Hall of Famers at War - Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia, on January 31, 1919. The year after his birth his family moved to Pasadena, California, and he graduated from Dakota Junior High School in 1935. He then enrolled at John Muir High School where he played baseball, football, basketball, tennis, and track and field.

In 1936, Robinson captured the junior boys’ singles championship in the annual Pacific Coast Negro Tennis Tournament, starred as quarterback, and earned a place on the annual Pomona baseball tournament all-star team, which included future Baseball Hall of Famers Ted Williams and Bob Lemon.

Robinson later attended Pasadena Junior College where he played both football and baseball. He played quarterback and safety for the football team, shortstop for the baseball team.

In 1938, he was elected to the All-Southland Junior College baseball team and selected as the region's Most Valuable Player. After leaving Pasadena Junior College, Robinson chose to attend the University of California, Los Angeles, where he became the school's first athlete to win varsity letters in four sports: baseball, basketball, football and track.

Robinson left UCLA before completing his degree in 1941 and went to Hawaii to play football for the semi-professional, racially integrated Honolulu Bears. He returned to California on December 5, 1941 - two days before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor - and was drafted for military service the following year.

On April 3, 1942, Robinson entered the U.S. Army, attended officer candidate school, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1943. He served at Fort Riley, Kansas, in 1943 and then Fort Hood, Texas. Robinson was one of the few African-American officers at Fort Hood and when he refused to sit in the back of a military bus in 1944, he was subsequently court martialed, but acquitted because the order was a violation of War Department policy prohibiting racial discrimination in recreational and transportation facilities on all U.S. Army posts.

In the summer of 1944, when Robinson was a lieutenant in the 761st Tank Battalion at Fort Hood, a broken ankle he had suffered playing football back in 1932 kept him from going overseas with his outfit. "My CO sent me to the hospital for a physical check-up," he told Yank magazine on November 23, 1945, "and they changed my status to permanent limited service. After that I kicked around the tank destroyers doing a little bit of everything. Then I wound up as a lieutenant in an infantry battalion at Camp Breckinridge [Kentucky]. In October 1944, I was given a 30-day leave and put on inactive duty. I'm still on inactive duty. What I'd like to know is, do I have to go back into active duty to get separated or will they just notify me that I'm out?"

He received a medical discharge on November 28, 1944.

Robinson played shortstop for the Negro American League Kansas City Monarchs in 1945 and batted .345 with five home runs, and made an all-star appearance.

Branch Rickey, president of the Brooklyn Dodgers began to scout the young Negro League player and signed him on October 23, 1945. Robinson became the first African-American in 57 years to break the Organized Baseball color line. "I realize what I'm going into," he said at the time. "I realize what it means to me and to my race and to baseball, too. I'm very happy for this chance and I can only say that I'll do my best to make the grade."

The young infielder reported to the Montreal Royals in 1946. He led the International League with a .349 batting average, and made his major league debut with Brooklyn on April 15, 1947, winning The Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award.

In ten major league seasons he appeared in six World Series and six All-Star games, and led the National League in batting with a .342 average in 1949, clinching the National League Most Valuable Player Award.

Robinson retired on January 5, 1957. He had wanted to manage or coach in the major leagues, but no offers came his way. Instead, he became a vice-president for the Chock Full O' Nuts Corporation.

He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962, his first year of eligibility, becoming the first African-American so honored.

Robinson was suffering from high blood pressure and diabetes, and he was all but blind when he died from a heart attack at the age of 53, on October 24, 1972.

In March 1984, President Ronald Reagan posthumously awarded Robinson the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

On April 15, 1997, the 50th anniversary of his debut, Major League Baseball retired the number 42 - the number Robinson wore - in recognition of his accomplishments both on and off the field.

On October 29, 2003, the United States Congress posthumously awarded Robinson the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest award the Congress can bestow. Robinson's widow accepted the award in a ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda on March 2, 2005.

On April 15, 2007, the 60th anniversary of Robinson's major league debut, Major League Baseball invited players to wear the number 42 just for that day to commemorate Robinson. More than 200 players wore number 42, including the entire rosters of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

You can contact me at gary@baseballinwartime.com

Battlefield Heroes - Joe Takata

Amazingly this is my 100th post on the Baseball in Wartime Blog. I have chosen to celebrate this "milestone" with a special article about a young baseball player who never played the game for money. A love of baseball was enough for him, and a love of his country led him to his death. But Joe Takata wasn't your average American. He was a Nisei - second-generation Japanese - living in Hawaii when Pearl Harbor was attacked.

"We owe him a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid."
Lieutenant General James Campbell, U.S. Army Pacific commanding general.

Joe Takata was born on April 29, 1919, in Waialua in the Hawaiian Islands. Waialua stands in the shadow of Mount Kaala where the sugar cane sweeps up to the foothills of the highest peak on Oahu on one side and slopes down gently to the sea on the other. Like many people in Hawaii, Takata was Nisei - second-generation Japanese. And like many Nisei, Joe Takata loved baseball.

Takata attended McKinley High School where he quickly earned a reputation as a power-hitting shortstop. "I can still see Joe there at shortstop," remembered his coach Frank J. Hluboky, ten years after the ballplayer's untimely death in WWII. "The way he ran out to his position, the way he hustled. He was a hard worker, that boy. The first to come out for practice and the last one to leave, after helping to put away the equipment. He was like a good leader."

In his senior year at McKinley in 1937, Takata helped bring a championship to the school in a three-game play-off with St. Louis College.

After graduation, Takata worked as a stevedore for Castle & Cooke, and went on to star as an outfielder in the amateur Hawaii Baseball League with the Azuma and Asahi teams. Takata entered military service on November 15, 1941, and trained at Schofield Barracks, Oahu. Three weeks later Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese.

Americans of Japanese ancestry in Hawaii were treated with suspicion. Most were sent to internment camps, and those in military service found their duties suddenly reduced to menial tasks. Eventually, the 100th Battalion was formed, a fighting unit made up entirely of second-generation Japanese.

On May 26, 1942, Takata married Florence Sakamoto of Honolulu, and two weeks later he was on his way to Camp McCoy, Wisconsin, to train with the 100th Battalion.

Captain Katsumi "Doc" Kometani, who had been the franchise owner of the Asahi team in Hawaii, was assigned to the 100th in Wisconsin as Recreational and Morale Officer, and organized the Aloha baseball team in Wisconsin. Takashi "Ted" Hirayama was selected as team manager and remembers Takata well. "He was a natural athlete, with a good swing and good enough speed," says Hirayama. "Joe had a really good arm, so he played shortstop and centerfield."

The Aloha team initially played against the military police unit at Camp McCoy but soon found competition in nearby towns. In a memorable game against a minor league team in Green Bay, Wisconsin, Takata was part of an outstanding defensive play. "An opposing batter hit a towering drive over our right fielder’s head," Hirayama remembers. "After the outfielder retrieved the ball, he threw it to Joe, who was playing center. Joe relayed it on a line to our second baseman, who then turned and threw the ball on one skip to the catcher, who tagged the surprised runner out. Joe's throw to the second baseman was outstanding. I still remember the announcer saying that it would take a major league team to make a play like that, and these little guys from Hawaii just did it. They played like pros."

The 100th Battalion "Aloha" ball team.
(Joe Takata is second row, third from right)

In February 1943, the 100th Battalion moved to Camp Shelby, Mississippi, for advanced unit training. The Aloha team continued to play and in a game against an Army team at the internment camp in Jerome, Arkansas, Takata showed his power with a home run that was the longest drive ever seen in that field.

