Captain’s Corner November

Captain's Corner

Speaker: Kater Miller

Date: November 18th

Location: Cruiser Olympia at Independence Seaport Museum

Cost: Included with any Ticket Package I Free for ISM Members

Bio: Kater Miller has been a curator at the National Museum of the Marine Corps since 2010. His initial role was to curate the vehicle and artillery collection. He took on a role as the curatorial representative of the museum's expansion, which will include 1975-present day. He worked to collect sports stories from the Marines and has published several articles in Leatherneck Magazine on the topic of how sports shaped the Marines and on US Marine baseball teams playing Japanese baseball teams in the years leading up to WWII.

Topic Summary: This lecture will explore the USS Olympia, the US Navy, and the US Marines' earliest games of baseball in Asia as the sport exploded in popularity abroad in the 1890s. Missionaries to Japan initially introduced the sport to the country in the 1870s, where it took off in popularity. By the 1890s, Several Japanese college teams agitated to play against American teams in the treaty port of Yokohama. After years of denials, the Americans relented and were crushed by the Japanese students. The USS Olympia, recently arrived in Yokohama, had a

former Major Leaguer on board, and with the additional ringers of the Olympia's Baseball team, the Americans were able to beat the Japanese team.