I came into possession of a bunch of prints (poster-ish) of the San Francisco Seals Goodwill Baseball Tour of Japan. Got them from the Society of California Pioneers, thinking they were much smaller than they turned out to be. Some of the shots are better than the others, and I’m probably going to keep a few myself, but if anyone is interested in taking one, two, or more (for free), please let me know (on here or thetenssf AT gmail) and I’ll photograph them and email the files so you can decide if you want any. They are mounted on foam core. You’ll have to pick them up in San Francisco.

From the Society of California Pioneers:

The 1949 U.S. Goodwill Baseball Tour of Japan was one of the first peacetime cultural exchanges of the post-war era between the two nations. It was the 1940’s equivalent of the famed “ping-pong” diplomacy practiced by the U.S. and mainland China in the 1970’s. The Tour captured the imagination of the Japanese public with a fervor unmatched by any other pre-war or post-war Baseball Tour of Japan. The publicity surrounding this Tour dwarfed all others – scores of graphic posters, hand colored and printed baseball cards, commemorative jewelry, kimonos, umbrellas, uniforms and tour jackets were produced and presented to each player upon arriving in Yokohama on October 12th. At tour’s end, each player was presented with a personalized fabric covered album containing large, high quality black and white photos of the players’ arrival, receptions, parades, team photos, and game action shots.

Upon the personal request of General Douglas MacArthur, the Tour was organized by Lefty O’Doul..