Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

RAYMOND BUSSEI BASEBALL JACKET

Date

1953

Materials

LEATHER, COTTON, POLYESTER

No. Pieces

1

Height

6

Length

71

Width

51

Description

RED AND WHITE LEATHER “BUSSEI” BASEBALL JACKET. RED AND WHITE KNIT FABRIC BANDS AT NECK, CUFFS, AND WAIST. SLASH FRONT POCKETS EDGED IN WHITE LEATHER. SEVEN WHITE PLASTIC BUTTONS. WHITE COTTON LINING. LEFT SLEEVE PATCH EMBROIDERED “5”. LEFT CHEST PATCH EMBROIDERED “S.A.S.B. BASEBALL LEAGUE BUSSEI 1951-52-53 CHAMPS” WITH AN IMAGE OF A BASEBALL PLAYER SWINGING A BAT. SOME STAINING ON KNIT BANDS. WORN OVERALL, LEATHER HARDENED.

Subjects

CLOTHING-OUTERWEAR

Historical Association

SPORTS

History

THIS JACKET BELONGED TO HIROSHI “SPUD” KITAGAWA WHEN HE PLAYED SHORTSTOP IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA’S SUGAR BEET LEAGUE. KITAGAWA WAS ON THE ‘BUSSEI’ BASEBALL TEAM FROM 1948/49 TO 1954, WHICH REPRESENTED THE TOWN OF RAYMOND AND WAS SUPPORTED BY THE LOCAL BUDDHIST TEMPLE. ACCORDING TO FORMER TEAM MEMBER SHIG NAKAGAWA, “‘BUSSEI’ IS SHORT FOR THE JAPANESE YOUNG BUDDHIST ASSOCIATION”. ALL MEMBERS OF THE LEAGUE WERE JAPANESE CANADIAN, AND IT FEATURED TEAMS IN TOWNS INCLUDING RAYMOND, PICTURE BUTTE, COALDALE, MAGRATH, AND TABER/BARNWELL/CRANFORD. IN JUNE 2013, GALT MUSEUM COLLECTIONS TECH KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED KITAGAWA ABOUT HIS FAMILY’S MOVE FROM VANCOUVER TO SOUTHERN ALBERTA IN 1942, AND HIS TIME SPENT PLAYING WITH THE BUSSEI TEAM. KITAGAWA SAID: “AT THAT TIME THEY TOLD YOU IF YOU WANT TO GO AS A FAMILY, GET OUT RIGHT NOW. MY MOTHER WAS, SHE DIDN’T TALK GOOD ENGLISH, SHE COULDN’T WORK SO MY FATHER COULD, AND MY UNCLE, THEY KNEW ONE FAMILY IN RAYMOND FROM JAPAN, I DON’T KNOW HOW, SO THEY WROTE A LETTER ASKING IF THEY COULD COME OVER, AND HE SAID YEAH COME ON OVER, SO WE COME AS A FAMILY. SO WE CAME, TEN OF US, MY FAMILY AND MY UNCLE’S FAMILY IN ’42. IT WAS QUITE A HARDSHIP. MY PARENTS, THEY HAD TO GET EVERYTHING PACKED IN A COUPLE OF DAYS AND JUST TAKE OFF. WE GOT ON THE TRAIN AND GOT TO CALGARY AND COME TO LETHBRIDGE, AND THIS MR. KOSAKA, HE PICKED US UP IN LETHBRIDGE AND GOT TO RAYMOND. YES, IT WAS QUITE A TRIP IN THOSE DAYS… IN A COUPLE OF DAYS, WE MOVED INTO TOWN. [MR. KOSAKA] FOUND US A PLACE TO RENT, A HOUSE IN THE TOWN OF RAYMOND. WE STAYED THERE A COUPLE OF MONTHS, THEN WE WENT OUT TO THE SUGAR BEET FARM… I DON’T KNOW WHAT YEAR THEY STARTED, THE SUGAR BEET LEAGUE, BUT WE USED TO GO WATCH WEEKENDS. WE’D GET OFF WORK. I DON’T KNOW WHEN IT WAS STARTED OR WHAT YEAR IT WAS, IN THE LATE ‘40S ANYWAY… IN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL WE STARTED PLAYING, WE GOT TO PLAY ON THE TEAM ANYWAY… IT WAS PRETTY HARD TO GET NINE PEOPLE TO COME OUT IN THOSE DAYS YOU KNOW. EVERYBODY HAD TO STAY HOME AND WORK THE BEETS IN THOSE DAYS. IT WASN’T THAT EASY TO GET OFF. EVERYBODY WORKED SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, LONG HOURS. I JUST GOT THERE AND THEY SAID COME ON AND PLAY SO WE STARTED PLAYING BALL AND OTHER PEOPLE JOINED US, AROUND RAYMOND… WE HAD A CHURCH, A PRETTY GOOD START, A YOUNG BUDDHIST SOCIETY THERE AND WE GOT TO PLAY BALL… PICTURE BUTTE, COALDALE, THEY HAD A STRONG TEAM, A LOT OF VETERANS THAT HAD PLAYED BEFORE… RAYMOND, WE STARTED GETTING BETTER AROUND, IN THE ‘50S. WE WON THREE YEARS IN A ROW, RIGHT? THOSE YEARS WERE PRETTY GOOD, YEAH… AS THE YEARS WENT BY AND WE STARTED GETTING BETTER, WE USED TO GO TO THE SUGAR BEETS AND HAD THE BEETS FIRST THING IN THE MORNING AND GO PLAY BALL IN THE AFTERNOON AND BY MONDAY MORNING WE WERE ALL TIRED AND COULDN’T DO MUCH WORK. WE USED TO PLAY A DOUBLE HEADER ON SUNDAY WHEN THE THING WAS GOING GOOD. WE’D STOP IN LETHBRIDGE AND IN CHINATOWN AND HAVE SUPPER AND GO HOME. MONDAY MORNING WE WERE PRETTY TIRED. OUR PARENTS WONDERED WHAT THE HECK WAS GOING ON, WE COULDN’T DO BEETS TOO GOOD. IT WAS A LOT OF FUN.” FOR FURTHER INFORMATION AND A TRANSCRIPT OF THE INTERVIEW, SEE PERMANENT FILE.

Catalogue Number

P20130010001

Acquisition Date

2013-06

Collection

Museum

Less detail