This is a site about Pro Yakyu (Japanese Baseball), not about who the next player to go over to MLB is. It's a community of Pro Yakyu fans who have come together to share their knowledge and opinions with the world. It's a place to follow teams and individuals playing baseball in Japan (and Asia), and to learn about Japanese (and Asian) culture through baseball.
It is my sincere hope that once you learn a bit about what we're about here that you will join the community of contributors.
Michael Westbay
(aka westbaystars)
Founder
O'Doul was famous for helping bring baseball to Japan, touring Japan in 1934 with a team that included former Hall of Famers: Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx, Earl Averill, and Charlie Gehringer. O'Doul later returned in 1949, with the Seals for a six-week tour, for a post-war goodwill gesture, which prompted former Allies General Douglas MacArthur to say, "All the diplomats together would not have been able to do that. This is greatest piece of diplomacy ever."
Right now, Jeff Idelson, the Hall of Fame Vice President of Communications, "said I wouldn't write off Lefty O'Doul's potential candidacy for election at this point."
O'Doul has a career major league average of .349, with 113 HRs and 542 RBI [Baseball-Reference]. He was elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in 2002. Overall, it's an interesting case, and one with a lot of history and culture that O'Doul helped make possible.
[Full SF Gate article] [1934 MLB Tour of Japan]