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Bob Wickley ©Stars and StripesJapan, June, 1976: For many people on U.S. bases in Japan in the 1970s, summertime Saturdays meant a couple of hours spent at the baseball field taking part in Tee-Ball and youth baseball programs as players, coaches umpires or fans. For the young pitchers, it also meant finding the strike zone; here, catcher Chris Stevenson reaches out to grab an errant pitch as the batter hits the dirt.

RELATED MATERIAL: Stars and Stripes' 1976 story about the young ballplayers, with more photos.