The Gaijin Pitcher

Victor Starffin was one of Japan's first great professional baseball players. He was born in Russia in 1916 and his family was displaced by the Russian Civil War which followed the Bolshevik Revolution. The Starffins eventually settled in Japan where Victor became a great high school baseball star. Japanese professional baseball began in 1934 when a team of paid players was assembled to take on an American all-star team headed by Babe Ruth. The Japanese team later became the Yomiuri Giants and Victor became an original member of that great franchise. By the late 1930's, Victor was Japan's greatest player. His life was complicated, however, by the nationalism and racism of the day. The culmination of that was Victor being removed from the Giants and sent to an internment camp. After the war, Victor's life was still affected by prejudice, but he was eventually allowed to resume his baseball career. Although he battled illness, both physical and mental, he continued to play the game he loved in his quest to become Japan's first 300 game winner. The story of Japan's gaijin pitcher is a little known, but fascinating tale of survival, injustice, triumph, and tragedy, set against a backdrop of some of the major historical events of the 20th century.