Who's on First: Replacement Players in World War II (The SABR Digital Library)

This is a book about baseball's true "replacement players."



During the four seasons the U.S. was at war in World War II (1942-45), 533 players made their major-league debuts. There were 67 first-time major leaguers under 21 (Joe Nuxhall the youngest at 15). 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 from their 1941 pennant-winning team.



The owners brought in not only first-timers but also 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 team that featured 13 players classified as 4-F. The 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, Marc 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



Partial Table of Contents:

The Business of Baseball 
During World War II

"But Where is Pearl Harbor?" Baseball and the Day the World Changed, December 7, 1941

The Tri-Cornered War Bond Baseball Game



NATIONAL LEAGUE

Boston Braves

How the Boston Braves Survived the War But Lost the Battle for Boston

Ben Cardoni

Buck Etchison

Butch Nieman

Mystery Member of the '45 Braves



Brooklyn Dodgers

John "Fats" D'Antonio

Bill Hart

Lee Pfund



Chicago Cubs

Jorge Comellas

Billy Holm

Walter Signer



Cincinnati Reds

Tomás de la Cruz

Buck Fausett

Dick Sipek



New York Giants

Al Gardella

Frank Seward

Roy Zimmerman



Philadelphia Phillies

Chet Covington

Hilly Flitcraft

Lee Riley



Pittsburgh Pirates

Xavier Rescigno

Len Gilmore

Frankie Zak



St. Louis Cardinals

Jack Creel

Gene Crumling

Bob Keely



AMERICAN LEAGUE

Boston Red Sox

The Red Sox in Wartime

Otey Clark

Ty LaForest

Stan Partenheimer

The Frostbite League: Spring Training 1943 - 1945

The 1944 Red Sox: What Could Have Been



Chicago White Sox

The White Sox in Wartime

Vince Castino

Guy Curtright

Floyd Speer



Cleveland Indians

SABR is the Society for American Baseball Research, a group of over 6,000 enthusiasts about the game of baseball whose research interests range from the game's history to statistical analysis, records, cultural impact, and more. The BioProject is a SABR effort to research, write, and publish biographies of every player--and every person--ever connected with organized baseball. Anyone with a love of baseball can join SABR and become a part of these efforts.