Gary Bedingfield’s Volume 4, Issue 28 in Wartime Baseball January 2010 www.baseballinwartime.com [email protected] www.baseballinwartime.com in Wartime baseballinwartime.blogspot.com

Baseball in Wartime Presents the Baseball WWII Timeline

Gary Bedingfield, editor of the Baseball in Wartime website, e-newsletter and Happy New Year to you all! blog, and author of Baseball’s Dead of World War II, was interviewed by Joe Boesch on WGGB 1240AM SportsRadio New York on January 10. I know this newsletter is a little late but I hope you will find the wait has been worthwhile. For some time I’ve been working on a baseball/World War II timeline and I’m pleased to be able to present the finished results in this issue.

The timeline covers the years 1939 to 1945 and includes all major events in pro baseball, service baseball and the war.

Compiling the timeline has been extremely useful to me in piecing everything together—I hope it helps you too!

Gary Bedingfield You can listen to the 30-minute interview at the Baseball in Wartime blog Glasgow, Scotland baseballinwartime.blogspot.com/2010/01/gary-bedingfield-on-new-york-baseball.html January 2010 [email protected]

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WWII Baseball Timeline 1939 to 1941

The Italian government ends its neutrality and league player to enlist following the 1939 declares war on France and Britain. announcement of the draft when he joins the Army. September 1 June 14 November 18 Germany invades Poland. Germans enter Paris. First 30,000 selectees are called into military September 3 June 17 service. Most players Britain, France, Australia, New Zealand, India Hugh Bedient Jr, son of the former major are safe from draft. Joe DiMaggio has draft and South Africa declare war on Germany. league , Hugh Bedient, who pitched a number 5,342. handful of games with the Evansville Bees of September 10 November 25 the Three-I League, is killed while serving with Canada declares war on Germany. the Army Air Corps when two twin-engined Bill Embick, with the Harrisburg bombers collide above a residential area of Senators of the Interstate League, is the first October 8 Queens, New York. player to be drafted. Yankees clinch the World Series in four June 22 December 12 games against the Reds. France surrenders to Germany. Jr, Toronto November 4 Maple Leafs’ outfielder and son July 9 In response to the growing turmoil in Europe of the Cardinals’ manager, Billy and Asia, U.S. Congress passes the Neutrality The defeats the American Southworth, enlists in the Army Act. League, 4-0, in the All-Star game at Air Corps. Sportsman’s Park. November 12 July 31 Dom DiMaggio, the youngest of the three DiMaggio brothers, is acquired for $40,000 The PONY League's James Gaynor is the first by the from the San umpire from organized baseball to enter 1941 Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. military service in WWII. Gaynor will become a March captain based at 5th Army Corps December 7 Headquarters, Camp Beauregard, Louisiana. Tom Ananicz, a pitcher with the Kansas City Lou Gehrig, who played his Blues of the American Association, declares August 23 last game for the Yankees on himself a conscientious objector and is April 30, 1939, and was First German air raids on London, England. classified Class 4-A. He will work in a diagnosed with amyotrophic munitions factory should war be declared. September 16 lateral sclerosis (ALS) on June March 6 19, is elected unanimously to The Burke-Wadsworth bill - known as The the Baseball Hall of Fame. Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, Saginaw of the is the and more commonly referred to as The Draft - first team to lose a director in the draft as 1940 is passed by the Congress of the United Burrows Marley reports for duty with the Army States, becoming the first peacetime at Fort Custer, Michigan. February conscription in American history. The Act March 8 requires those men between the ages of 21 French White, shortstop with Anniston of the and 35 to register with local draft boards for Hugh Mulcahy of the Phillies is drafted by the Southeastern League and former baseball 12 months of military service. Army and becomes the first major league captain at the University of , enlists regular in military service. and begins training as a flying cadet at the September 24 Naval Reserve Training Station at Glenview, March 11 Jimmie Foxx his career 500th Illinois. . President Roosevelt signs the Lend-Lease Act April 16 which allows the to supply the

United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Bob Feller pitches a 1-0 opening day no- France and other Allied nations with vast hitter against the . amounts of war material for, in the case of September 27 May 10 Britain, military bases in Newfoundland, Germany, Italy and Japan sign a tripartite Bermuda, and the British West Indies. Germany invades France, Belgium, treaty. Luxembourg and the Netherlands March 13 October 8 May 26 Don Stewart, Western International League The clinch the World Series in umpire, is killed in a German bombing raid on Britain evacuates 300,000 surrounded seven games against the Tigers. Scotland while serving with the Canadian British and French troops from Dunkirk, Army’s Calgary Highlanders. France. October 30 May 7 June 10 Fred Price, with Clinton of the Three-I League becomes the first minor Tigers’ outfielder Hank Greenberg reports for Volume 4, Issue 28 Baseball in Wartime Newsletter Page 3

