Baseball and the Bottom Line in World War II

Baseball and the Bottom Line in World War II PDF Author: Jeff Obermeyer
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786470437
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
How did the business of professional baseball fare during World War II? The sport, like many nonessential industries, struggled to find its place in society during a time of war. The men who ran the game faced government interference and manpower shortages that threatened to shut down their businesses for the duration, and they had to balance the need to show a patriotic front to the public while at the same time protecting their investments. Archival and primary sources provide insight into the perceptions of the major league owners and an understanding of how most of them were able to keep their businesses profitable while the nation fought an enormous two-front war.

Baseball and the Bottom Line in World War II

Baseball and the Bottom Line in World War II PDF Author: Jeff Obermeyer
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786470437
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 239

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Book Description
How did the business of professional baseball fare during World War II? The sport, like many nonessential industries, struggled to find its place in society during a time of war. The men who ran the game faced government interference and manpower shortages that threatened to shut down their businesses for the duration, and they had to balance the need to show a patriotic front to the public while at the same time protecting their investments. Archival and primary sources provide insight into the perceptions of the major league owners and an understanding of how most of them were able to keep their businesses profitable while the nation fought an enormous two-front war.

Who's on First

Who's on First PDF Author: Mark Z Aaron
Publisher: SABR, Inc.
ISBN: 1933599901
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 422

