World War II Baseball Book Reviews

Gary W Moore. Playing with the Enemy. El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, 2006. 326 pp.

Hardcover, $29.95

Gary W Moore has written a superbly engrossing and moving account of his father's wartime baseball activities and the huge effects this had on his later life.

When I first began reading this book I was looking for accountable facts and events that I could use for the Baseball in Wartime website. But I soon came to the realization that this was not that type of book. This is what could be categorized as a non-fiction novel - and a superb version of that genre. My suggestion to you, as a reader, is forget about historical accountability and become engrossed in the story that takes you from the early days of World War II to the difficult years that followed for Gene Moore, whose baseball career was destroyed by an injury suffered while playing ball for the Navy.

Moore takes you on an entertaining journey with his father, a farm kid from Sesser, Illinois who the Brooklyn Dodgers have a huge interest in. But WWII shatters the dreams of young Gene and he is left trying to pick up the pieces.

Gary W Moore's book is an entertaining story written with love, sincerity and passion. Playing with the Enemy is proudly displayed on my bookshelves. If you are an avid baseball reader, it should do the same on yours.

John Sickels. Bob Feller: Ace of the Greatest Generation.

Dulles, VA: Potomac, 2005.

326 pp. Paper, $17.95

Perhaps, not surprisingly, I have read many books on Bob Feller. I have also been dissapointed with many books on Bob Feller. But not with this one. John Sickels has done an excellent job, drawing on previously written information and new research. Ace of the Greatest Generation is an easy book to read, taking you on a chronological journey through Bob Feller's fascinating life.

Ideally, for this website, there is a superbly detailed account of his wartime activities, and for that alone I would recommend this book included in any baseball buff's collection.

William B Mead. Baseball Goes to War. Bethesda, MD: 1998.

272 pp.

Paper, $16.95

Bill Mead is the author of Baseball Goes to War, a humorous and surprising account of our national pastime as it was played during World War II. With Williams, DiMaggio and other stars off to war, the major leagues featured a one-armed outfielder, a 15-year-old pitcher and aging retreads such as Pepper Martin and Jimmie Fox. Mead has also authored six other baseball books. He has appeared on "The Today Show," "Good Morning America" and numerous other broadcast outlets and has been a featured lecturer on cruise ships.

Josh Chetwynd and Brian A Belton. British Baseball and the West Ham.

Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2007.

272 pp. Paper, $29.95

At last we have a detailed account of the brief period in British baseball history when the game enjoyed professional status. The London Major Baseball League may have only lasted two seasons but it highlighted the pre-war popularity that the American game enjoyed across the pond.

Josh Chetwynd and Brian A Belton have done excellent job of researching this fascinating era - a time when baseball popularity peaked in Britain and even managed to attract future major leaguer Roland Gladu.

Furthermore, Chetwynd and Belton have included a detailed history of baseball in Britain from the 1870s onwards. I was even pleased to see that my old team - the Enfield Spartans - get a mention as British champions in 1990 and 1991!

Chetwynd and Belton have done an excellent job in putting together a fragmented history into a cohesive and enjoyable order.

Thomas Gilbert. Baseball at War. New York: Franklin Watts, 1997. 134 pp. Hardback, $

This is the latest in a series of books Gilbert has written that constitute a multivolume history of baseball: Elysian Fields: The Birth of Baseball (1995), Superstars and Monopoly Wars: Nine- teenth-Century Major League Baseball (1995), Dead Ball: Major League Baseball before Babe Ruth (1996), The Soaring Twenties: Babe Ruth and the Home-Run Decade (1996), and The Good Old Days: Baseball in the 1930s (1996). Although classed as "juvenile literature", they are really for young adults and are sophisticated enough to be worth reading for adults. I believe they represent the first comprehensive effort to chronicle the game for young readers. For this, Gilbert is to be commended.

Most of the books in this series cover a particular decade and this one is no different. As such the title is a misnomer: it is actually about the decade of the 1940s and most of it concerns issues and events other than the war and integration The layout of the book is more or less chronological, but focuses especially on notable pennant races and World Series. It proceeds as a series of stories or vignettes, interspersed with facts and figures.