WWII Baseball Timeline 1941 to 1942

duty at 6.30am with the Army at Fort Custer, victory over the Charlotte, North Carolina Japan invades the Philippines. Michigan. team. Indians’ Bob Feller enlists with the U.S. Navy. May 15 October 6 He is sworn in at a Chicago courthouse by Lieutenant-Commander Gene Tunney. Joe DiMaggio starts his 56-game The New York Yankees clinch the World hitting streak. Series with a 3-1 win at Ebbets Field against December 11 the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game Five. The German and Italian governments, bound November by their Axis treaties, declare war on the

United States in support of the Japanese. The National and American Leagues list the June 2 following 14 major league players as being on December 12 Lou Gehrig dies in New York, aged 37. the National Defense List: Gene Stack, White Pete Viselli, a shortstop with Landis of the Sox; Al White, Browns; Hank Greenberg and June 20 North Carolina State League in 1939, Bob Uhle, Tigers; Lefty Brewer, Elmer Gedeon becomes the first former professional Air Corps becomes United and Lou Thuman, Senators; Pat Cooper, ballplayer to lose his life fighting the States Army Air Force. Athletics; Mickey Harris and Lawrence Powell, Japanese when his twin-engined bomber fails Red Sox; Tom Gorman, Giants; Hugh Mulcahy, to return from a reconnaissance mission at June 22 Phillies; Oadis Swigart and J Addis Copple, Luzon Germany launches a surprise invasion of the Pirates. December 19 Soviet Union - Operation Barbarossa. November 25 The Selective Service and Training Act is July 8 Indians shortstop Lou Boudreau is amended, extending the term of service to named as the new team manager. At 24 The defeats the National the duration of the war and six months, and years of age, Boudreau becomes the League, 7-5, in the All-Star game in Detroit. requiring the registration of all men eighteen youngest player to manage a team in the to sixty-four years of age. July 13 20th century. W. G. Bramham, president of the National November 27 Association, announces the appointment of a 1942 The Sporting News publishes the National Defense Service Committee, designed to By the start of 1942, at least six former Defense List for the first time, listing 286 lend any possible assistance to minor league minor league players have lost their lives in players in the armed players now serving in the armed forces. “We military service including Spokane’s Marcel services. want all our players who have entered the “Major” Serventi and Lexington’s Eldred ranks, to know that we are interested in their December 5 “Whitey” Burch. welfare,” said Bramham. “This committee is ready to help them in contacting friends or Sergeant Hank Greenberg is January 5 relatives, offering counsel or handling other discharged from Army after Bob Feller reports to Norfolk Naval Training problems which the boys are unable to look Congress releases men aged Station, Virginia. after themselves … We urge any of them who 28 years and older from are in need of such help to communicate service. January 8 with the committee member nearest their Ted Williams passes his first base.” Tom Fairweather, president of the physical examination by the Three-I League and Western Association is military. named chairman of the Defense Service December 7 Committee. Japanese carrier aircraft launch a surprise July 17 January 14 attack on the US Pacific Fleet, anchored at The longest hitting streak in baseball history Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. Japanese forces Kenesaw Mountain Landis writes to ends at 56 when the hold simultaneously conduct attacks on US President Roosevelt to ask what baseball Joe DiMaggio hitless. military installations in the Philippines, Guam, should do in time of war.

Wake Island and Midway Island, as well as July 25 January 16 attacks on British military bases in Hong Kong of the Boston Red Sox earns his and Malaya. Over 2,340 Americans are killed President Roosevelt replies to Landis with his "Green Light" letter. "I honestly feel," he 300th career win, which is also his last. plus another 876 are reported as missing. wrote, "that it would be best for the country September 28 Jerry Angelich, a pitcher who had trials with to keep baseball going." Sacramento in the mid-1930s, is killed during January 26 Ted Williams ends the regular season with a the attack while trying to man a machine gun. batting average of .406. The first American troops arrive in Europe as December 8 September 29 over 4,000 men of the 34th Division Congress declares war against the Japanese disembark in Northern Ireland. The Fort Custer, Michigan, team wins the in response to the surprise attack at Pearl January 27 national amateur championship of the Harbor. American Baseball Congress with a 3–2 Hank Greenberg returns to military service Volume 4, Issue 28 Baseball in Wartime Newsletter Page 4