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Book Description
This is a book about baseball’s true “replacement players.” During the four seasons the U.S. was at war in World War II (1942-1945), 533 players made their major-league debuts. There were 67 first-time major leaguers under the age of 21 (Joe Nuxhall the youngest at 15 in 1944). More than 60 percent of the players in the 1941 Opening Day lineups departed for the service. The 1944 Dodgers had only Dixie Walker and Mickey Owen as the two regulars from their 1941 pennant-winning team. The owners brought in not only first-timers but also many oldsters. Hod Lisenbee pitched 80 innings for the Reds in 1945 at the age of 46. He had last pitched in the major leagues in 1936. War veteran and former POW Bert Shepard, with an artificial leg, pitched in one game for the 1945 Senators, and one-armed outfielder Pete Gray played for the St. Louis Browns. The war years featured firsts and lasts. The St. Louis Browns won their first (and last) pennant in 1944 — a feat made more amazing by the fact that they had not finished in the first division since 1929. The 1944 team featured 13 players classified as 4-F. The Chicago Cubs appeared in the 1945 World Series but have not made it back since. Some 53 members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) have contributed to this volume. We invite you to sit back and relax as you learn Who's on First? Includes contributions by: Alan Cohen, Ashlie Christian And Armand Peterson, Bill Nowlin, Bob Brady, Bob Lemoine, Bob Mayer, Bob Webster, Charles Faber, Charlie Weatherby, Chris Rainey, Cort Vitty, David Finoli, David M. Jordan, David Raglin And Barb Mantegani, David W. Pugh, Don Zminda, Duke Goldman, Greg Erion, Gregg Omoth, Gregory H. Wolf, J. G. Preston, James D. Smith, Iii, Jay Hurd, Jeff Marlett, Jeff Obermeyer, Jim Sweetman, Joanne Hulbert, John Shannahan, Leslie Heaphy, Lyle Spatz, Marc Lancaster, Marc Z Aaron, Mark S. Sternman, Mel Marmer, Merrie A. Fidler, Michael Huber, Michael Huber And Rachel Hamelers, Mike Mcclary, Peter C. Bjarkman, Rex Hamann, Rich Bogovich, Richard Cuicchi, Richard Moraski, Rory Costello And Lou Hernández, Seamus Kearney, Sidney Davis, Steve Smith, Thomas Ayers, Tom Hawthorn, Walter Leconte Table of Contents: Introduction MARC Z AARON The Business of Baseball During World War II JEFF OBERMEYER “But Where is Pearl Harbor?” Baseball and the Day the World Changed, December 7, 1941 BOB LEMOINE The Tri-Cornered War Bond Baseball Game MICHAEL HUBER AND RACHEL HAMELERS NATIONAL LEAGUE Boston Braves How the Boston Braves Survived the War But Lost the Battle for Boston BOB BRADY Ben Cardoni BY MARK S. STERNMAN Buck Etchison BY ALAN COHEN Butch Nieman BY SIDNEY DAVIS Mystery Member of the ‘45 Braves BOB BRADY Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers in Wartime MICHAEL HUBER John “Fats” D’Antonio RICHARD CUICCHI Bill Hart BOB LEMOINE Lee Pfund BOB WEBSTER Chicago Cubs The Cubs in Wartime THOMAS AYERS Jorge Comellas RICH BOGOVICH Billy Holm BILL NOWLIN Walter Signer GREGORY H. WOLF Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds During World War II JAY HURD Tomás de la Cruz PETER C. BJARKMAN Buck Fausett J. G. PRESTON Dick Sipek CHARLES FABER New York Giants The New York Giants in Wartime BOB MAYER Al Gardella CHARLIE WEATHERBY Frank Seward JEFF MARLETT Roy Zimmerman JOANNE HULBERT Philadelphia Phillies The Phillies in Wartime SEAMUS KEARNEY Chet Covington STEVE SMITH Hilly Flitcraft JIM SWEETMAN Lee Riley MEL MARMER Pittsburgh Pirates The Pirates in Wartime DAVID FINOLI Xavier Rescigno DAVID FINOLI Len Gilmore DAVID FINOLI Frankie Zak DAVID FINOLI St. Louis Cardinals The Cardinals in Wartime GREGORY H. WOLF Jack Creel GREGORY H. WOLF Gene Crumling GREGORY H. WOLF Bob Keely GREGORY H. WOLF AMERICAN LEAGUE Boston Red Sox The Red Sox in Wartime BILL NOWLIN Otey Clark BILL NOWLIN Ty LaForest BILL NOWLIN Stan Partenheimer JOHN SHANNAHAN The Frostbite League: Spring Training 1943 - 1945 BILL NOWLIN The 1944 Red Sox: What Could Have Been DUKE GOLDMAN Chicago White Sox The White Sox in Wartime DON ZMINDA Vince Castino DAVID RAGLIN AND BARB MANTEGANI Guy Curtright DON ZMINDA Floyd Speer REX HAMANN Cleveland Indians World War II and the Cleveland Indians DAVID W. PUGH Otto Denning CHRIS RAINEY Jim McDonnell ASHLIE CHRISTIAN AND ARMAND PETERSON Mickey Rocco GREGG OMOTH Detroit Tigers The Tigers in Wartime MIKE MCCLARY Chuck Hostetler MARC LANCASTER Bobby Maier MARC LANCASTER Charlie Metro TOM HAWTHORN New York Yankees The Yankees in Wartime MARC Z AARON Joe Buzas MARC Z AARON Mike Garbark MARC Z AARON Bud Metheny MARC Z AARON Philadelphia Athletics The Wartime Philadelphia Athletics DAVID M. JORDAN Orie Arntzen GREGORY H. WOLF Jim Tyack ALAN COHEN Woody Wheaton ALAN COHEN St. Louis Browns The St. Louis Browns in World War II GREG ERION Milt Byrnes GREG ERION Charley Fuchs GREG ERION Pete Gray MEL MARMER Washington Senators The Washington Senators in Wartime RICHARD MORASKI Ed Butka CORT VITTY Jug Thesenga BOB LEMOINE Tony Zardón RORY COSTELLO AND LOU HERNÁNDEZ Senators Who Died in Combat RICHARD MORASKI OTHER ESSAYS The All-Star Games in the War Years LYLE SPATZ Wartime Baseball: Minor Leagues, Major Changes (San Diego to Buffalo) JAMES D. SMITH, III Impact of WWII on the Negro Leagues LESLIE HEAPHY Baseball’s Women on the Field During WWII MERRIE A. FIDLER In-season Exhibition Games During Wartime WALTER LECONTE The Double Victory Campaign and the Campaign to Integrate Baseball DUKE GOLDMAN

Stories of Sports

Stories of Sports PDF Author: Katherin Garland
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 179362223X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
Stories of Sports: Critical Literacy in Media Production, Consumption, and Dissemination discusses how media demonstrates privilege, policing, stereotypes, confirmation bias, and objectification in a world where the role of athletics in Western society speaks to privilege and power. Contributors use a critical media lens to analyze texts, including newspapers, magazines, film, television, social media, and sportscasts to demonstrate to readers the ways in which sports stories reinforce or disrupt patterns of power and the ways that power is enacted. This book questions the role of the sports-industrial complex in our society and argues that, while healthy competition and physical health can come from bodily exertion, corruption can contaminate these benefits with the wielding of influence and the acquisition of cultural and financial capital. Contributors examine how the ways that resources are allocated, the coverage of certain sports and athletes, and how viewers view competitive arenas speak to power and privilege in ways that can affect both athletes and athletic stakeholders, highlighting the importance of critically examining sports media. Scholars of media studies and sports will find this book particularly useful.