The "storytelling" is the strength of this work and readers will find this the most enjoyable and informative aspect. The oft-told tale of baseball's integration is refreshed here as Gilbert gives the principal credit to Jackie Robinson. Rickey's role, though important, is seen (rightly, I believe) as far more self-serving and opportunistic than is usually acknowledged. The chapter on the Mexican League and the resulting labor conflicts (Robert Murphy and Danny Gardelia) is excellent. The "facts and figures" scattered throughout are conveyed mechanically and may seem dull and obvious to most readers, but given the book's juvenile audience (presumably one unfamiliar with such facts), it is important that these are supplied.

This same layout however, is also the work's principal short- coming. It lacks any kind of now and seems ail chopped up, much like reading a series of note cards rather than a contiguous whole. Some events are told, then retold (e.g, how Bill Veeck was reviled for bringing Satchel Paige to the majors). Utter trivia such as the balata ball, are given as much space as the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (dispatched in one paragraph!).

Despite the focus on great pennant races, 1949 goes completely unmentioned. There are also several clinkers: Gilbert repeats the canard of Veeck's "attempt" to integrate the Phillies in 1944; Debs Garms (1940 National League batting titleist) is called "Del"; and lifetime White Sox shortstop Luke Appling is said to play for the Senators.

Children's and young persons' books on baseball typically focus on teams and personalities, with emphasis given to recent figures and events. Giibert's effort to bring past eras and lesser-known facts to the attention of young people is laudable and his vivid retelling of baseball stories should maintain interest. But this "note card"-strewn effort leaves many gaps and irregularities. While the factoid approach may appeal to television addicts, it makes for a clumsy book.

Tim Wolter. POW Baseball in Wold War II. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2001.

234 pp. Paper, $29.95

Leisure theorists debate whether recreation is mere diversion, or imbued with deeper meaning. Tim Wolter's intriguing look at baseball in World War II prisoner of war camps sides with the latter view. He shows how the nation's pastime sustained American detainees, helped them retain their culture, and--in some cases--even provided cover for escape attempts. It was also organizationally dense. In some camps, diamonds were laid out, official leagues were set up, records were kept, and results were reported in camp newspapers. There were even all-star and playoff games. Wolter suggests that baseball was part of a subrosa culture that helped POWs endure their trials.

Wolter scoured private journals, POW records, military sources, the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and various national archives to assemble his account. His camp-by-camp reporting is broken by interlude chapters focusing on noteworthy individuals or special topics, a haphazard arrangement that disrupts the narrative flow. But nothing detracts from the revelations that emerge from the rich welter of detail.

More than 130,000 Americans were taken prisoner in World War II. Most who played baseball in the camps were as nameless as today's sandlot heroes, but a few major leaguers played, including Hall of Fame umpire Augie Donatelli, catcher Mickey Grasso, pitcher Phil Marchildon, and Bert Shepard, who played pro ball until 1955 despite having lost his right leg in combat.

Baseball thrived best in German camps, where the POWs called themselves "Kriegies," a shortened version of Kriegsgefangener, the official German designation for prisoners of war. Red Cross sporting goods deliveries were regular, and treatment of Americans, English, Canadians, and British Commonwealth citizens was relatively good, especially for officers and non-military personnel. Some camps evolved highly organized baseball and softball leagues. The officers of Stalag Luft III, for example, had some two hundred teams competing until the 1944 breakout that inspired the film "The Great Escape" led to a crackdown. Indeed, baseball culture was so rich that a few camps maintained both "major" and "minor" leagues to reflect the differing talent levels.

When the camps were not as well stocked or space was limited, baseball was a makeshift game in which bats and balls were fashioned from available materials, and the games were played amidst dimensions and obstacles that make Fenway Park look generic by contrast. Wolter isn't always clear whether baseball or softball was the game of choice, but the small dimensions of many camps suggests the latter was played more often. (It was also the game best known by Australian and New Zealander POWs, who also competed.)

