Photo of Akihiro “Ike” Ikuhara at Dodgertown – Vero Beach, Florida

When Akihiro “Ike” Ikuhara first joined the Dodger organization, he reported to Dodgertown – Vero Beach, Florida for Spring Training in 1965. Ike had been a baseball player at prestigious Waseda University in Tokyo and then head coach baseball coach at Asia University. But, he had a thirst for even more knowledge about baseball and sought the assistance of Sotaro Suzuki, the highly-respected columnist who had arranged several international tours of major league players and teams to travel to Japan. It was Suzuki who introduced Ike to Walter O’Malley by correspondence. O’Malley was happy to have Ike join the Dodgers and learn all about the business side of a baseball front office. In this photo, Ike is working in the Dodgertown ticket office. By 1982, he was named Assistant to Dodger President Peter O’Malley, a position he held for 10 years until his passing.