Asians in American Sports | Asian American Poll

ASIANS IN AMERICAN SPORTS
(Updated Wednesday, Jan 22, 2025, 06:39:09 AM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

Which male athlete has done the most to promote the image of Asian American men?
Tennis Player Michael Chang | 39%
Pitcher Chanho Park | 22%
Golfer Tiger Woods | 9%
Linebacker Dat Nguyen | 12%
Rightfielder Ichiro Suzuki | 11%
Left Wing Paul Kariya | 7%

Which female athlete has done the most to promote the image of Asian American women?
Figure Skater Kristi Yamaguchi | 18%
Pool Player Jeanette Lee | 2%
Figure Skater Michele Kwan | 57%
Golfer Se-ri Pak | 23%

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WHAT YOU SAY

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There is an Korean-born offensive lineman in the University of Montana State football team. He was with New Mexoco's football team, then transferred to Montana State. He is a junior, 6'5", 320 lbs, and can bench press 435 pounds. He should be eligible for the NFL in 2003.

D.C. Sunday, October 14, 2001 at 21:45:45 (PDT)

The Seattle Mariners are one of the few teams so willing to produce Asian talent. It exists out there, but the racist way of promoting and recruiting athletes here in the USA often leaves out the qualified Asian athlete. It is no coincidence because the Mariners are owned by a Japanese company. It is the same with cinema. Only the Sony owned companies are enthusiastic with producing Asian themes and talent big screen. Asian Americans also have the capital to pool resources and do something for ourselves.
Racism in sports and tv Sunday, October 14, 2001 at 12:28:06 (PDT)

Way to go Wang Chao! He is the first Chinese player to be signed by a major league baseball team. He is only 16 years old. They say he is nothing really special, but I hope he does well in the majors. You always see Japanese and Korean players in the major leagues but no Chinese players. Let's all hope this is the beginning of more Chinese players in the big leagues. C'mon, what is wrong with Beijing? Why are they so reluctant to let Wang pitch in the majors. I can't wait to see him make his first start for the Mariners.
A big Chinese-American baseball fan Saturday, October 13, 2001 at 10:51:14 (PDT)

According to ESPN.com (not saying that ESPN is any kind of authority) Dat Nguyen was

Born: September 25, 1975, Rockport, TX
confused Saturday, October 13, 2001 at 02:14:16 (PDT)

For all you NFL fans, AA players will continue to grow in in numbers soon. Aside from Dat Nguyen, Kailee Wong is the starting MLB for the Vikings. K.A. Lloyd Lee is a special teams ace/back up safety for the Chargers. Let's not forget the hapas either: Hines Ward - starting WR for the Steelers is half-Korean/Black. Starting WR Johnnie Morton of the Lions is half Japanese/black and his younger brother Chad Morton is the return specialist/backup RB for the Jets.

Hopefully we'll see some more AA NFL players soon like QB Timmy Chang of U of Hawaii. Just no more kickers.
LA AA sports fanatic Friday, October 12, 2001 at 15:00:16 (PDT)

Asnslgr,

Glad to see so many other AA who support Asian and AA athletes. We will possibly see 2 more Asian baseball players in the majors next year. Yakult Swallows pitcher Ishii will be in the blind auction to the majors this offseason. One of the top players in the Korean League, Samsung outfielder S. Lee has stated he will play in the majors next season also. I prefer to see more position players than pitchers since there are already a number of the latter in the majors.

Also Taiwanese outfielder Fang is already in the Dodgers organization. He was the only player to homer off of Chan Ho in the Asian Games baseball tourney.
LA AA sports fanatic Friday, October 12, 2001 at 14:51:49 (PDT)

i51,

You've probably mistaken Sadaharu Oh for Isao Harimoto. Harimoto is 100% Korean and is one of the most beloved players in Japanese baseball history. My parents told me that Harimoto's mother would attend his games wearing a Korean hanbok and cheered for him calling him by his Korean name. THat's one of the reasons why he was so famous...he didn't sell out his heritage in Japan at a time when discrimination against Koreans was enormous in Japan. There was another popular Korean player in Japan, but he completely assimilated into the Japanese culture and married a Japanese woman. Most Koreans did not support him as much as they did Harimoto.

LA AA sports fanatic Friday, October 12, 2001 at 14:42:47 (PDT)

TRUE,

DAT was NOT born in Vietnam. He was born on a boat on the seas after his family escaped Vietnam. His mother was pregnant when they left. Hence the Vietnamese first name.

LA AA sports fanatic Friday, October 12, 2001 at 14:33:30 (PDT)

What's NY met's pitcher Bruce Chen's ethnic decent. He is Chinese right?
Kevin Friday, October 12, 2001 at 09:15:20 (PDT)

Who cares about Japanese baseball? And how can some of you guys compare major League baseball with Japanese pro ball?
Surely, Mr.Oh, as good as he was he couldn't even come near that homerun mark in the majors. Major league is by far superior in talent.