The 100th Battalion left Camp Shelby for North Africa on August 11, 1943. They landed at Oran, Algeria, on September 2, where they guarded supply trains for a couple of weeks. It was in North Africa that the Aloha baseball team played its last game, against the 168th Infantry Regiment. "It was a close game all the way to the ninth inning," explains Hirayama. "They had been pitching away from Joe and his power." But the 168th brought in a relief pitcher late in the game. "The pitcher rocked and tried to throw a fastball by him [Takata]. Joe smacked the ball out of the stadium."

On September 19, 1943, the 100th Battalion left the relative safety of North Africa for Italy. They landed at Salerno and advanced to their first objective - Monte Milleto. Sergeant Takata's platoon led the rest of the battalion along a portion of road bordered by a gully on one side and an olive grove on the other. It was 9.15am on September 29, 1943. It hadn't stopped raining all night. Suddenly the platoon was trapped by a hail of machine-gun, mortar and artillery fire. "As soon as the machine guns opened fire, the [artillery] fired," recalled Sergeant Tokuichi Koizumi some years later. "On the left flank was open ground. We tried to get around the right side, but there was a ravine there and the guns already were zeroed in on the place."

Taking position in front of his men, Sergeant Takata led them through the intense mortar, artillery and machine gun fire. He continuously and deliberately his own safety in trying to determine the enemy positions.

"A shell landed [and] hit the ground in front of Sergeant Takata," recalled Koizumi. "He was alive for about two minutes. He couldn't talk ... I never forget that day. I never forget him. He was one of the best."

The 100th Battalion eventually silenced the enemy but their baseball hero and leader, Joe Takata, was dead before the fighting was over.

The Takata family and his young widow, Florence, were devastated when the news reached home. Instead of following the Japanese custom of distributing tea or coffee, a custom traditionally followed in honor of the memory of the dead after 49 days, the Takata family decided to give a $400 contribution to the Red Cross, Army relief fund, Navy relief fund and Honolulu Community Chest. "The war has come closer home to the Waialua community and to me when it claimed my husband as its first casualty," his widow explained at the time. "We feel that it has become our duty to do more for the war cause here on the home front and forget all the old customs. This idea received the wholehearted approval of both the Takata family and my parents."

For "extraordinary gallantry in the face of enemy fire," Takata was posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross which was presented to Florence on June 11, 1944. by Colonel Kendall J. Fielder.

"Joe was a jovial, good natured guy who had that amazing zest for life few have," remembered Tokuji Ono, who led Takata's squad after his death. "You'd first think of Joe as the kind of guy everyone likes. He did things wholeheartedly whether it was baseball or army training."

"He was a master soldier. A great athlete, a great leader," remembered Lieutenant Colonel Farrant L. Turner, Takata's battalion commander, at a remembrance ceremony in 1955. "He would have gone on to great things if he had not died."

In June 2003, the baseball field at Hawaii's Fort Shafter was named Joe Takata Field in his honor. "Renaming the baseball field is the Army's way of paying a lasting tribute to a fine athlete and soldier who sacrificed his dreams for the cause of freedom, and paid the ultimate price," said Lieutenant General James Campbell, U.S. Army Pacific commanding general. "We owe him a debt of gratitude that can never be repaid."

You can contact me at gary@baseballinwartime.com

Cot Deal was Semi-Pro MVP in 1944

Playing for the Enid Army Air Field Flyers Enidairs, Cot Deal was named MVP in the 1944 National Baseball Congress Semi-Pro tournament.

Ellis “Cot” Deal was born on January 23, 1923 in Arapaho, Oklahoma, a small town in the western part of the state. Aged 14, he was playing for his father, Roy Deal, a legendary baseball figure in Oklahoma and manager of the semi-pro Oklahoma City Natural Gas Gassers. The young outfielder-pitcher was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1939. “The Pirate scout drove my mother, dad and me to Pittsburgh,” recalls Deal. “I spent a week in the dugout, then signed. I wouldn't be 17 until January.”

The Pirates sent Deal to Hutchinson of the Western Association his rookie year. Playing the outfield and third base he batted an impressive .312 in 137 games. He remained with the team in 1941 and batted .285 in addition to pitching five games. The 19-year-old switch-hitter joined Harrisburg of the Interstate League in 1942, where he batted .266, prior to entering military service with the Army Air Force in September.

Deal was stationed at Enid Army Flying Field in Oklahoma - a Basic Flying School - where he served as a physical instructor and played ball for the Enid Army Flying School Enidairs. In 1943, the team finished second in the Victory League, second in the Oklahoma State semi-pro tournament and second in the Sooner Service League. In August 1943, the Enidairs made it to the finals of the National Baseball Congress Semi-Pro Tournament in Wichita, Kansas, where, on August 29, and with Cot Deal on the mound, they were beaten, 5 to 3, by Cecil Travis and the Camp Wheeler Spokes. Before 12,000 fans – the biggest crowd in the nine-year history of the event – Deal allowed only seven hits, but his support was limited due to a makeshift lineup caused by injuries and illness to regulars in the closing days of the tournament. Deal was named on the All-American semi-pro club for his outstanding play in the tournament.

Coached by B.D. Booth and Bill Hankins, and featuring minor leaguers Monty Basgall, Nick Popovich, Bill Hankins, Ray Honeycutt, Odie Strain, Lew Morton and, of course, Cot Deal, the Enidairs competed in the tough Victory League in 1944. They finished the year in second place behind Fort Riley with a 54-18 record. Deal was 10 and 1 on the mound, and batted .371. Again, the team made it to the National Baseball Congress Semi-Pro Tournament. In the fourth game of the tournament the Enidairs faced the Sioux Falls Army Air Field club with the score tied, 3 to 3, going into the eighth. That morning Cot Deal had received news from home that his wife had given birth to a baby girl. With the bases loaded and the count standing at three-and-two, Deal hit one over the center field fence and the Enidairs won, 7 to 3. The Enidairs advanced to the final of the tournament where they were beaten by the Sherman Field Flyers, 5 to 4. Deal again made the All-American team and was voted the most valuable player of the tournament.

In 1945, Deal – who batted .326 for the year - along with Lou Kretlow and Red Sox catcher Danny Doyle led the Enidairs to the Oklahoma semi-pro title on July 28, defeating Tinker Field, 9 to 3. They then claimed the National semi-pro title without a single defeat. For the third straight year he was named to the All-American team and became the first man ever to be voted most valuable player two consecutive years. Deal played outfield in all seven championship games and hurled hitless relief in two.

Sergeant Deal was discharged from military service in October 1945. “It had a maturing effect,” Deal says of his years with the Army Air Force, “and I was glad to be serving.”

Deal was with Toronto of the International League in 1946 and 1947, where he was used more frequently as a pitcher than an outfielder. It was on the mound that he made his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox on September 11, 1947. Deal made five appearances for Boston, including two starts, and finished the year with a 0-1 record and 9.24 ERA. He hurt his arm in spring training the following year and spent most of 1948 with Louisville of the American Association but did make four last-inning appearances for the Red Sox without allowing a run and earning his first major league victory.

Deal was traded to the Cardinals’ organization in 1949 and was 15-9 with Columbus of the American Association. He started, completed and won a twenty-inning game against Louisville on September 3, 1949, allowing only one earned run. He was 10-14 with Columbus in 1950, and made three relief appearances for the Cardinals. Deal was back with Columbus in 1951, and joined Rochester of the International League in 1952. He was 14-9 that year and his 16-9 record and 3.72 ERA in 1953 prompted a return to the major leagues. In 1954, Deal made 33 relief appearances for the Cardinals.

