JOEL S. FRANKS is an emeritus professor in the Department of Interdisciplinary Social Science and Sociology at San Jose State University, California. He is the author of numerous books, including Asians and Pacific Islanders in American Football: Historical and Contemporary Experiences.
"""Joel Franks, a pioneer in Asian Pacific American sports, continues to forge new ground in this area of study with his most recent and elegantly written story of a Hawaiian baseball team’s sojourns through the U.S. mainland during one of the nation’s most racist periods of time. His attention to context alongside a moving narrative propels the significance of the club’s trials and tribulations.""— Samuel O. Regalado, author of Nikkei Baseball: Japanese American Players from Immigration and Internment to the Major Leagues ""Joel Franks has resurrected the story of Buck Lai and his Hawaiian baseball team, shedding light on a person who might have been the Asian American equivalent of Jackie Robinson. Despite the racism of the era, Buck Lai became a success story worthy of remembrance and emulation.""— Gerald R. Gems, author of Sport History: The Basics ""Joel Franks, a pioneer in Asian Pacific American sports, continues to forge new ground in this area of study with his most recent and elegantly written story of a Hawaiian baseball team’s sojourns through the U.S. mainland during one of the nation’s most racist periods of time. His attention to context alongside a moving narrative propels the significance of the club’s trials and tribulations.""— Samuel O. Regalado, author of Nikkei Baseball: Japanese American Players from Immigration and Internment to the Major Le ""Joel Franks has resurrected the story of Buck Lai and his Hawaiian baseball team, shedding light on a person who might have been the Asian American equivalent of Jackie Robinson. Despite the racism of the era, Buck Lai became a success story worthy of remembrance and emulation.""— Gerald R. Gems, author of Sport History: The Basics"