HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – There are many paths to a career in professional sports and Micah Yonamine has certainly carved his own journey.
The 2019 Iolani grad was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies right out of high school, but life in the minors wasn’t easy due to sparse playing time and limited production.
“It’s kind of that cliche of like, I was the player of the year my senior year in Hawaii,” Yonamine said. “So going from being the best player in the state to one of the worst players in an entire organization is kind of eye-opening.”
Eye-opening, but not discouraging.
After leaving the Phillies in 2023, Yonamine ended up in the independent Pioneer League in Boise, Idaho, where he rediscovered his swing and had a career year.
“After getting released with the Phillies, I kind of found myself at a crossroads of should I continue playing or should I not,” Yonamine said. “I still love the game. I never gave up on myself.”
After two seasons of indy ball, Yonamine cut himself a highlight reel, sent it to all the clubs in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league and the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters came calling.
Yonamine is part of the Fighters’ developmental squad.
The team is also the former club of the sport’s biggest superstar.
Shohei Ohtani spent five seasons in Hokkaido before transferring to Major League Baseball and Yonamine sees Japan’s passion for the game.
“They treat the players like full-on celebrities here,” Yonamine said. “After the game, you are signing couple hundred autographs, taking pictures with fans. For me, that’s kind of what I always wanted to do was sign autographs and take pictures because that’s fun for me.”
Star treatment that’s also appropriate considering Yonamine is the descendant of Hawaii and Japan sports royalty.
He’s the grand nephew of the legendary Wally Yonamine, the Farrington alum who went from 49ers running back to Japanese baseball Hall of Famer.
“It does mean a lot to me to represent that name and represent Hawaii out here in Japan,” Yonamine said. “I just try my best to not let those expectations kind of overwhelm me and just take things day by day, go out and have fun and just be who I am.”
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