Deal, aged 32, was back with Rochester in 1955. He became a player-coach under manager Dixie Walker in 1956, took over as the team’s manager in 1957 and reached the playoffs the following season. Deal joined Cincinnati as a pitching coach in 1959, and later held that position with Houston, the Yankees, Kansas City, Cleveland and Detroit. Along the way he managed in the minors and was an assistant farm director with the Chicago White Sox.

Five former Rochester Red Wings, who played under manager Harry Walker prior to joining the St. Louis Cardinals are pictured with their former boss in 1954. Left to right: Tom Burgess, Rip Repulski, Ray Jablonski, Walker, Wally Moon and Cot Deal.

In 1994, Cot Deal was inducted into the Rochester Red Wings Hall of Fame. He remains the only person in National Baseball Congress history to win the annual tournament MVP award twice.

Cot Deal lives in suburban Oklahoma City.

You can contact me at gary@baseballinwartime.com

Minor League Military Vets Who Passed Away Recently

Norm Zaspel
Norm Zaspel was born in North St. Paul, Minnesota, on May 10, 1923. He graduated from North High School, and pitched briefly for the Fargo-Moorhead Twins of the Class C Northern League in May 1942. The following month he made a couple of appearances with the Sheboygan Indians of the Class D Wisconsin State League.

Zaspel entered military service with the Navy the following year and served in the Pacific near New Guinea. After military service he graduated from Marquette University in Milwaukee with a degree in economics. He worked for the U.S. government in Milwaukee and Janesville, moving to Green Bay in 1958, and retired in 1979.

Norm Zaspel passed away on December 11, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, aged 86. He was buried at Fort Howard Memorial Park on December 16.

David Mills
David Mills was born in Norwalk, Connecticut, on October 6, 1921. At Norwalk High School he excelled at hockey and baseball. As left wing and center for the Norwalk Cubs hockey team he played on their 1939-1940 city championships.

He entered military service in February 1943, initially as a platoon leader for the infantry before advancing to Officer Candidate School and pilot training with the Army Air Force. As a first lieutenant with the 398th Bomb Group, Mills was based in Nuthampstead, England, and flew 24 missions at the controls of a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.

Discharged from service in November 1945, Mills he returned to Norwalk and pitched for local teams until signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. In 1947, he appeared in 27 games for the Uniontown Coal Barons of the Class C Mid-Atlantic League and had a 4-7 record and 5.09 ERA.

The following year he left professional baseball and joined the Carr Spiers Company followed by the Ted Sommers Advertising company as a commercial artist. He then went on to form the advertising company Porter and Mills in Fairfield, Connecticut.

David Mills passed away on December 11 at Norwalk Hospital, aged 88. He was buried at Riverside Cemetery in Norwalk on December 16.

Bill Briggs
Bill Briggs was born on August 12, 1921, in Norman, Arkansas. He graduated from Clovis High School in 1941, where he played on the baseball and basketball teams, and was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals organization. He played briefly for the Fresno Cardinals of the Class C California League that year.

Briggs later served with the Marine Corps during World War II and recalled to service during the Korean War. He worked for the U.S. Postal Service for many years.

Bill Briggs passed away on December 14 in Fresno, California, aged 88. He was buried at Fresno Memorial Gardens on December 19.

Vern Hills
Vern Hills was born on August 17, 1924 in Albion, Michigan and grew up in nearby Marshall. An accomplished athlete in high school, Vern and his brother Dale tried out for the St. Louis Cardinals at Bailey Park in Battle Creek in 1942. Dale received a contract to play but Vern was told he was too young. But shortly afterwards he was invited to go to St. Louis to work out with the Cardinals and was given a contract. While brother Dale was pitching for Johnson City of the Appalachian League, Vern hurled for the La Crosse Blackhawks of the Class D Wisconsin State League. (Dale was 11-11 with Johnson City in 1942 and 5-10 with Pocatello in 1946).

Hills’ baseball career was cut short by World War II and a call to service with the U.S. Marine Corps. He was trained as a Communications Specialist and served with A Company of the First Battalion 28th Regiment, Fifth Marine Division. He participated in the invasion of Iwo Jima and witnessed and was part of the Marine Corps occupying force of Japan.

Hills was discharged from service in May 1946. He attended Olivet College, and worked for Post Cereals in Battle Creek for 60 years. He continued to play baseball and pitched for the Battle Creek All-Star team against the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950.

Vern Hills passed away on December 17 at Oaklawn Hospital in Marshall, Michigan, aged 85. He was buried at Oakridge Cemetery on December 22.

You can contact me at gary@baseballinwartime.com

Ted Kleinhans Served in Both World Wars

Ted Kleinhans, who served in both world wars, was a 35-year-old rookie when he joined the Philadelphia Phillies in 1934.

Ted Kleinhans was born on April 8, 1899 in Deer Park, Wisconsin, and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was a Lutheran minister and Ted planned to follow in his father’s footsteps, enrolling as a theological student at Concordia College at Fort Wayne. But then came the First World War and he enlisted in the Ohio National Guard in May 1917. Kleinhans spent 14 months in service as a sergeant with the 145th Infantry Regiment of the 37th Division, and was involved in the Meuse-Argonne campaign in France, where he was wounded in action.

It was while in service that Kleinhans developed as a pitcher for the 145th Infantry team. When he was mustered out in May 1919, he began playing for semi-pro teams and continued until trying his hand at organized baseball in 1928, by which time he was 29 years old.

Kleinhans signed with the Johnstown Johnnies of the Middle-Atlantic League in late 1928, and was 4-6 in 13 games. He was with Johnstown and the Cumberland Colts in the same league in 1929, and had a 13-8 record in 48 games.

Aged 31, he pitched for the Terre Haute Tots and the Bloomington Cubs in the Three-I in 1930 where he was 14-15. He split time between Danville, Columbus and Greensboro in 1931. With the Greensboro Patriots of the Piedmont League in 1932 he was 21-8 and led the league with 226 strike outs. At the age of 34, he was 19-13 with Atlanta in 1933, and the Chicago Cubs purchased him at the end of the season but traded him to the Phillies in November.

Although record books shaved five years of his age at the time, Ted Kleinhans was a 35-year-old rookie when he made his major league debut with the Philadelphia Phillies on April 20, 1934. He made five relief appearances for the Phillies and was on the move again when he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in May. He pitched in 24 games for the Reds, mostly in relief, and had a 2-6 record and 5.74 ERA.

Kleinhans was traded to the New York Yankees in 1935 and played at Newark in the International League where he was 17-8 with a 2.82 ERA. In 1936, he was again with Newark but made 19 relief appearances for the Yankees and was 1-1 with a 5.83 ERA.

“When I think of my greatest thrill I have to go back to 1936 when I won my first game for the New York Yankees,” Kleinhans told the Syracuse Herald-Journal on March 21, 1941. “Playing Detroit at Yankee Stadium, we were leading 3-2 in the eighth inning. Pete Fox singled and Mickey Cochrane did likewise, off pitcher [Bump] Hadley. There was a man on first and third, nobody out, and Charles Gehringer coming up to bat.

