball team, and went on to a distinguished college softball career at Pacific Lutheran University. A most illustrious Makiki CC baseball family features the father/son duo of Maurice and David Torigoe. Father, Maurice, pitched for the 1966/67 Kaimuki High Bulldogs baseball team, played in the AJA for a number of years, and is named in “AJA Baseball In Hawaii” on the Hawaii Herald’s Hawaii Hall of Fame list of Oahu pitchers of the 1970’s-80’s. Son, David, was a fireballing pitcher for the Punahou Buffs, played collegiate ball at Puget Sound University, and currently plays for Waipahu in the AJA League, as well as coaches the Punahou JV baseball team. Now, that’s what I call talent!
Coach Takie Okumura had vision, godly motivations, and a keen sense of baseball talent. That’s why his Excelsior team did so well; they were skillful, and they had heaven on their side. If the MCC Archives were to put together a baseball lineup, it would be fearsome, and it could look something like this:
Founder: Takie Okumura
Co-coaches: Takie Okumura, Les Murakami
Manager: Ted Hirayama
Pitchers: Maurice Torigoe, David Torigoe, Jeff Camara, Steven Matsunaga,
Lindsey Matsunaga, Madixx Muramoto (Coach Les’ granddaughter)
Catcher: Stewart Matsunaga, Dennis Sugihara
1st Base Hikaru Kumagai 2nd Base John Kitsu, Conrad Nishina 3rd Base – Steven Matsunaga
Shortstop: Lindsey Matsunaga
Outfield: Micah Camara, Madixx Muramoto, Richard Sekiya, Philip Muramoto
When Coach Takie Okumura was starting his venture into AJA baseball, he, being a Godly man, could very well have been guided by the words of the Apostle Paul …
“. . . I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run (or play ball [editor’s insertion]) in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we (strive for) an imperishable one.”
There is one thing we can all agree on about Coach Okumura. Something he might only humbly and politely accept, but which we all proudly know is true.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. From now on there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”
Okumura Sensei’s life reflects those words like pitching a Perfect Game. Well done, good and faithful Coach! Rev. Takie Okumura’s pioneering spirit in bringing baseball to Hawaii has created a lasting legacy at Makiki Christian Church. His vision has enriched lives and fostered a community of passion and talent.
