{"id":1418,"date":"1943-01-29T10:46:16","date_gmt":"1943-01-29T14:46:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/?p=1418"},"modified":"2018-01-30T10:58:08","modified_gmt":"2018-01-30T15:58:08","slug":"big-changes-in-baseball-unlikely-to-keep-fans-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/1943\/01\/29\/big-changes-in-baseball-unlikely-to-keep-fans-away\/","title":{"rendered":"Big changes in baseball unlikely to keep fans away"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kevin Huebler and J.P. Proulx<\/strong><\/p>\n

The stars on the field are being called away to aid the stars and stripes , and what the professional leagues will have left when all is said and done we will soon find out.<\/p>\n

Stars like Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and Pete Reiser are walking away from the game of baseball for the time being to join the fight against the Axis powers.<\/p>\n

Pee Wee Reese, Phil Rizzuto, Hugh Casey. Three of baseball\u2019s biggest stars have found themselves called away to bootcamp to train for battle.<\/p>\n

Joltin\u2019 Joe Dimaggio, who is just two years removed from one of the that we may ever see, with his 56-game hitting streak, is reportedly being called away to serve via the draft. The New York Yankees center fielder, however, denies any such report, which originated with Yankees scout Joe Devine.<\/p>\n

DiMaggio says that he hasn\u2019t made any efforts to , adding that his future \u201cis up to Uncle Sam.\u201d DiMaggio declined to say whether the San Francisco draft board was about to call him. However, a Jan. 5 report in the New York Times<\/em> indicated that DiMaggio told The Examiner that \u201cspring training won\u2019t concern me this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boston Red Sox left fielder Ted Williams faced a similar situation last March, when he was placed on deferment, rather than joining the military right away. At the time, he appealed his draft status to continue to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn December, after the war was declared I was notified that I had been reclassified and was 1-A,\u201d the superstar said. \u201cI was ready to go when they called me but I couldn\u2019t understand the change\u2026Friends insisted I contact Dr. Harold Estrem, the state appeal advisor, whose duties are to give advice and aid those who need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Williams won the triple crown in 1942, leading the American League in batting average, home runs, and runs batted in. In 1943, he\u2019s trading his Red Sox uniform for Navy whites, as he joined the Naval Reserve and is set to be on active duty sometime in the next few months.<\/p>\n

With stars joining the military so frequently, how will they be treated in the quarters? DiMaggio and Williams are two of the biggest names in baseball, and the other soldiers they are fighting with might be star-struck seeing their on-the-field heroes.<\/p>\n

These two stars of the diamond need to be treated like any other soldier, with them now being a part of the war effort.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Boston Red Sox star Ted Williams being sworn in to the Navy, May 1942. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.<\/p><\/div>\n

Baseball\u2019s Popularity on the Home Front<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even with baseball losing stars left and right, it may be one of the few sports that doesn\u2019t see a downturn in attendance and popularity as the war enters its second year for Americans.<\/p>\n

Horse racing, for instance, usually takes place at courses that are virtually in the middle of nowhere. Baseball, however\u2014especially in New York\u2014is likely to generate \u201cin-town\u201d fare due to the ban on driving, compared to profits coming from those traveling from out of town by personal automobiles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe game will attract a lot of new fans who cannot get to their more favored sports or recreation,\u201d said Frick. \u201cAll National League parks, with the possible exception of Cincinnati, are easy to reach by streetcar, bus, subway or walking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although it\u2019s easy to get to the ballpark, fans on the coasts will have to attend games in the daytime. With the potential for enemy air raids, coastal cities must be prepared for blackouts to be imposed at any moment. Therefore, the Pacific Coast and Atlantic Coast minor leagues will have no games played at night.<\/p>\n

The ol\u2019 pastime will still be alive and well. And even without some stars, baseball will still be the most popular sport in America.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Considine, Bob. \u201cBigger Year For Baseball Is Possible.\u201d The Washington Post (1923-1954), Jan. 8, 1943. Pg. 10.<\/p>\n

\u201cDiMaggio Evades Retirement Talk.\u201d New York Times (1923-Current File), Jan. 6, 1943. Pg. 20.<\/p>\n

Rice, Grantland. \u201cThe Sportlight: Close Competition.\u201d Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (1927-2008), Jan. 22, 1943. Pg. 19.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.si.com\/more-sports\/photos\/2013\/11\/11\/athletes-who-served-military#1<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cTed Williams Tells His Side Of Story in Asking for Deferment\u201d Chicago Daily Tribune, March 16, 1942 Pg. 19<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kevin Huebler and J.P. Proulx The stars on the field are being called away to aid the stars and stripes , and what the professional leagues will have left when all is said and done we will soon find out. Stars like Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and Pete Reiser are walking away from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3935,"featured_media":1419,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","category-sports","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/files\/2018\/01\/Ted_Williams_swearing_into_the_Navy_1942.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8bpwr-mS","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3935"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1418"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1420,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418\/revisions\/1420"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.shu.edu\/ww2-0\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}