MANZANAR, Calif. — Swinging at the first pitch on a hallowed baseball field was 23-year-old Logan Morita.
Players from the Japanese American League, along with friends and family of former incarcerees, played in a tribute to the baseball teams formed at prison camps across the country during the era.
“It says that they’re resilient,” he said, pointing out the baseball field, garden and school that Japanese Americans built behind barbed wire.
As it was during WWII, baseball at Manzanar isn’t just about the score or a winning record.
Back when barbed wire restricted freedom, Manzanar players found solace on a field that organizers and volunteers have now rebirthed and made their own.
Persons:
Logan Morita, Jimmy Masatoshi Morita, Davis, “ It’s, ”
Organizations:
U.S, Japanese American League, University of California, Manzanar
Locations:
Calif, Manzanar, Lodi