Hardball on the Home Front: Major League Replacement Players of World War II

Hardball on the Home Front: Major League Replacement Players of World War II
ISBN-10
0786427094
ISBN-13
9780786427093
Category
Sports & Recreation
Pages
213
Language
English
Published
2003-12-31
Publisher
McFarland
Author
Craig Allen Cleve

Description

More than 5000 major and minor league baseball players left the baseball diamond to serve in the military during World War II, but President Roosevelt insisted that baseball still be played to boost the country's morale. More than 400 replacement players made their major league debuts between 1943 and 1945, among them Sal Maglie, Andy Pafko, Red Schoendienst and Stan Musial. The author of this book points out that the true story of wartime baseball rests mostly with the players whose careers were not so well remembered or documented. He highlights nine players--Frank Mancuso, Ford Mullen, Ed Carnett, Lee Pfund, George Hausmann, Cy Buker, Bill Lefebvre, Eddie Basinski, and Nick Strincevich--who took the field while the major leaguers were fighting in the war. They share their memories of being called up to play in the majors, and their feelings about providing much needed and much wanted entertainment to thousands of Americans during the war years.

Other editions

Similar books