“Gehringer, being a left handed batter, and I, being in the bullpen, was beckoned by Manager Joe McCarthy to relieve and stop the rally. Charley hit the first pitch, a fly ball to Joe DiMaggio, who caught the ball. Fox ‘tagged up’ at third base, and sprinted for home after the catch. DiMaggio threw a ‘strike’ to Catcher Dickey, who nipped Fox at the plate. Cochrane went to second on the throw to the plate, and put the tying run in scoring position. [Goose] Goslin came to bat, and rolled out weakly to [Tony] Lazzeri at second base, retiring the side. I got [Jack] Burns, [Gee] Walker and [Billy] Rogell in order in the ninth, and received credit for my first Yankee victory.”

The 1936 New York Yankees. Ted Kleinhans is back row, fourth from left.

Kleinhans was at Kansas City in 1937 and had a 15-9 record before being sold back to Cincinnati in September and making seven appearances for the Reds before the season finished. He started three games, had a 1-2 record and an ERA of 2.30.

Although Kleinhans made a single-inning appearance for the Reds in 1938, his pitching between then and 1941 was done with the Syracuse Chiefs in the International League, where he quickly became a fan favorite.

On May 21, 1938, Kleinhans beat Newark, 4-3, and struck out 14 batters for a second time. He and Lefty Grove were the only two International League pitchers to have achieved that feat at the time. He was 16-12 in 1938, and was 19-12 with the Chiefs in 1939, despite being 40 years old. In 1940, he was 12-17, but moving into his fourth season with Syracuse in 1941, he began to lose his effectiveness and was released on July 14. Kleinhans was the first player the fans selected for the Syracuse Chiefs Honor Roll in 1952.

In 11 seasons as a minor league pitcher, Kleinhans had hurled in 349 games for a 146-108 record.

Kleinhans had received an offer from Kansas City of the American Association after his release by Syracuse, but chose to stay in Syracuse where he was studying for a degree in physical education. In August 1941, he began pitching for the Homer Merchants in the Central New York Amateur Baseball League. In 1942, he became the Merchants’ manager and coach in addition to his pitching duties, and was working as a district manager of circulation for the Syracuse Herald-Journal.

Following Pearl Harbor, Kleinhans was desperate to again serve his country but approaching 43, age was definitely against him. However, when the 52nd General Hospital, the unit affiliated with the Syracuse University College of Medicine was formed he was accepted for duty in medical administration.

In September 1942, Kleinhans reported to Camp Livingston, Louisiana, with the 52nd General Hospital. On November 14, the hospital was relocated to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey, for additional training before it sailed for England on January 6, 1943. After a week on the high seas in peril of U-boats, the 52nd debarked in Scotland and travelled by train to temporary quarters in Somerset. Gradually, through the spring of that year, the unit moved into its permanent quarters in England. The first patient was admitted on April 15, 1943.

One of Captain Kleinhans’ early responsibilities in England was to stop food wastage at the hospital. “Right now saving food over here is much more important than saving base hits,” he told the Syracuse Herald-Journal on May 31, 1943. “Food shipped over here all takes up valuable space and costs sailors’ lives. We impress that on our men and have taught them not to take more food than they can eat. If they underestimate their appetites they can always come back for more.

“As to baseball, I feel that it has a very definite place in our war effort, for it gives the people needed relaxation. Perhaps the teams won't be quite up to the standards of past years, but they'll be good. Right now, though, I'm more interested in feeding a large group of hungry soldiers."

Forty-four-year-old Kleinhans pitched for the 52nd General Hospital Chiefs during the summer of 1943, and estimated that the 22 games played by the team were watched by a total of 25,000 spectators and raised $12,500 for various charities.

The first casualties from Normandy arrived the second week of June 1944, and from that time until early 1945 the beds at the 52nd General Hospital were filled nearly to capacity. The busiest time was December 1944, when the Nazis almost stopped the Allied advance at the Battle of the Bulge. But the load steadily lightened in 1945, so that by V-E Day there were only 300 patients in care. Altogether the 52nd treated more than 21,000 patients.

Kleinhans returned to playing baseball in England after the German surrender and was the starting pitcher for the 'Greys' UK servicemen all-star team. In a game held on June 17, 1945, before a crowd of 18,000 in London, Kleinhans pitched the first four innings, allowing two runs and four hits in the 7-5 victory against the 'Whites.'

“He was a superb gentleman,” Dr. Max Kutzer who served with Kleinhans at the 52nd General Hospital told the Syracuse Herald-Journal on July 24, 1985, “a great leader, and an inspiration to anyone who was associated with him – particularly his athletes on his baseball teams.”

The 52nd General Hospital returned to the United States in September 1945. On December 28, Major Kleinhans was discharged from the Army at Fort Dix Separation Center in New York.

Under the GI Bill of Rights he returned to Syracuse University to complete his physical education degree which he had begun in 1941. He completed on June 2, 1947. He also returned to pitch for the Homer Merchants who were now in the Southern Tier Semi-Pro League. His first game was against Ithaca on May 5 and he won, 3 to 1. Homer were pennant winners in 1946 and Kleinhans was 47 years old at the time.

From 1947 to 1965, Kleinhans coached the baseball team at Syracuse University. In 1961, he took the Orangemen to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, where they defeated Northern Colorado and Western Michigan before being beaten in the semi-finals by Oklahoma State.

Ted Kleinhans retired to Florida in the late 1960s, where he enjoyed golfing and fishing. He passed away on July 24, 1985, in Redington Beach, Florida. He was 86 years old and is buried at the Serenity Gardens Memorial Park in Largo, Florida.

You can contact me at gary@baseballinwartime.com

John Loehrke, Killed on This Day 68 Years Ago

John Loehrke was born at Mayville, Wisconsin on March 29, 1915. His father, John, who ran the Beaumont Hotel in Mayville, died the year after his son was born and Mrs. Loehrke moved the family to Burnett. Seven years later they returned.

Loehrke was an outstanding student and athlete at Mayville High School. He won the silver cup given by the Junior Association of Commerce for excellence in studies and outside activities, and was on the basketball team that won the state Class B championship in 1935. He also pitched for local baseball teams.

Loehrke later became a star end on the University of Wisconsin football team, winning letters in 1936, 1937 and 1939. During the summers months he would return to Mayville, and as a left-handed pitcher he hurled for the Mayville team in the Rock Valley League. On June 22, 1939, he pitched all 16 innings in a 3-2 loss against the Waupun  Shaler Cubs. Loehrke allowed just seven hits and struck out 26.

He graduated in engineering from Wisconsin and joined the Army Air Corps in 1940, and completed his pilot training at Randolph Field and Kelly Field in Texas, being commissioned a lieutenant on December 20, 1940. On May 5, 1941, Second Lieutenant Loehrke began work as an instructor at Cochran Field near Macon, Georgia, an airfield that was, at the time, used exclusively for the training of British pilots.

At the beginning of December 1941, Loehrke became squadron commander of the 323rd School Squadron at Cochran Field, with 14 officer instructors and 50 cadets, mostly from the British Royal Air Force, under his command. His role was primarily administrative but still allowed him the opportunity to fly - something he loved to do.

On December 26, 1941, Second Lieutenant Loehrke was substituting for another instructor on a training flight with Royal Air Force cadet John K. Briers. Briers was from Derby, England and had 60 hours of flying in the primary course plus seven hours of instruction at Cochran Field. Loehrke had logged 900 hours of flying time.

They were practicing forced landings in a Vultee BT-13A Valiant single-engined trainer when the engine gave out and the airplane crashed and burst into flames in a small field 13 miles from the airfield. John Loehrke and John Briers were both killed. A farmer who witnessed the crash said the plane’s engine began to miss at about 1,000 feet before diving to earth.

