Operation Z and the MVP

It was called "Operation Z" by the Japanese Imperial Headquarters.  Initial plans were drawn up by Japanese Naval Admiral Yamamoto.  At one point, he faced so much opposition to the plan that it almost led to his forced resignation.   But on December 1, 1941, Emperor Hirihito eventually provided his formal approval. 

Six days later, 350 aircraft were deployed from a host of Japanese carriers steaming toward Pearl Harbor in a well-planned attack to decimate the U.S. Navy's Pacific Fleet.  They attacked U.S. warships anchored in the harbor and destroyed 180 aircraft on the ground.

Japan had several objectives for the attack.  They were planning a campaign to acquire the Dutch West Indies and fearful that American warhsips and military power would interfere.  The elimination of the U.S. Pacific Fleet was critical.    Japan also needed to buy time to build her naval strength in the Pacific theater.   The strike was also designed to inflict enough casulaties and damage to affect American morale - to limit interference while Japan moved against Southeast Asia.

The final American casualties included 2,402 killed and 1,282 wounded.   16 Medals of Honor, 51 Navy Crosses, 53 Silver Crosses, four Navy and Marine Corps Medals, one Distinguished Flying Cross, four Distinguished Service Crosses, one Distinguished Service Medal, and three Bronze Stars were awarded after the battle.  

It is a staggering and powerful memory in the American consciousness - perhaps only approached by the events of 9/11.   And, as Franklin Roosevelt announced the events in his "day of infamy" speech, the U.S. was making plans for the difficult days ahead.   Once the U.S. began operations against Japan, both Nazi Germany and Italy declared war on the U.S. 

So began one of the darkest periods in modern world history.   Between 22-25 million soldiers were killed on all sides, and between 40-52 million civilians were killed.  Russia recently released updated casualty counts at 26.6 million.  My great uncle August Diedesch was killed on D-Day on Omaha Beach.

Throughout this bleak period in history, baseball continued to be an American pass-time and passion.  Although 4,500 professional players traded in their wool uniforms for military fatigues, baseball cared for the collective American psyche.  Baseball provided escapism and sold war bonds.  Bob Feller, Hank Greenberg, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams all fought in the war and eventually became hall of fame players. 

Even with so many players serving in the war effort, baseball felt the same; and it performed its own duty as a comfort to Americans - the same way it did after 9/11.   In a movie adaptation of the book, "Shoeless Joe", Terence Mann states, "The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by it like an army of steamrollers.   It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again.  But baseball has marked the time.  This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray.   It reminds us of all that once was good, and that could be again."

Last night, people around the world watched the New York Yankees win the world series.  Their unlikely star, Hideki Matsui, won the Most Valuable Player Award.   He had six runs batted in, and he's the first Japanese player to win the award, which began in1955.   Matsui was a legend in Japanese baseball.  His single season mark for home runs was 50 in 2002, his final season in his home country.  But in his first game as a Yankee, he hit a grand slam.

The Yankees also won the world series between 1936-1943.  During those years, American resentment of the Japanese was particularly intense, with Japanese citizens in the U.S. being herded to internment camps and prisons; and with posters like the one here glued to brick walls and signposts and store windows across the country. 

And for decades after the war, stubborn Americans like our grandparents wouldn't buy Japanese cars and appliances because of the lingering anti-Japanese sentiment and the ugly memories of burning battleships and beheaded prisoners.

And last night, this Japanese player - nicknamed "Godzilla" by his teammates when he played there - is honored as the most valuable player of the World Series.  On a Yankees team that features future hall of fame players like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez, Johnny Damon, Jorge Posada, Andy Petite and others, it is quite an accomplishment.  

I wonder if other people appreciate the significance and oddity of this the way I do.