President Roosevelt’s Letter
- 12 hours ago
- 3 min read
In Japan, there is a famous saying that has been passed down in relation to baseball. It is known by all baseball fans, and it is not uncommon to hear it uttered by announcers and commentators during live broadcasts of baseball games on radio and television, even during live broadcasts of Major League Baseball games. The saying goes, “The most entertaining score in baseball is 8 to 7.” Is this also said in the United States? I have never heard of it being said in United States.
So, is this saying true? Who first coined the phrase, and on what basis? In Japan, it’s believed to have been first coined by U.S. President Roosevelt. “As President Roosevelt said, the most entertaining score in a baseball game is 8 to 7,” is often heard not only among baseball fans but also on radio and television broadcasts. So, who was it, the 26th president, Theodore Roosevelt, or the 32nd president, Franklin Roosevelt? While the overwhelming majority of Japanese people believe it was Franklin Roosevelt, there are also quite a few who believe it was Theodore Roosevelt. Regardless of which group they were, none of them knew the solid basis or original source for saying that President Roosevelt said it. Many people wanted to know the basis or source but didn’t know, and there were baseball experts who tried hard to find out but just couldn’t figure it out.
I was the first in Japan to discover which President Roosevelt was correct, and the basis and source, and published my findings in the Asahi Shimbun (a well–known national newspaper in Japan) on September 24, 2014, but it seems that quite a few people have not read the article.
I found the basis and original source on the Internet that President Franklin Roosevelt first said it. The website is written below, so if you would like to see it for yourself, please go to the link below:
On January 23, 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt wrote a letter to New York Times reporter James P. Dawson. It was an apology for being unable to attend the 14th annual dinner of the New York chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, but it also passionately detailed his passion for baseball. Toward the end of the letter, after explaining that while he doesn’t dislike 1–0 pitching duels, he prefers games with a large number of runs, he writes the phrase that became the basis for a famous Japanese saying: “In short, my idea of the best game is one that guarantees the fans a combined score of not less than 15 runs, divided about eight to seven.”
I’m sure that after someone once introduced this phrase to Japan, the saying “The most entertaining score in baseball is 8–7” has become established in Japan. However, reading this letter, it becomes clear that what President Franklin Roosevelt wrote has a different nuance than the saying that became famous in Japan. Whatever the case may be, when many people spread something without properly checking the original source, a different nuance from the actual meaning becomes established in society. I think that the famous Japanese saying discussed here is one such common example.
Even now, there are many people in Japan who say, “The most entertaining score in baseball is 8–7.”
It is difficult to change something once it has been established.
Is the content of this letter from President Franklin Roosevelt widely known among Major League Baseball fans in the United States?
(If I’ve made a mistake or left out something important, please let me know. I’ll try to make corrections or additions.)