Early in 1956, the Dodgers were invited by Matsutaro Shoriki, the founder of the Yomiuri Shimbun and the “Father of Japanese professional baseball,” to make a trip to Japan following the regular season. The Dodgers’ legendary owner Walter O’Malley spent a good deal of time to ensure the key Dodgers players would make the trip before responding. The Dodgers were at the height of their popularity, having won their first World Series Championship in 1955. Shoriki dispatched renowned Yomiuri sportswriter Sotaro Suzuki to New York to meet with O’Malley and personally act as his representative to make all necessary arrangements for the Dodgers to make the goodwill tour, sponsored by the Yomiuri Shimbun. Suzuki is best remembered as the man who helped convince Babe Ruth to tour Japan in 1934, an event that would trigger the start of professional baseball in Japan. According to legend, Suzuki tracked down Ruth at a barbershop in New York and stressed how popular he was in Japan, showing a planned Japanese tour poster in which Ruth was the only player pictured.
Here then is the actual contract between the Dodgers and the famed Japanese newspaper, with blazing signatures from O’Malley and Suzuki appearing on the fifth page. The 10-page contract, with eight of the pages 8-by-13 inches and the remaining two slightly smaller, is written in English, with the final page in Japanese. It comes with a blue protective coverlet and virtually all the pages present in largely Ex-Mt condition, with only the smallest tears mostly confined to the final page in English, detailing the schedule from Oct. 10 to Nov. 17, 1956. It is a truly spectacular item that provides an intimate look at virtually any detail concerning the historic tour, including airline, hotels, travel arrangements, payments by the newspaper for players, etc., insurance and even dry cleaning responsibilities.
Pre-certified by PSA/DNA.