NikkeiWest--Northern California Japanese American Newspaper

By Cody Kitaura—The people who played baseball for Masato “Mauch” Yamashita knew not to try to pay for anything.

“He would never ever, ever accept to be reimbursed for any cost associated with running the team,” said Matt Dingess, a player-coach for the Lodi JACL baseball team funded and managed by Yamashita. “If you offered to pay for your jersey he would be offended by it.”

Yamashita, a fixture in Lodi’s Japanese-American baseball community, died on Dec. 7 at the age of 86. An auto parts store owner and veteran, he dedicated his life to baseball and was the sole backer of Lodi’s JACL team for decades.

He was never married and had no children, and is survived by several cousins.

Dingess, who played for Yamashita for 21 years, called him “the most generous man that I’ve ever met.”

Yamashita never asked for money, only wanting to be repaid in dedication to the team, Dingess said. Many of the Lodi team’s players came back to Yamashita season after season, for decades. The team was relaxed, and was more about camaraderie than recruiting “ringers” to help win games, Dingess said.

“It’s going to be very odd to play next season and look at that spot in the dugout and not see him,” Dingess said.

Even in his later years, Yamashita never missed a game. He maintained the scorebook, and Dingess said a running joke was that Yamashita would “mark [every play] down as an error unless you said something about it.”

“If a guy hit a home run he would jokingly say that’s an error on the pitcher,” he said. “If a guy hits a double in the gap he would say he should’ve had that. Part of him thought back in his prime he would’ve caught every ball hit.”

And even when Yamashita stepped back from actively coaching the team, he still gave final approval of everything from the lineup to the practices.

“His grandfatherly, calming nature is definitely going to be missed,” Dingess said. “Just having him as the final decision-maker probably alleviated most issues that might arise in the course of a game when you know that he’s got final authority and you couldn’t argue with that.”

Yamashita was also humble. Dingess said he didn’t learn Yamashita had been a part of the famed 442nd Regimental Combat Team during World War II until about 10 years after he met him.

“He did not want or like any unneeded attention,” he said.

More unwanted attention came to Yamashita when the city of Lodi in 2002 renamed one of its Kofu Park baseball diamonds the Masato “Mauch” Yamashita Field.

Mike Reese, Recreation Superintendent for Lodi’s Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services, remembered Yamashita as humble.

“He was really unhappy with me for giving him any recognition whatsoever,” Reese said. “He did not like to be identified with thanks or any level of community glory.”

But he deserved it, Reese said.

“I had been working with him for quite a long time and saw that he pretty well carried this program on his back,” he said.

While the Lodi team was able to thrive thanks to Yamashita’s backing, two JACL teams in San Jose folded; a team in Fresno later sprouted.

Jeff Enkoji, who played for the Florin JACL team in Sacramento, played against Yamashita for more than 30 years.

He called Yamashita “the grandfather of the league,” and said he was one of the few remaining Nisei involved.

“He’s kind of a low-key guy, real quiet – a humble guy,” Enkoji said.

Kent Furuoka was one of the Lodi team’s longtime, loyal players. He started playing for Yamashita his freshman year of high school, and 30 years later is still on the team.

When Furuoka was old enough, he drove Yamashita to away games and out-of-town tournaments. He said his best memories of Yamashita are hearing his stories – albeit between naps – during those road trips.

“He could remember just about everybody who played for him and how well they played,” Furuoka said.

He recalled one story Yamashita told of playing baseball during the World War II internment, and being allowed to leave the camps to play against white teams.

Furuoka asked if the white teams were any good.

“He’d say, ‘Ah hell no, we’d kick their ass all the time.’ ”

Yamashita was a mechanic at Pine Street Garage and in 1961 purchased Pine Auto Parts with business partner Will Kagawa, remaining involved with the store for the rest of his life. He was a member of JACL, Buddhist Church of Lodi, and Nisei VFW Post 8985 in Sacramento, as well as an honorary member of Mokuyo-Kai Golf Club in Lodi.

Survivors include his cousins and their spouses: John (Ruby) Hiramoto, Terry Ogata Hiramoto, Masako (Hiro) Fujikawa, Keiko (Claude M.) Hiramoto-Hess, Edward Hiramoto, and Kenny (Yuki) Yamashita.

Services were held on Dec. 17 at Buddhist Church of Lodi with Rev. Katsuya Kusonoki officiating, followed by a reception at the JACL Hall. Memorial contributions may be made to the church, located at 23 N. Stockton St., Lodi, 95240.