The Nats and the Grays

The Nats and the Grays PDF Author: David E. Hubler
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442245751
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 343

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Book Description
On a chilly Sunday, December 7, 1941, major league baseball’s owners gathered in Chicago for their annual winter meetings, just two months after one of baseball’s greatest seasons. For the owners, the attack on Pearl Harbor that morning was also an attack on baseball. They feared a complete shutdown of the coming 1942 season and worried about players they might lose to military service. But with the support of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the national pastime continued. The Nats and the Grays: How Baseball in the Nation’s Capital Survived WWII and Changed the Game Forever examines the impact of the war on the two teams in Washington, DC—the Nationals of the American League and the Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues—as well as the impact of the war on major league baseball as a whole. Each chapter is devoted to a wartime year, beginning with 1941 and ending with the return of peacetime in 1946, including the exciting American League pennant races of 1942-1945. This account details how the strong friendship between FDR and Nationals team owner Clark Griffith kept the game alive throughout the war, despite numerous calls to shut it down; the constant uncertainties the game faced each season as the military draft, federal mandates, national rationing, and other wartime regulations affected the sport; and the Negro Leagues’ struggle for recognition, solvency, and integration. In addition to recounting the Nationals’ and the Grays’ battles on and off the field during the war, this book looks beyond baseball and details the critical events that were taking place on the home front, such as the creation of the GI Bill, the internment of Japanese Americans, labor strikes, and the fight for racial equality. World War II buffs, Negro League historians, baseball enthusiasts, and fans of the present-day Washington Nationals will all find this book on wartime baseball a fascinating and informative read.

The Victory Season

The Victory Season PDF Author: Robert Weintraub
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0316205907
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 475

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Book Description
The triumphant story of baseball and America after World War II. In 1945 Major League Baseball had become a ghost of itself. Parks were half empty, the balls were made with fake rubber, and mediocre replacements roamed the fields, as hundreds of players, including the game's biggest stars, were serving abroad, devoted to unconditional Allied victory in World War II. But by the spring of 1946, the country was ready to heal. The war was finally over, and as America's fathers and brothers were coming home, so too were the sport's greats. Ted Williams, Stan Musial, and Joe DiMaggio returned with bats blazing, making the season a true classic that ended in a thrilling seven-game World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals. America also witnessed the beginning of a new era in baseball: it was a year of attendance records, the first year Yankee Stadium held night games, the last year the Green Monster wasn't green, and, most significant, Jackie Robinson's first year playing in the Brooklyn Dodgers' system. The Victory Season brings to vivid life these years of baseball and war, including the littleknown "World Series" that servicemen played in a captured Hitler Youth stadium in the fall of 1945. Robert Weintraub's extensive research and vibrant storytelling enliven the legendary season that embodies what we now think of as the game's golden era.

Mysteries from Baseball's Past

Mysteries from Baseball's Past PDF Author: Angelo J. Louisa
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 0786480092
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
This collection of nine essays examines some of baseball's most elusive mysteries. Topics include the discovery of the body of Ed Delahanty at the bottom of Niagara Falls, the suicide of Chick Stahl, the strange death of National League president Harry Pulliam, the case of a game that may never have been played, three gambling scandals (one involving Hall of Famers), the facts concerning the legendary matchup of Satchel Paige and slugger Josh Gibson, and the intrigue behind the Brooklyn Dodgers' move to Los Angeles.

