Baseball in Japan

Re “Baseball Watch: Newest Dodger,” editorial, Feb. 16:

In the early part of this century, Dr. Harry Benninghoff of the University of Chicago went to Japan under the auspices of the Northern Baptist Churches. In 1908 he established the Waseda Hoshien Student Christian Center at the edge of the campus of Waseda University in Tokyo. Shortly thereafter, he organized a baseball team composed of Waseda students. Finding that they had no other team to play against in Japan, Benninghoff arranged for his team to make a voyage to the West Coast of the United STates for a series of games with American college teams.

After returning to Japan, Benninghoff uncovered interest at Keio University in having a baseball team. Thus was born the annual Waseda-Keio baseball game, which remains a national event to this day--drawing thousands of fans and receiving national television coverage. This baseball competition between two of Japan’s most prestigious private universities clearly predates Babe Ruth and the other stars who visited Japan in the 1930s.

C. ALTON ROBERTSON

Associate Professor

University of Redlands

Robertson is former fraternal secretary of the Waseda Hoshien Student Christian Center, 1957-60 and 1967-69.