Baseball at war

VOYA - Mary McCarthy

Baseball has traditionally been known as America's Game, a representation of our collective hopes and dreams. During the 1940s, this simple enjoyment was overshadowed by the effects of the war. Many professional baseball players had their careers interrupted, sometimes ended, by World War II. At home, fans continued their patriotic support of the teams and substitute players, and enjoyed several seasons of interesting, amusing, and hard-fought baseball. Filled with little-known names, statistics, and anecdotes, the writing flows as if a close friend is recounting their favorite baseball story for the tenth time. The images of DiMaggio, Gehrig, and Williams make readers long for an earlier time of seemingly uncorrupted heroes. Not mentioned until the eighth or ninth chapter are the sport's racial barriers. Yet, Jackie Robinson, Satchel Paige, and the economic end of the Negro League were important parts of baseball in this decade. In addition, the all-woman's league that was formed at this time is given only a one-paragraph mention. While this is a strong title for the history of Major League baseball and its stars during World War II, do not be misled by the subtitle. The author clearly is a fan and has written several other baseball books. But aside from autobiographies, he uses no primary sources. Research appears to have been done from lengthy histories of the sport, rather than by uncovering little-reported facts in newspaper or magazine articles of the time. The overall design deserves special note as the typefaces and illustrations successfully evoke the bygone era of day games only. This title will appeal to staunch fans, but it is not suggested for rookies. Index. Photos. Biblio. Source Notes. VOYA Codes: 3Q 2P J S (Readable without serious defects, For the YA with a special interest in the subject, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).

School Library Journal

Gr 6 UpGilbert describes, in a very readable style, the rise and fall of teams' fortunes, great pennant races, and the major characters involved along with the controversies they endured. During the war years, retired team members and teenagers supplemented major-league rosters made up of men unfit for military service. After the war, the author explains, players began questioning baseball's reserve clause, and the rival Mexican League's signing of major leaguers helped start the labor strife that still troubles the game. A chapter is devoted to the postwar attitudes toward discrimination and the fall of baseball's color line. The analysis of Branch Rickey's signing of Jackie Robinson is remarkably balanced and questions whether Rickey fought for integration in order to right a wrong or simply to provide the Brooklyn Dodgers with the best possible supply of quality players. In all, Gilbert excels at telling the game's story without dwelling on lengthy play-by-play passages, statistics, and won-lost records. Instead, he focuses on broader themes and important events, such as Joe DiMaggio's hitting streak, Ted Williams's .400 season, and the debate over which player was more valuable. Black-and-white archival photos are sprinkled throughout. While several recent titles, including Gilbert's own Baseball and the Color Line (Watts, 1995), focus on integration of the sport, none offers this much detail about baseball during the 1940s.Jeffrey A. French, Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library