Vultee BT-13A Valiant's at Cochrane Field

John Loehrke was Mayville's first casualty of WWII. His remains were returned to Mayville, and on December 31, 1941, funeral services were held at St. Paul's Lutheran church followed by burial at Graceland Cemetery. In attendance was his best friend from the service, Second Lieutenant Robert Martens of Claremont, California.

"On the 26th day of December, 1941,” declared the mayor of Mayville, Walter Schellpfeffer, the same day, “Lieutenant John E. Loehrke, a respected and honored citizen of our community, was summoned to his death while in the service of his government, the United States of America . . . unselfishly devoting his time and efforts to the defense of our Nation's citizens, and, as such, has brought great honor and distinction to our community. I hereby claim that all business in this city be suspended between the hours of one and two o'clock on said date, and request that each citizen of Mayville devote such hour towards honoring the deceased, Lieutenant John E. Loehrke."

You can contact me at gary@baseballinwartime.com

Merry Christmas Everyone

It’s that time of year again and here in Scotland we have had heavy snow falls every day in the lead up to Christmas. Snow certainly creates a beautiful scene but I find myself thinking about the troops who were trapped in the Ardennes during the Battle of the Bulge. At least I can look at the snow from the comfort of our living room. I can’t begin to imagine what it would be like to have to eat, sleep and survive in those conditions against an enemy that is all out to kill you.

This is just another example of why I have so much respect for these men and why I am determined to do all I can to ensure they are not forgotten. None of the ballplayers who found themselves fighting for survival in the Battle of the Bulge can ever have imagined they would be in such circumstances – thousands of miles from home, in bitter cold winter conditions, and surrounded by death.

And so, as we move towards a New Year and the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II, I will do all I can to ensure their memories and sacrifices are not forgotten. And on Christmas Day, as we sit down for lunch with our loved ones, let’s take a moment to remember baseball’s battlefield heroes. It’s the least we can do.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all!

You can contact me at gary@baseballinwartime.com

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Battlefield Heroes - Vern Kohler

Vern Kohler was born on August 17, 1919, in Cincinnati, Ohio. A 6-foot-3, left-handed pitcher, his coach at Woodward High School said he was the best three-sport player he had ever seen. Following graduation, Kohler attended the University of Cincinnati where he studied geology but left after one year to play professional baseball.

Signed by the Cleveland Indians in 1938, Kohler was with the Logan Indians of the Class D Mountain State League his rookie year and helped them win the league championship with an amazing 15-3 won-loss record, leading the league in strike outs (216) and ERA (2.24).

In 1939 he was 11-12 with the Springfield Indians of the Class C Mid-Atlantic League and in 1940 he was 18-5 with a 3.73 ERA and 109 strike outs with the Flint Gems of the Class C Michigan State League.

Kohler makes a recording with Bob Feller during spring training 1941

Kohler spent spring training of 1941 with the Cleveland Indians and was optioned to the Cedar Rapids Raiders of the Class B Three-I League for the regular season. But after appearing in just three games he entered military service.

Serving with the 135th Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division, Kohler was initially at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, and went overseas in April 1942. The 34th Infantry Division spent six months in Northern Ireland. Informal baseball games between battalions began almost immediately, and it was on July 4, 1942 – to celebrate Independence Day – that the first officially recognized baseball game since the First World War took place in Northern Ireland. Kohler pitched three innings in relief for the 34th Infantry Division’s 3-2 win against the 1st Armored Division at Windsor Field, Belfast, in front of an enthusiastic if somewhat bewildered crowd of locals and the Duke of Abercorn.

34th Infantry Division team in Northern Ireland during 1942
(Kohler is back row, second right)

In October 1942, Kohler’s division left the safety of Northern Ireland for the uncertainty of North Africa, where they would first face the Vichy French forces before going into combat against the Germans. Kohler suffered shrapnel wounds in his legs during the North African campaign and also saw action in Italy at Monte Cassino.

Kohler had been away from organized baseball for four years when he arrived at Spring Training with the Indians in 1946. "The 1946 season was not a happy one for many returning veterans," recalls Kohler, "Teams were overloaded with players. In my case, rather than accept a job back in the minor leagues, I chose to retire from baseball and pursue a career in electronics that lasted 40 years."

Kohler worked a radio and television engineer with Crosley Telecommunications in Cincinnati and later worked with Cincinnati Electronics as a military electronics design engineer.

You can contact me at gary@baseballinwartime.com

Jim Blackburn was Captured During the Battle of the Bulge

On this day, 65 years ago, Jim Blackburn was captured by German forces during the Battle of the Bulge. Despite being tortured as a prisoner-of-war, he fought the odds to reach the major leagues.

Jim Blackburn was born on June 19, 1924 in Warsaw, Kentucky. He was signed – aged 17 - by the Cincinnati Reds in the spring of 1941, and began his professional career with the Cordele Reds of the Class D Georgia-Florida League. After a slow start his rookie year (1-3, 7.16 ERA) he was 8-11 with a 3.76 ERA with Cordele in 1942, and moved up to the Syracuse Chiefs of the Class AA International League for 1943. In 13 appearances, Blackburn was 0-3 with a 5.31 ERA.

On March 7, 1944, he entered military service with the Army. Stationed at Camp Wheeler, Georgia, he pitched and won 12 games for the Camp Wheeler Spokes before leaving for overseas duty with the 38th Armored Infantry Battalion of the 7th Armored Division in Europe. Blackburn was the squad leader of a light machine-gun outfit and was wounded on December 23, 1944 in Belgium while his Battalion was surrounded by German forces for four days.

Regaining consciousness after being hit by shrapnel, Blackburn found several Germans troops standing over him. His wife was notified that he was “missing in action” in January 1945, but it was not until April that she learned he was alive and a prisoner-of-war.

Meanwhile, Blackburn was forced to live on black bread at Stalag IVB in Muhlberg Sachsen, Germany. His weight dropped by 75 pounds as he was marched from one prison camp to another and eventually hospitalized by his captors after he collapsed from weakness and malnutrition.

Shortly afterwards, an Allied bomber dropped its payload close to the German hospital. This act so outraged a German guard that, seeking retaliation, he took a pair of pliers to Blackburn’s feet and pulled out his toenails.

Blackburn was eventually liberated by the U.S. 69th Infantry Division in April 1945, and sent to a hospital in Paris, France. He was then flown back to the United States and after a long stay in a Cleveland hospital, he returned to the Syracuse Chiefs for spring training in 1946.

Despite the trauma of the previous year and with extremely tender feet, Blackburn came back in style and beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-3, in a spring training game. Nevertheless, he was assigned to the Columbia Reds of the Class A South Atlantic League, where he remained for the next three seasons, that is until Cincinnati began to have pitching problems in mid-1948.

Blackburn was 24 when he made his major league debut with the Reds on July 24 in a 7-5 loss against the Phillies at Crosley Field. He made 16 appearances that year with a 4.18 ERA.

Blackburn spent spring training of 1949 with the Reds and looked set to earn a place on the Bucky Walter’s roster when he pitched the ninth inning of an exhibition game against the Boston Braves at Bradenton, Florida. Blackburn only faced four hitters but tore ligaments in his pitching arm.

Blackburn was assigned to the Tulsa Oilers of the Class AA Texas League for the regular season but was unable to pitch effectively and took voluntary retirement after throwing in nine games. He spent the remainder of 1949 as the manager of an independent team in Orangeburg, South Carolina. He returned to Tulsa in 1950 for what proved to be his finest year. Blackburn was 21-7 with a 2.74 ERA, and earned another recall to Cincinnati for the beginning of 1951. He made just two brief relief appearances for the Reds before returning to Tulsa where he would remain for the remainder of the season.