WWII Baseball Timeline 1942

reporting to Fort Dix, New York. Robert Lange who had an 8-4 won- Cochrane’s Armed Services all-stars, 5-0, loss record with the Flint Arrows of the before 64, 094 fans at Cleveland’s Municipal February 7 Michigan State League in 1940. In the sixth Stadium. It is announced today that all major and inning, Corporal Leo J. Robinson, a 24-year- June 26 minor league will display “Hale America” old semi-pro outfielder from Harper's Ferry, health shields on the sleeves of players and Iowa, hits the first home run by an American Corporal Gene Stack, White Sox pitching umpires in co-operation with the wartime serviceman in Europe in World War II. prospect, who won 19 games with the physical fitness program, directed by John B Lubbock Hubbers in the West Texas-New May Kelly, head of the Physical Fitness Division of Mexico League in 1940, suffers what is the Office of Civilian Defense. A new incentive is offered to all service teams believed to be a heart attack and dies while to participate in any one of the 45 state returning to Camp Custer after pitching a ball February 10 championship semi-pro tournaments. Army game in Michigan City, Indiana. An autopsy Lieutenant Gordon teams may qualify through any one of the reveals he died from pneumonia. Houston, an outfielder with state tournaments, not necessarily the one in July 4 the Texarkana Liners in the state where the camp is located. As a the East Texas League in result of this incentive all teams in the finals As part of the Anglo-American Independence 1940, is killed when his P- between 1943 and 1945 are service teams. Day celebrations, the first officially 43 Lancer fighter plane, recognized baseball game in Northern May 6 hits a ditch and flips over Ireland since 1917, is played between the after landing at McChord Field in Tacoma, The besieged American and Filipino garrison 34th Division (Midwest Giants) and the 1st Washington. at Corregidor Island in Manila Bay surrenders Armored Division (Kentucky Wildcats). The to the Japanese, giving them control of the Giants win 3-2. March Philippine Islands. July 30 President W.G. Bramham of the National May 7 Association announces that 581 minor The National Defense Service List shows that league players are in military service. Allied naval and air forces eliminate a 937 minor league players are in military Japanese task force in the Coral Sea, sinking service (Class AA 122, -1 72, Class A March 1 100,000 tons of Japanese shipping between 42, Class B 244, Class C 205 and Class D Baseball decides that players in the military New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. The 252) can't play for their professional teams when Japanese had planned to land forces either in August 7 on furlough. Australia or the New Hebrides. This battle marks the first serious Japanese setback of U.S. forces invade Guadalcanal. March 27 the war. October 5 Mickey Cochrane receives his Naval June 7 commission as a lieutenant. Cochrane will The St Louis Cardinals clinch the World coach the baseball team at Great Lakes American air and naval forces win the Battle Series with a 2-0 win at Yankee Stadium Naval Training Station in addition to assisting of Midway as they intercept the Japanese against the New York Yankees in Game Five. Lieutenant Commander J Russell Cook, fleet attempting to seize the strategic island, October 21 athletic officer, in other phases of the year- inflicting heavy losses. The American victory round physical education program being set checks the Japanese advance across the Billy Hebert, who played second up. central Pacific and eliminates the threat to base with the Merced Bears in Hawaii. the California League in 1941, is April killed during the Japanese June 14 Japanese Americans sent to relocation bombing of Henderson Field on centers. Bob Feller hurls a 4-0 three- Guadalcanal in the Solomon hitter in the Army-Navy game Islands. April 9 at the Polo Grounds, before a November 1 American and Filipino troops surrender to the crowd of 15,000. Japanese from the last fortified positions on The Brooklyn Dodgers name Branch Rickey the Bataan Peninsula. as the team president, replacing Larry MacPhail who enters the military service. April 25 Rickey had resigned as vice-president of the June 17 The first recorded baseball game by St. Louis Cardinals only three days earlier. American troops in Europe in World War II is President Roosevelt authorizes a project to November 8 played between the 2nd and 3rd Battalions develop an atomic bomb. of the 133rd Infantry Regiment, 34th Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of French July 6 Division. A crowd of more than 1,000 locals North Africa, starts today with amphibious are treated to a play-by-play account over a American League all-stars defeat the National landings to seize the key ports and airports public address system, a concert by the League all-stars, 3-1, at the Polo Grounds. of Morocco and Algeria simultaneously, regiment band, and an impromptu jitterbug targeting Casablanca, Oran and Algiers. July 7 demonstration on the sidelines. Pitching for the winning 3rd Battalion in the 14-4 game is American League all-stars defeat Mickey Volume 4, Issue 28 Baseball in Wartime Newsletter Page 5

