Trailblazer made a giant impact with move in '64
Gaylord Perry had just jumped off his tractor at his farm in the mountains of North Carolina when the phone call came and the subject brought him back, oh, about 43 years.
The conversation concerned Masanori Murakami, whose brief two-season tenure for the San Francisco Giants wasn't as memorable for his accomplishments on the field as it was for the impact he made as the first Japanese player to pitch on American soil.
Perry played with Murakami both seasons (1964 and '65) and wished he had played with him longer.
"I saw him not long ago at a get-together in San Francisco and I asked him, 'Why didn't you stay with us?' " said the Hall of Fame righthander. "And he looked at me and said, 'My country wouldn't let me.' "
Murakami was technically on loan from the Nankai Hawks, who received a $10,000 fee from the Giants.
"The attention on him wasn't of the caliber it is now with [Daisuke] Matsuzaka or Ichiro [Suzuki] or [Hideki] Matsui, but it was a big story especially in San Francisco because of the large Japanese population," Perry recalled. "I would say there were 10 or so more media around us during those two years and for that time even 10 more media was considered a lot. But he was the first. He was the pioneer. He fit in very well with us. We were able to communicate baseball to one another, though the rest of it was hard. I'm sure it was difficult for him in that environment, really not knowing anyone and pitching in a foreign land with the Japanese population really focused on him."
Murakami had come to the United States along with two other Japanese players -- catcher Hiroshi Takahashi and third baseman Tatsuhiko Tanaka. All of them went to Single A Fresno, but it was the 20-year-old Murakami who quickly emerged after going 11-7 with a 1.78 ERA in 108 innings. He struck out 159 and walked only 34 and the Giants felt he could make the jump to the big leagues.
He made his historic debut Sept. 1, 1964 against the Mets, striking out two in a scoreless inning.
Murakami pitched on a talent-laden Giants team that included Perry, Juan Marichal, Bob Shaw, Warren Spahn, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Jim Davenport, and Jim Ray Hart.
"He really helped us because we needed a lefty reliever with a good curveball, especially at Candlestick [Park], where the wind blew from right to left field," Perry said. "He was very effective."
Murakami made nine appearances in '64 and was 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA. He also pitched in 1965 and went 4-1 with a 3.75 ERA and eight saves in 45 games. But in the offseason the Hawks and Giants fought over his rights. With pressure mounting from his family and Japanese baseball to come home, Murakami returned to Japan at age 22.
He played 17 seasons for the Hawks, Hanshin Tigers, and Nippon Ham Fighters. His best season was 1968 when he went 18-4 with a 2.38 ERA. He tried a big-league comeback in 1983, but couldn't make the Giants and he retired as a trailblazer -- the one responsible for opening up the Pacific Rim to major league baseball. But it wasn't until Hideo Nomo debuted with the Dodgers in 1995 that another Japanese pitcher landed in the majors.