In 1952, Blackburn was purchased by the Kansas City Blues of the American Association and optioned the Texas League’s Beaumont Exporters. He briefly returned to the Syracuse Chiefs in 1953 but retired from the game to care for his ailing wife, Coral, and to pursue his interest in archery, a sport he took up as a way to strengthen his arm back in 1949.

On October 26, 1969, Jim Blackburn passed away in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was just 45 years old and is buried at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.

You can contact me at gary@baseballinwartime.com

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Hall of Famers at War - Ralph Kiner

Ralph Kiner was born in Santa Rita, New Mexico on October 27, 1922. Kiner's father died when Ralph was young and his mother moved to California. He played baseball at Alhambra High School in Alhambra, California, and was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates immediately after graduating in 1941. Kiner began his professional career as an outfielder with the Albany Senators of the Class A Eastern League, batting .279 in 141 games with 11 home runs. In 1942, he hit .257 for Albany and led the league with 14 home runs.

Kiner joined the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Class AA International League in 1943, but after 43 games he was inducted in the Navy and trained to be a pilot. “The program was extensive and difficult,” he told Toby Mergler in November 2009. “We were required to challenge both our minds and our bodies, as the curriculum required just as much studying as physical training. We had to study for months before we were allowed anywhere near an airplane. And when we finally did get to fly, we mainly just learned how to get the plane up and down without crashing. It was a heck of a primary objective.”

He later attended St. Mary's Pre-Flight School in California, where future Hall of Famer Charlie Gehringer was one of his instructors, and Cookie Lavagetto of the Dodgers was in charge of passing out equipment.

Kiner earned his pilot's wings and commission at Corpus Christi, Texas, in December 1944, then learned how to fly bigger planes, including multi-engined seaplanes. Kiner was then sent to Hawaii where he flew Martin PBM Mariner patrol planes from Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station, accumulating 1,200 flying hours on submarine patrols. He played hardly any baseball during that time.

Martin PBM Mariner

“What I really took from my time in the military onto the diamond was a newfound level of maturity,” he told Mergler. “You grow up fast when you are in a war. You learn a certain level of discipline that can serve you well playing baseball.”

Discharged from service in December 1945, Kiner spent the next two months getting ready for spring training. He broke into the major leagues with the Pirates in 1946 and amazingly led the National League in home runs for seven consecutive seasons. By 1951, he was the highest paid player in the league, at $90,000 and became one of the first players to host his own local TV show.

In a 10-year major league career, Kiner played nearly 1,500 games and hit 369 home runs. He was a six time all-star.

Kiner retired after the 1955 season and became general-manager of the San Diego Padres in the Pacific Coast League - a position he held until 1960 when he launched a career as a baseball broadcaster with the White Sox and then the Mets.

Ralph Kiner was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1975.

You can contact me at gary@baseballinwartime.com

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Fred Yeske, Killed in Action On This Day 66 Years Ago

Fred Yeske was a young pitcher working his way through the lower ranks of baseball's minor leagues when military service beckoned in 1942. He was killed in action on a battlefield in southern Italy on this day, 66 years ago.

Fred Yeske (left) with his parents

Fred Yeske was born in Canton, Connecticut on November 22, 1921. He was an outstanding young pitcher at Canton High School and was signed by the Hartford Bees of the Class A Eastern League in 1941.

Hartford optioned Yeske to the Goldsboro Goldbugs of the Class D Coastal Plain League, where he pitched 28 games for a 9–8 record and 3.58 ERA. In 1942, he was assigned to the Welch Miners of the Class C Mountain State League where he was 7–5 in 21 games. On September 5, 1942, Yeske entered military service with the Army and joined the 143rd Infantry Regiment of the 36th “Texas” Infantry Division.

The division landed in North Africa on April 13, 1943, and first saw action on September 9, 1943, participating in the first invasion of the European mainland near Salerno, Italy. A fierce and bloody battle was fought and in the face of German counterattacks, a slow but steady advance was made. On December 1, 1943 – during a brief lull in the fighting - Yeske wrote a brief note of thanks to the Canton War Council. His hometown council had sent gifts to all Canton servicemen and Yeske wanted to express his gratitude. “Just a few lines to let you know that I received your Christmas gift and was very happy that the people back home take interest in the boys in the service,” he wrote.

Christmas was fast approaching and like the majority of troops on the front lines all over the world, he was thinking about getting home. “We all hope that peace will come soon and that everyone can enjoy a Christmas at home,” he added.

On December 21, 1943, just three weeks after writing that letter, Private First Class Yeske was killed in action as the 143rd Infantry Regiment was attacking a German stronghold at the Italian village of San Pietro. "[He] died single-handedly attacking an enemy position on a hill . . . that was wreaking havoc with his unit," recalls his cousin Stephanie K. Moore.

You can contact me at gary@baseballinwartime.com

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Joe Vecchio Now Confirmed as Killed in Action During WWII

You may recall that a few days ago I posed the question: “Did Joe Vecchio Play Minor League Baseball?” see original post here

Well, thanks to Steve Densa, Director of Media Relations at Minor League Baseball, I can confirm that Joe Vecchio of Long Island, New York, did indeed play in the minors before losing his life in Europe during WWII.

Steve located a player record card that confirmed Joe Vecchio had a New York address, eliminating the Salt Lake City-based Joe Vecchio whom I believed might have played in the minors.

And what was the team mentioned in Joe’s newspaper obituary that appeared to be named Oppolios and based in Hot Springs, Arkansas? It turns out to be the Opelousas, Louisiana, Indians of the Evangeline League. So here is the biography of Joe Vecchio, the 133rd minor leaguer I am aware of who lost his life in WWII.

Joe Vecchio was born on April 4, 1918 in Astoria, a neighborhood in the northwestern corner of Queens on Long Island, New York. He began his professional baseball career when he signed with the Opelousas Indians of the Class D Evangeline League on April 15, 1939. He was released by the club two weeks later but signed with the Abbeville A’s of the same league on May 3. The 21-year-old outfielder batted .140 in 13 games before being released by the A's.

Vecchio joined the Army in May 1941 and trained for 16 months with the Fourth Armored Division at Pine Camp, near Great Bend in northwest New York state. During that time he played baseball with the Watertown Collegians, a powerhouse team of college stars coached by future American Baseball Coaches Association inductee Hank Hodge.

From the deep snow of the Canadian border, the Fourth Armored joined the Tennessee maneuvers in the Cumberland Mountains, before moving, in mid-November 1942, to the vast California Desert Training Center. Six months later the division arrived at Camp Bowie, Texas, and on September 25, 1943, Vecchio married Rita Campese of Utica, New York.

The Fourth Armored left the United States for overseas duty in December 1943 and arrived in England in the New Year. After training until July 1944, the division landed at Utah Beach in France on July 11 and entered combat six days later. Serving with the 10th Armored Infantry Battalion as a medic, Technician Third Grade Vecchio was wounded and received the Silver Star for gallantry in action as the division helped secure the Brittany Peninsula.

In August 1944, the division moved swiftly across France as part of General Patton’s Third Army, defeating several large German armored forces in the Lorraine area. On November 16, 1944, as the division advanced through the French town of Dieuze and approached the Saar River, Joe Vecchio was killed in action. He was 26 years old.