WWII Baseball Timeline 1942 to 1944

November 17 killed when his fighter plane is shot down October 11 over Tunisia. Ted Williams arrives at Amherst College, Yankees clinch the World Series in five Massachusetts, to begin the first leg of pilot May 30 games over the Cardinals. training with the Navy. The All-American Girls December 1 Professional Baseball League 1944 begins its first 108-game At the major league meetings in Chicago, At the beginning of the year it is announced season with teams in owners decide to restrict travel to a three-trip that around 340 major league players are in Rockford, Kenosha, Racine, schedule rather than the customary four. military service, plus more than 3,000 from and South Bend Spring training in 1943 will be limited to the minors. At least 34 former minor league locations north of the Potomac or rivers players have lost their lives in military service and east of the Mississippi. since 1940, including Paragould’s Marshall July 9 Sneed, Olean’s Jack Moller and Goldsboro’s 1943 U.S. and British troops land in Sicily. Fred Yeske. July 12 January 16 At the beginning of the year it is announced that 195 major league players are in military A team of Armed Forces all-stars managed by Dwight Eisenhower is appointed commander service. At least 19 former minor league Babe Ruth and featuring Joe DiMaggio and of the allied forces in Europe. players have lost their lives in military service Ted Williams play the Boston Braves in a January 22 since 1940, including Hickory’s Gus Bebas fund-raising effort at . Babe and Borger’s George Chandler. Ruth, 48 years old, pinch-hits in the 7th Allied forces land at Anzio, Italy. inning and flies out to right, but the all-stars January 27 April 20 win 9-8 on a Ted Williams home run. First bombing raid by the U.S. Army Air Force Elmer Gedeon, who played five games for the July 13 on Germany (at Wilhelmshaven). Washington Senators in 1939, is killed when The American League defeats the National his B-26 Marauder is shot down over France. January 30 League, 5-3, in the All-Star game at Shibe May 2 Fifty-three-year-old Hank Gowdy becomes the Park. only person on a major league roster to serve Ted Williams earns his pilot’s wings and August 7 in both World Wars when he reports for duty commission in the U.S. at Fort Benning, Georgia. In London, England, semi-pro hurler Bill Brech Marine Corps at Naval Air Training Center

throws a no-hitter for the U.S. Air Force Pensacola, Florida. He also marries Doris against the U.S. Army in an all-pro game Soule later that day. January 31 watched by 21,500 fans. May 21 The main German forces in Stalingrad August 29 surrender to the Soviet Union (the first major Bert Shepard, a pitcher with defeat of Germany in World War II), ending a The Camp Wheeler, Georgia, Spokes clinch LaCrosse of the Wisconsin State battle that has killed two million people, the national semi-pro championship, League in 1942, is shot down in including 500,000 civilians. defeating the Enid Army Air Field, , Germany while strafing an Enidairs, 5-3, before a crowd of 14,500. airfield in his P-38 Lightning. In February 8 an effort to his life his September 8 U.S. forces capture damaged right leg is amputated Guadalcanal from Japan. Italian surrender is announced. 11 inches below the knee by German doctors. September 22 June 4 Norfolk Naval Training Station captures the Navy World Series in seven games against Allied forces enter Rome. February 14 Norfolk Air Station. Joe DiMaggio hits a 435-foot home run in a Battle of Kasserine Pass between the U.S. September 30 Seventh Army Air Force, 6-2, loss to the Navy 1st Armored Division and German Panzers in in Hawaii‚ as Bob Harris throws a four-hitter. North Africa is the first large-scale meeting of The 116th Infantry Regiment Yankees clinch American and German forces. The battle the ETO World Series title in London by June 6 rages until February 25. defeating the Fighter Command Allied forces land in Normandy and begin the Thunderbolts, 6-3, at the conclusion of a four- February 17 invasion of France. Three former minor day, 20-team tournament. Nine months later, leaguers are killed at Omaha Beach on D-Day Joe DiMaggio trades hid $43, 750 salary with three of the Yankees’ starting line-up are – Forrest “Lefty” Brewer, who won 20 games the Yankees for $50 a month as an Army killed at Omaha Beach on D-Day. with St. Augustine in 1938, Elmer Wright, enlisted man. October who was a pitcher in the St. Louis Browns February 23 organization, and Joe Pinder, a pitcher with The Casablanca Yankees clinch the North Fort Pierce of the Florida East Coast League Marshall Sneed, an outfielder with Paragould African World Series title with 9-0 and 7-6 in 1941, who would be posthumously of the Northeast Arkansas League in 1940, is wins over the Algiers Streetwalkers. Volume 4, Issue 28 Baseball in Wartime Newsletter Page 6