Wrigley Field's Last World Series

Wrigley Field's Last World Series PDF Author: Charles N. Billington
Publisher: Lake Claremont Press
ISBN: 9781893121454
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
On the eve of World War II, baseball truly was America's national pastime. Little could anyone predict the changes and sacrifices that would be imposed on the sport during the early 1940s. As the war was coming to an end in 1945 and a jubilant mood was overtaking the country, baseball was back in full swing and the Chicago Cubs were on top of their game. How did the Cubs clinch the pennant in 1945 and go to the World Series? Simply, they fielded, hit, and pitched better than any other team in the league. How did they then lose the championship to the Detroit Tigers, a team with one of the most mediocre records in pennant history? And why haven't they been back since? Billington's fast-paced narrative of this historic season includes an inning-by-inning account of critical games, highlights of winning streaks and road trips, and a discussion of how and why the team ultimately unravels. Incorporating statistical analysis, descriptions of key teams, and player biographies, Billington paints an evolving and exciting portrait of the 1945 Cubs and the wider national baseball scene of a war-torn era. I don't care who wins, as long as it's the Cubs!—legendary announcer, Bert Wilson, WIND On the eve of World War II, baseball truly was America's national pastime. Little could anyone predict the changes and sacrifices that would be imposed on the sport during the early 1940s. As the war was coming to an end in 1945 and a jubilant mood was overtaking the country, baseball was back in full swing and the Chicago Cubs were on top of their game. How did the Cubs clinch the pennant in 1945 and go to the World Series? Simply, they fielded, hit, and pitched better than any other team in the league. How did they then lose the championship to the Detroit Tigers, a team with one of the most mediocre records in pennant history? And why haven't they been back since? One thing is clear: 1945, the last time the Cubs went to the World Series, was a turning point in the team's fortune. For in the first half of the twentieth century, few teams were as good as Chicago; in the second half, few teams were as bad. Between 1900 and 1945 the Chicago Cubs won the National League pennant ten times and had more first division finishes than any other team in the league and only one last-place finish. Between 1946 and 1990, the Chicago Cubs finished in the National League basement nine times, and went 20 consecutive seasons in the second division between 1947 and 1966. Charles N. Billington's fast-paced narrative of this historic season includes an inning-by-inning account of critical games, highlights of winning streaks and road trips, and a discussion of how and why the team ultimately unravels. Incorporating statistical analysis, descriptions of key teams, and player biographies, Billington paints an evolving and exciting portrait of the 1945 Cubs and the wider national baseball scene of a war-torn era.

Home Team

Home Team PDF Author: Michael N. Danielson
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691231125
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 419

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Book Description
Most books that study professional sports concentrate on teams and leagues. In contrast, Home Team studies the connections between professional team sports in North America and the places where teams play. It examines the relationships between the four major professional team sports--baseball, basketball, football, and hockey--and the cities that attach their names, their hearts, and their increasing amount of tax dollars to big league teams. From the names on their uniforms to the loyalties of their fans, teams are tied to the places in which they play. Nonetheless, teams, like other urban businesses, are affected by changes in their environments--like the flight of their customers to suburbs and changes in local political climates. In Home Team, professional sports are scrutinized in the larger context of the metropolitan areas that surround and support them. Michael Danielson is particularly interested in the political aspects of the connections between professional sports teams and cities. He points out that local and state governments are now major players in the competition for franchises, providing increasingly lavish publicly funded facilities for what are, in fact, private business ventures. As a result, professional sports enterprises, which have insisted that private leagues rather than public laws be the proper means of regulating games, have become powerful political players, seeking additional benefits from government, often playing off one city against another. The wide variety of governmental responses reflects the enormous diversity of urban and state politics in the United States and in the Canadian cities and provinces that host professional teams. Home Team collects a vast amount of data, much of it difficult to find elsewhere, including information on the relocation of franchises, expansion teams, new leagues, stadium development, and the political influence of the rich cast of characters involved in the ongoing contests over where teams will play and who will pay. Everyone who is interested in the present condition and future prospects of professional sports will be captivated by this informative and provocative new book.

Baseball Between the Lines

Baseball Between the Lines PDF Author: Donald Honig
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 9780803272682
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
The exciting story of baseball during and after WWII--when clubs still traveled by train, when night games and artificial lighting became commonplace, when the restrictions were relaxed on Negro players--and when the sport began to become big business. Features Jackie Robinson, DiMaggio, and others. Photos.

Baseball's Power Shift

Baseball's Power Shift PDF Author: Krister Swanson
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
ISBN: 0803288042
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
From Major League Baseball's inception in the 1880s through World War II, team owners enjoyed monopolistic control of the industry. Despite the players' desire to form a viable union, every attempt to do so failed. The labor consciousness of baseball players lagged behind that of workers in other industries, and the public was largely in the dark about labor practices in baseball. In the mid-1960s, star players Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale staged a joint holdout for multiyear contracts and much higher salaries. Their holdout quickly drew support from the public; for the first time, owners realized they could ill afford to alienate fans, their primary source of revenue. Baseball's Power Shift chronicles the growth and development of the union movement in Major League Baseball and the key role of the press and public opinion in the players' successes and failures in labor-management relations. Swanson focuses on the most turbulent years, 1966 to 1981, which saw the birth of the Major League Baseball Players Association as well as three strikes, two lockouts, Curt Flood's challenge to the reserve clause in the Supreme Court, and the emergence of full free agency. To defeat the owners, the players' union needed support from the press, and perhaps more importantly, the public. With the public on their side, the players ushered in a new era in professional sports when salaries skyrocketed and fans began to care as much about the business dealings of their favorite team as they do about wins and losses. Swanson shows how fans and the media became key players in baseball's labor wars and paved the way for the explosive growth in the American sports economy.