You can contact me at gary@baseballinwartime.com

Remembering Ralph Ifft

Ralph Ifft of Zelienople, Pennsylvania, was a colorful minor league pitcher before the war who was responsible for organizing many of the U.S. Army's recreational activities in England during the war.

Ralph Ifft was born in Zelienople, Pennsylvania on March 14, 1914, and played basketball and football at Zelienople High School from 1928 to 1932. He began his professional baseball career with the McKeesport Tubers of the Class D Penn State Association in 1934. In 25 appearances, the right-hander had a 6-6 record and 3.79 ERA. Back with the Tubers in 1935, Ifft was 1-4 in 12 appearances.

Ifft was out of Organized baseball for the next three years but returned with the Gadsden Pilots of the Class B Southeastern League in 1939, as he juggled a baseball career with his education at the University of Akron. In 1940, he had a superb 14-4 won-loss record and a league-leading 2.01 ERA with the Beaver Falls Browns - a St. Louis Browns' farm club of the Class D Penn State Association. One newspaper commented that he “has a fastball that zips by just like his name sounds . . . ifft.”

The 27-year-old began the 1941 season with the Youngstown Browns of the Class C Mid-Atlantic League before being assigned to the Springfield Browns of the Class B Three-I League where he was 8-7 with a 3.39 ERA.

Ifft married Mary Ellen Houser on March 14, 1942, shortly before entering military service with the U.S. Army. First Lieuteant Ifft spent the majority of the war in England as a Special Services Officer and his responsibilities included the organization of four baseball leagues and a softball league, staging weekly boxing shows, running a swimming pool and overseeing a golf tournament. He told a Stars and Stripes reporter in 1943, "We try to make it possible for every soldier who wants to take part in athletics to do so. Our job is to keep the boys on the post and out of the pub and to an extent I think we are succeeding."

On August 7, 1943, Ifft was the starting pitcher for an all-professional Army team that faced a hand-picked Army Air Force team at London’s Wembley Stadium. Before a crowd of 21,500, Ifft allowed five hits in the first two innings before he settled down, but retired after the fourth in favor of Lou Thuman of the Washington Senators. He was tagged with the loss, however, as Air Force pitcher Bill Brech, a semi-pro from Secaucus, New Jersey, hurled a no-hitter to gain European Theater immortality.

Ralph Ifft (left) with U.S. Army players in England in 1943

In 1944, Ifft was responsible for organizing a fund-raising baseball game in England which gave him the opportunity to meet Queen Mary – wife of the late King George V and mother of King Edward VIII, who abdicated in 1936 in order to marry American socialite Mrs. Wallis Simpson. Ifft later wrote the following account to his parents in Zelienpole:

The baseball game that was played for the Queen and the good burghers of Badminton, Gloucester, was a request from the Duke of Beaufort through General Bradley. It was part of a money raising scheme for the Badminton "Salute the Soldier" week.

The game was to be played on the Badminton Castle cricket grounds, which meant the construction of a backstop and laying out the playing field. This was done by one of our special service platoons, whose job it is to make available such facilities for recreation of our troops.

Uniforms are very scarce over here, but we found two teams which were completely outfitted, so we got them lined up to provide the competition. Of course they were eager to perform for royalty.

I was asked by the Duke to have the seat beside the Queen as she was anxious to have someone explain the game to her. I asked her if she would like to throw out the first ball and it apparently tickled her as all during the warm-ups she kept asking when she could toss out the ball. When we got ready for her to do her stunt, we had the photographer snap her in the act, but he bungled the shot somehow, and a good news picture was lost. I doubt if any of the Royal Family ever acted as a first ball tosser before. Her Majesty was in good form and had a Brooklyn scout been there he probably would have signed her up!

During the progress of the game Her Majesty asked a multitude of questions, including "What are those cushions (bases) for - do the players sit on them when they get tired?

I was embarrassed no end when players and soldiers started swarming around the Queen for her autograph. It isn't exactly the proper thing to do to ask a Queen for her autograph and I felt sort of responsible for her and the conduct of the soldiers, but she relieved the situation by insisting on signing balls, gloves and everything the players offered.

"She was a good sport throughout and I'm sure she wasn't pretending when she claimed to have had a fine evening.

Ifft explains the finer points of baseball to Queen Mary
at a fund-raising baseball game in England in 1944

On June 17, 1945, Ifft was on the receiving end of another high profile loss as his Whites all-star team was defeated by the Grays, 7-5, before 18,000 at London’s Stamford Bridge Stadium. Ifft pitched in relief in the game which was broadcast on the American Forces Radio Network by Sloan “Red” Finley, former Southern Association announcer, and Sig Smith, ex-International League announcer.

Ifft was discharged from the Army with the rank of captain and briefly returned to baseball in 1946. He was 32 years old and pitched three games for Youngstown before calling it a day. In seven minor league seasons, Ifft had pitched 108 games for a 36-32 record and an excellent 2.73 ERA.

Ralph Ifft, who became the director of recreation at Butler Veterans Hospital and retired after 34 years service, passed away in Butler, Pennsylvania, on March 15, 1996, the day after his 82nd birthday. He is buried at Greenlawn Cemetery in Butler.

In April 2005, he was inducted into the Butler Area Sports Hall of Fame.

You can contact me at gary@baseballinwartime.com

Review of Baseball's Dead of World War II

The following review of Baseball's Dead of World War II was recently posted on World War II Forums by David Mitchell.

Gary Bedingfield is a passionate and dedicated man. He has a passion for professional baseball and a sincere dedication to preserving the memory of the pro ballplayers who died in service during the Second World War. Anyone who doubts that needs to look no further than Bedingfield's excellent Baseball in Wartime website or his blog to see and experience his passion and dedication.

Bedingfield's study of the intersection of baseball and WWII has now yielded his captivating exploration of Baseball's Dead of World War II: A Roster of Professional Players who Died in Service (McFarland, December 2009; 272) and students of both the game and the war will be both impressed and amazed by the exhaustiveness of his study.

Baseball fans know that a lot of baseball's stars enlisted for, or were drafted into, wartime service. Ted Williams was a flyer who would go on to fight in a second war in Korea. Bob Feller served on a ship in the Pacific Theater. Hank Greenberg was in the China-Burma-India theater. Even lesser known players are known for their wartime service. Catcher Moe Berg, for example, was a long time spy for the United States and served in the OSS during the war.

Of course, part of the reason that we know about the service years of Williams, Feller, Greenberg and Berg is because they lived through the war. They came back and, in the case of Williams, Feller and Greenberg, went on to have Hall of Fame careers.

Not all ballplayers were so lucky. Many men who might have been stars were killed before they ever had a chance to take the field professionally. Others, such as the 125 minor league ball players who died in service, never had the opportunity to play a major league game. And then there were catcher Harry O'Neill and outfielder Elmer Gedeon -- the two major league players who died while in the service during the second world war. Without Bedingfield's passion and dedication, they would be all but forgotten by now.

Baseball's Dead of World War II is a thorough examination of the lives of the professional baseball players who did not return home after the war and, as such, it is a remarkable chronicle of how the war affected an entire industry that succeeded only the strength of the men who took the field to play the game of baseball. Bedingfield has compiled and abstracted the lives of each pro baseball player who died in service during WWII and provided readers with an amazing chronicle of sacrifices by men who came ever so close to realizing the dream of playing professional baseball, only to have the dream stolen by the Axis.

Elmer J. Wachtler, for example, was born in 1918 in Omaha, Nebraska. He was a great sandlot player in his youth but struggled when he made it to the minor leagues in 1942. By 1944, he was in the army and, in January 1945, Staff Sergeant Elmer J. Wachtler was dead, a casualty of the Battle of the Bulge.