WWII Baseball Timeline 1944 to 1945

awarded the Medal of Honor. armies, and force a negotiated peace on the March 6 Western front. The German offensive, aided All major league games are cancelled this Harry O’Neil, who played one game with the by thick fog, achieved total surprise, but day. Philadelphia Athletics in 1939, is killed at Iwo within three weeks, the determined Allied Jima. June 10 stand and the arrival of powerful reinforcements insured that the ambitious March 8 Fifteen-year-old pitcher Joe German goal was beyond reach. The Nuxhall of the Cincinnati Reds Jack Lummus, an outfielder with Wichita Germans failed to meet their objective and all makes his major league debut. Falls of the West Texas-New Mexico League that they accomplished was to create a bulge He is the youngest person ever in 1941, who also played football with the in the Allied line, hence the name “The Battle to play in a major league game. New York Giants, leads an assault against of the Bulge.” Japanese positions before stepping on a

landmine. Lummus dies the next day and is The Germans lost irreplaceable men, tanks posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. July 11 and equipment, and on January 25, 1945, The National League defeats the American after heavy losses on both sides, the Bulge March 16 League, 7-1, in the All-Star game at Forbes ceased to exist. The battle claimed the lives Japanese forces on Iwo Jima capitulate. Field. of at least nine minor league players. March 17 August 16 December 24 Warren Spahn, serving with the 276th Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Phil The troopship SS Leopoldville, bound for Engineer Combat Battalion in Europe, has a Marchildon, serving with the Royal Canadian France from England, is sunk by a German lucky escape when the Ludendorff Bridge at Air Force is shot down over Europe. He will submarine killing 2,235 soldiers of the U.S. Remagen, the only remaining bridge to span spend nine months as a POW. 66th Infantry Division. Among the dead are Howard DeMartini, a pitcher with Salisbury of the Rhine, collapses into the river with the August 25 the North Carolina State League, and Leonard loss of more than 30 U.S. Army engineers. Paris, France is liberated by Allied forces. “Link” Berry, a pitcher with New Bern of the April 1 Coastal Plain League. Tigers Harvey August 30 Riebe is among the survivors. U.S. forces invade Okinawa. The Sherman Field, Kansas, Flyers clinch the April 15 national semi-pro championship, defeating 1945 Chuck Bowers, a second baseman with the Enid Army Air Field, Oklahoma, Enidairs, Johnson City, is the last former minor league 5-4. By the beginning of the year, at least 80 former minor league players have lost their player to lose his life in Europe when his is September 22 lives in military service since 1940, 47 in killed in action in Germany. The Navy team opens the Army-Navy World 1944 alone. Among those killed are April 17 Series in Hawaii with a 5-0 win on the four-hit Lancaster’s Metro Persoskie, Cedar Rapids’ One-armed outfielder Pete Gray pitching of Virgil Trucks. In an 11-game series Walt Lake, Albany’s Jim Whitfield, Toledo’s Art makes his major league debut the Navy will win eight games. Keller and Charleston’s Charlie Pescod. with the St. Louis Browns. September 30 January

Detroit Tigers pitcher Hal Newhouser wins his This month proves to be the most costly with

29th game, defeating the Washington regards to baseball-related deaths in the Senators, 7-3. military. Twelve former minor league players May 7 are either killed in action or die from wounds October 9 before the end of January, including New Unconditional surrender of German forces. The Cardinals clinch the World Series over Orleans pitcher Hank Nowak, Lynchburg May 8 the Browns in six games. pitcher Elmer Wachtler, Orioles pitcher Earl Springer and Pacific Coast League third V.E. Day (Victory on Europe) November 25 baseman Ernie Raimondi. July 1 Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain February 15 Before a crowd of 47,729, Hank Greenberg Landis dies aged 78. He is replaced by A.B. returns to the Tigers after four years of “Happy” Chandler. Billy Southworth, Jr., son of the Cardinals manager, is killed when his B-29 military service. December 16 Superfortress crashes into Flushing Bay, New July 27 Battle of the Bulge begins. At 5:30 A.M. a York. The 20th Air Force Pacific Tour commences massive artillery barrage is followed by two February 19 with a round-robin series of games played on powerful German armies plunging into the Tinian. The three teams taking part were the hilly and heavily forested Ardennes region of U.S. Marines invade Iwo Jima. 58th Bombardment Wing Wingmen, led by eastern Belgium and northern Luxembourg. Tigers’ catcher Birdie Tebbetts; the 73rd This was Hitler’s last desperate roll of the Bombardment Wing Bombers, managed by dice, with the optimistic aim to reach the port Buster Mills of the Cleveland Indians; and the of Antwerp on the North Sea, trap four allied Volume 4, Issue 28 Baseball in Wartime Newsletter Page 7

