It was pouring when the teams arrived in Shimonoseki at 7:40 AM and had been raining all night.  Most of the players expected the game to be canceled, but they were scheduled to play in Kyoto the next day, leaving no opportunity for a makeup game.  Ruth, therefore, acting as manager, agreed to play in the rain.

The players checked into the San-yo Hotel, ate, and changed into their uniforms.  Dressed to play, they boarded a ferry to cross the famed Straits of Shimonoseki (more properly known as the Kanmon Straits).  Cars met the players at the docks and brought them to the Itatsu Grounds in the town of Kokura.  The condition of the field was laughable.  Ankle deep mud covered the dirt infield and pond-like puddles dotted the outfield.  Normally, the game would have been called at this point, but between 20,000 and 30,000 fans had squeezed into the tiny stadium waiting to watch the great Americans stars.  Despite the driving rain, they had begun to arrive early in the morning and the seats were filled hours before game time.  The outfield contained no bleachers, just a glassy slope where spectators huddled together.  The rains had flooded the area and 11,000 squatted or knelt with water up to their hips.  Among the dedicated, wet fans sat a man with an ancient samurai sword.  He had walked 80 miles to attend the game and announced that he would present to sword as token of friendship to the first American to hit a home run. 

The game itself was a joke.  Ruth, Gehrig, Averill, and Rabbit McNair played in rubber boots and Ruth borrowing an umbrella from a fan, huddled under it while playing first base.  The score remained a zero for the first three innings before the Americans started to hit.  Three came across in the fourth and Averill won the sword by hitting a long fly into the soggy fans sitting beyond right field.  An inning later with the bases loaded, Ruth stepped to the plate and dug in with his big rubber boots.  The crowd laughed and began chanting, “Home Run!  Home run!”  According to Osamu Mihara, after the count went to 3-0, Ruth stepped out of the batter's box and gestured to the fans that he would hit a home run.  Shinji Hamazaki threw the next pitch down the middle and the Sultan of Swat connected with a mighty swing.  The ball rose in a majestic arc and sailed over the right field seating area and into the mist beyond.  Initially stunned by the blast, the wet and happy fans erupted with a “tremendous ovation” for the Bambino.  The All Americans ended with eleven hits and eight runs, but the Osaka Mainichi noted that “they can hit almost at will” and would have hit many more “had they cared to run out every hit.”  On the mound, Cascarella dominated the Japanese hitters with “baffling hooks and drops” as he scattered seven hits and gave up a single run for the victory.

Immediately after the final out, the drenched players hurried back to the ferry and to their hotel in Shimonoseki to change.  Several hours later, they were back on the train headed north to Kyoto.