Tim Thursday, October 11, 2001 at 18:41:01 (PDT)

Ooops, a few too many typos in my last post. I meant to say 'Wang', not 'Wand'. If my last name was Wand I would dfinately want to change it to 'Oh'!
smallworld Thursday, October 11, 2001 at 05:38:02 (PDT)

The son of a Chinese father and a Japanese mother, Sadaharu Oh was born on May 20, 1940 in Tokyo, Japan. Oh started playing baseball at an early age and became a star at Waseda High School where he pitched his team to a national championship (high school baseball is a passion in Japan). After high school Oh signed with the Yomiuri Giants for $60,000 in 1959. As a rookie left-handed pitcher/first-baseman, Oh hit .161 in 1959. Switched to first base in 1960, Oh and Giants batting coach Hiroshi Arakawa began their quest to perfect Oh's swing using Zen and the martial arts as a guide. Oh gave up late-night drinking bouts on the Ginza and studied the martial arts to attain physical, mental, and spiritual mastery. Oh said, "My opponents and I were really one. My strength and skills were only part of the equation. The other half was theirs."

But a hitch in his swing still kept Oh back until Arakawa made him stand on one leg before the pitch. If he hitched, he'd topple over. Thus the famous "dog-at-the-hydrant" or "flamingo" stance, which no one before or since has attempted. The bat angle, with the barrel pointing toward the pitcher, was an integral part of the balance. In his first two at bats with his new stance, Oh singled and blasted a home run, giving him the confidence to stay with the unorthodox style.

Aikido taught Oh patience at the plate. Kendo taught him hip action, a downward swing (the fastest path to the ball), and focusing ki, or energy, from the shoulders to the "sweet" part of the bat. Oh was also a tireless worker, practicing his swing in a mirror for hours. In his autobiography, A Zen Way of Baseball he stated, "What I could do, out of my own nature, was to play not for a day or a season but inning by inning, as hard as I could, under any conditions."

Oh put it all together in 1962 and began crushing home runs at a record pace. For 14 of the next 15 years he hit 40-55 homers a year. Although Japanese fences are shorter, 300 feet down the line. But so is the Japanese season-130 games. And Oh saw a lot more junkball pitchers than American hitters do, forcing him to supply the power. In addition, Oh walked as many as 166 times a year--he never came to bat 500 times in one year in his career. The result: home run totals that ranged up to 67 per 550 at-bats. In 1965 Oh set the Japanese record of 55 HR in a 140-game season. He averaged 45 HR a year in winning 13 consecutive HR titles. Also an average hitter, Oh won five batting titles and won triple crowns in 1974 and 1975. On the dominating Yomiuri Giants, Oh batted third and Shigeo Nagashima hit clean-up as Japan's equivalent of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Oh and Nagashima hit home runs (called the "O-N Cannon") in the same game 106 times! From 1965-1973, the Giants won nine straight championships, called the "V-9", a feat not matched in any sport. He won a total of eleven Championships. Oh broke Hank Aaron's career HR mark in 1978, and kept going. Even with his tremendous career, Oh was still an outsider in Japan due to his shyness and Chinese heritage.

After his playing career, Oh managed the Giants from 1984-1988, winning one pennant, but no championships. In 1988, he embarked with Hank Aaron on a campaign to extend baseball's popularity by working with kids worldwide.

He returned to Japan in 1995 as manager of the Fukuoka Daiei Hawks. With Oh at the helm, the southern Japanese club quickly reversed its place as doormats of the Pacific League. In 1999, the Hawks won the Japan Series for the first time since 1964. In 2000, he guided the Hawks back to the Series to face his old team, the Yomiuri Giants who were managed by Nagashima, his teammate for many years. The Hawks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the series but dropped four straight to Tokyo, losing four games to two.
aabb Thursday, October 11, 2001 at 01:00:01 (PDT)

Dat WAS born in Vietnam!!
St.Louis Cardinals John Lee I believe was born in US. Another Corean American representing Asian American males.
true Wednesday, October 10, 2001 at 22:52:20 (PDT)

Well Barry Bond's daughter's name is ASIA (not sure of the spelling but I heard the commentator mention it.) And his wife looks partly Asian (don't know if she is though).....if that counts for anything.
ASNSLGR Wednesday, October 10, 2001 at 13:37:03 (PDT)

Lets get things straight. OH is half Chinese and half Japanese. He was born and raised in Japan where his father (chinese) owned a noodle shop. OH does not speak any Chinese. His name in Chinese is WAN the character for "king" in Japanese it is read OH.

Tuffy Rhodes will not break OH's record as the season is over and regular season records do not count in post-season play. They remain tied at 55.

We will see more than ONE new asian player in the MLB next season for sure.....
ASNSLGR Wednesday, October 10, 2001 at 13:30:42 (PDT)

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