WWII Baseball Timeline 1945

313th Bombardment Wing Flyers, managed Browns, 1-0. by Lew Riggs of the Dodgers. September 14, 1945 July 30 Due to recurring problems with stomach Harlan Larsen, a catcher who signed with the ulcers, Joe DiMaggio is discharged from organization before joining the military service. Marines, is the last former minor league September 26 player to lose his life in the Pacific Theater when his is lost following the sinking of the In the opening game of the Navy World Series USS Indianapolis. in Hawaii, for the National League team outpitches Fred Hutchinson of August 1 the American leaguers with help from homers Mel Ott hits the 500th home run of his major by and Ray Lamanno. In the six Bob feller receives his discharge after nearly league career. games series the National League Navy team four years of military service win four games. August 4 October 10 Amputee Bert Shepard makes his major league debut for the Washington Senators. The Tigers clinch the World Series in seven games over the Cubs. August 6 October 23 First atomic bomb is dropped on Hiroshima is signed by August 9 the Brooklyn Dodgers. Second atomic bomb is dropped on

Nagasaki.

Five members of the Foster Field (Texas) Falcons baseball team, along with pilot

Second Lieutenant Peter R. Davis, are killed Hank Greenberg when their plane crashes near Smiley, Texas, By the end of the year, 384 major league on the way back from a ball game. players had entered military service together August 14 with 4,076 minor leaguers. At least 131 minor league players and two umpires had Japanese agree to unconditional surrender. made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. August 24 In his first major league appearance after nearly four years in the Navy, Bob Feller beats the Tigers, 4-2, in Cleveland in front of 46,477 adoring fans. August 29 The Enid Army Air Field, Oklahoma, Enidairs Mickey Cochrane with Johnny Mize at Great clinch the national semi-pro championship, Lakes NTS defeating Orlando Army Air Field, Florida, 4-1, before 11,000 fans. September 2 Japanese sign surrender agreement. V.J. Day (Victory in Japan) September 8 Sam Nahem’s OISE All-Stars capture the ETO World Series against the 71st Infantry Division in Germany.

September 9 Babe Ruth with Ted Williams Red Ruffing , released from military service the previous month, pitches a no-hitter as the Philadelphia Athletics defeat the St. Louis Volume 4, Issue 28 Baseball in Wartime Newsletter Page 8

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Baseball’s Dead of World War II A Roster of Professional

Players Who Died in Service

Gary Bedingfield

$39.95 softcover (7 x 10) 35 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index ISBN 978-0-7864-4454-0

December 2009

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While most fans know that baseball stars Ted Williams, Hank Greenberg, and Bob Feller served in the military during World War II, few can name the two major leaguers who died in action (they were catcher Harry O’Neill and outfielder Elmer Gedeon). Far fewer still are aware that at least another 125 minor league players also lost their lives during the war. Baseball’s Dead of World War II draws on many years of extensive research and interviews with surviving family members to give the first published insight into the personal lives, baseball careers and tragic sacrifices made by all these men.

Some players, like pitcher Joe Pinder and shortstop Ed Schohl, had enjoyed long careers in the minor leagues; others like second baseman Chuck Bowers and pitcher Elmer Wachtler, were starting their steady climb through the lower leagues; while some like catcher Harlan Larsen and pitcher Jim Trimble, had signed contracts but had not yet thrown a ball in a professional game. Whatever their background in professional baseball they all shared one thing in common . . . they made the ultimate sacrifice for their country and their stories are in Baseball’s Dead of World War II. I urge you to read about these heroes of our game and not let their sacrifice be forgotten by this and future generations. Baseball’s Dead of World War II by Baseball in Wartime founder Gary Bedingfield is published by McFarland - leading publishers of scholarly and reference books in the United States.