Baseball was just as passionate, but not as organized, in Pacific Theater camps. With the exception of civilians, the experience of most American prisoners was that of continuous brutality punctuated by intermittent leniency. Hard work and malnutrition meant that POWs often lacked the energy for sports. They also quickly learned to avoid punishment by not showing up the Japanese when lured into occasional challenge matches. Wolter's book reminds us of the chauvinism and racism of Japanese captors, a story often lost in the collective national guilt over Japanese-American internment camps.

Wolter's book is both a fascinating account of a hitherto unknown phenomenon and a pretty good social history of POW camps. As mentioned, the book's organization could be tighter. There is redundancy that could be pared, and sections of the book cry out for deeper analysis. This is especially true of the book's scant attention to gender; women's leagues get short shrift. These caveats aside, Wolter is the first to offer a full treatment of POW baseball, and his book will convince you that it was more than just a game.

Robert E. Weir Journal of Popular Culture, Vol. 37, 2003

Steven R Bullock. Playing for Their Nation. University of Nebraska Press, 2004. 184 pp. Paper, $30.00

"This sharp, well-researched book digs into the archives to unearth the formal and not-so-formal teams comprising major leaguers and not-so-major leaguers that worked to 'soothe the anxieties of combatants and to physically prepare them for battle.'"—Mark Luce, Chicago Tribune.

“No prior treatment of baseball during the war has demonstrated how extensively the game penetrated the camps, bases, and even the training practices of the troops.”—Choice.

“Steven R. Bullock’s fine compact book provides a more comprehensive overview of how baseball interacted with the American military during World War II… Bullock provides extensive documentation, drawing upon player interviews, military archival material, Sporting News articles, and other sources. He writes in clear, academic prose, incorporates rich anecdotes, and provides good analysis.”--David L. Porter, Journal of American History

 David Jones. Joe DiMaggio: a biography. Greenwood Press, 2004. 168 pp. Hardback, $29.95

David Jones has put together an absorbing and fascinating account of DiMaggio's life. Jones has combined the written documentation that already exists with new research, to produce a work that I enjoyed from cover to cover. Jones carefully weaves DiMaggio's playing career with his off-field activities to make this an easily readable chronological biography.

"Joe DiMaggio was never perfect," writes Jones in the Introduction. "Not as a baseball player, and not as a human being."

David Jones book was published in 2004. I only wish I had got hold of a copy sooner, and I recommend you to make up for lost time.

One-Armed Wonder: Pete Gray, Wartime Baseball, and the American Dream

Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2001.

171 pp. Paper, $28.50

Philadelphia Inquirer
"a fine biography"

The Commercial Appeal
"much more than just a story of one man's courage and determination"

Cecil Travis of the Washington Senators: The War-torn Career of an All-star Shortstop

Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2005.

195 pp. Paper, $28.50

A three time All-Star, Cecil Travis was coming into his prime and already well on his way to a Hall of Fame career when he was drafted for World War II in 1941. He would spend the next four years in the 76th infantry division. When he finally returned to the game, in 1945, Travis was no longer the dominant player he had been. In the three seasons that followed his returnthe last three seasons of his careeronly once did Travis play in more than 75 games, and his offensive numbers plummeted. Yet his pre-war accomplishments were such that he finished his 12-year career with a .314 batting average and baseball maven Bill James put Travis atop his list of players most likely to have lost a Hall of Fame career to the war. This biography documents the dynamic career of a baseball player whose path to stardom was cut short by the onset of war. It begins with Travis' childhood years, which he spent working on his family's Riverdale farm in rural Georgia. It describes his demonstration of talent during high school, which earned him athletic scholarships at several universities. Next the author details the start of Travis' professional career with the minor league Chattanooga Lookouts in 1931, his impressive rookie year with the Washington Senators, and his remaining prewar seasons in the major leagues. Travis's time as a soldier is then discussed, followed by chapters on postwar playing decline from 1945 to 1947 and his consequent retirement from major league baseball. An epilogue provides Cecil Travis' personal commentary on his baseball career, its untimely dissolution, the effects of the war, and his present life in Riverdale, where he raises livestock on his childhood farm.