Then there was George Meyer of Blackduck, Minnesota. He played one season of minor league ball in 1942 before being called to duty as an 18 year old youth. Ten days after Elmer Wachtler died, Meyer was in a barn in Belgium. The enemy attacked the area with mortars. Meyer did not survive the attack.

None of us will find the names of Elmer J. Wachtler or George Meyer in any history books, and their names are not immortalized in the Baseball Hall of Fame. A hundred years from now when baseball fans still know the names Williams and Feller and Greenberg, Wachtler and Meyer will be just random names that are not recalled, but who really contributed more to America?

Bedingfield has made it his mission to remind all of us of the contributions that professional baseball players made to the war effort during World War II and of the supreme sacrifice that 125 minor league and 2 major league players made in that effort. We will never know what might have become of the careers of those 127 men, but without there sacrifice and the sacrifices of so many other men and women from so many other professions, we can speculate that Williams and Feller and Greenberg might never have played baseball again.

Baseball's Dead of World War II is a great book and one that sports fans and war buffs will both enjoy. The biographies of each of the 127 players who died during the war are like the baseball cards that might have been made of those men but never were. As Bob Feller once said, "I'm no hero. Heroes don't come back." Baseball's Dead of World War II is a fine and fitting tribute to baseball's heroes.

This review, written by David Mitchell, was originally posted on World War II Forums



You can contact me at gary@baseballinwartime.com

Jack Lance, 82, Remembers His Playing Days

Jack Lance entered military service shortly after graduating from high school in 1945. He played for the championship winning Go-Devils in Europe and began playing minor league baseball in 1947.

Jack Lance was born on April 24, 1927, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. As a senior at West Scranton High School in 1945, he won the league batting championship with a .500 average.

Less than two months later, on July 9, he was drafted into the Army and reported to Camp Wheeler, near Macon, Georgia. There he played for Dodgers infielder and future major league manager Lieutenant Bobby Bragan on the 3rd Regiment ball club where he also won the batting crown.

Following a transfer to Germany in December 1945, Lance met up with former 3rd Regiment ballplayers Carl Scheib (Philadelphia Athletics pitcher) and John Boehringer (Cardinals farmhand) and began playing for the 60th Infantry Regiment Go-Devils of the 9th Infantry Division in the spring of 1946. He soon became their starting shortstop and eventually moved to third base - possibly because Bobby Morgan, who would go on to enjoy eight years as a shortstop with the Dodgers, Phillies, Cardinals and Cubs, joined the club. Capitalizing on plenty of talent - including that of player-manager Fay Starr of the Pacific Coast League Los Angeles Angels - the team won the G.I World Series Championship in September 1946, defeating the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment in six games.

Jack Lance with the Go-Devils in Europe (Jack is middle row, third left)

Jack Lance with the 1946 ETO GI World Series champs (Jack is front row, far right)

Honorably discharged as a Corporal in late 1946, Lance chose the Philadelphia Athletics over the Brooklyn Dodgers in January 1947 when the opportunity to play professional ball arrived. He still has a hand-written letter from Connie Mack, welcoming him to the Athletics organization. “Am pleased to hear that you signed a contract with our organization,” Mack wrote, “and hope some day to have you on the Athletics.”

Lance signed for a $1,500 bonus to go with the monthly salary of $225. After a short stint with the Lexington A’s in the Class D North Carolina State League, Jack was offered an additional $25 per month to play in the Detroit Tigers organization with the Hagerstown Owls of the Class B Interstate League. Still only 20 years old, Lance found this level of pitching a little too tough (he batted .120 in 17 games), and transferred to the Rome Colonels of the Class C Canadian-American League. As a shortstop, Lance played 68 games for the Colonels and batted .216 with three home runs, being voted ‘Most Improved Ballplayer’ by the local fans.

During the following spring training – 1948 - Lance was edged out by a new infielder, Irving Carlson, who had played with Jamestown the previous season. Lance was sold to the Goldsboro Goldbugs of the Class D Coastal Plain League on April 25. He batted .160 in 12 games with the Goldbugs and had a short stint with the Smithfield-Selma Leafs of the Class D Tobacco State League.

Following the 1948 season, Jack attended tech school on the GI-Bill while playing for local Scranton clubs. In July 1950, he married his hometown sweetheart, Charlene Bray. Focused on his family, he began a 40 year career at the A&P Food Store chain. In a few years, he and Charlene had Jack Jr., the first of two sons. As soon as his boys were old enough to throw a ball, he was coaching them, all the way through American Legion ball. Jack Jr. played college ball and also excelled as a coach for American Legion baseball where he was inducted into the Pennsylvania American Legion Hall of Fame in 1990. He also coached college ball at Binghamton University in New York. Jeff, who came along five years after Jack, Jr., retired from the U.S. Navy in 2006 as a Commander following 30 years of service.

Jack Lance spent many hours working on local ball fields. His wife often said she would have better luck having him mow their own lawn if she were to place bases around the yard. In later years, he umpired in a local Girl’s Softball League where he enjoyed helping teach the sport. Jack Lance’s devotion to baseball in his town was recognized in 1999, when he was elected to the Scranton Area Sports Hall of Fame.

Jack is now 82. He and Charlene still reside in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and his son Jeff recently talked to him about his baseball career. “It’s amazing how well he can still remember his teammates and managers from over 60 years ago,” said Jeff. “I could see a twinkle in his eye on more than one occasion as he remembered his younger days.”

Jack would love to hear from any old buddies from the past. His address is 1023 Richmont Street, Scranton, PA 18509.

Thanks to Jeff Lance, who gathered much of this information during a long and enjoyable conversation with his father earlier this month.

You can contact me at gary@baseballinwartime.com

Baseball's Dead of World War II - Available Now!

Baseball's Dead of World War II

by Gary Bedingfield

Published by McFarland, North Carolina

I can clearly trace the origin of this book to a standing ovation in New Orleans, Louisiana, in November 2007. As the founder and editor of baseballinwartime.com, I was invited to give a keynote speech at the “When Baseball Went to War” conference held at the National World War II Museum. It was a huge honor for me to be in the company of former major league players like Bob Feller, Johnny Pesky, Jerry Coleman, Lou Brissie and Morrie Martin, all of whom were World War II veterans and heroes of mine.

My speech focused on ballplayers who made the ultimate sacrifice during the war - a subject I was passionate about and felt was not only poignant but also shamefully overlooked for many years. I am the first to admit I am not a gifted public speaker. I did my best to tell the story of four players, and just hoped I would do them justice. Towards the end of the speech, I asked the audience to participate in a round of applause as a way of honoring and remembering all the ballplayers who lost their lives in military service more than 60 years ago. It was intended as a mark of respect, a way to say thank you, and I hoped the crowd would be willing to participate. What followed left me speechless.

I had anticipated a polite round of applause but what occurred was a thunderous standing ovation. Not for me, of course, but for the ballplayers. The moment left me without words and full of emotion. I had no idea the crowd would respond in such a positive and enthusiastic way. For many years, I had been an ardent admirer of players like Harry O’Neill and Billy Hebert, young men who had given everything in the service of their beloved country, but were virtually unknown by the baseball community. At that moment, I knew the stories of these four men had touched at the heartstrings of America, but that was just the tip of the iceberg. In all, a staggering 131 former professional players died during World War II and their stories needed to be told. The foundations of this book had been laid.

The next task was to discover as much as possible about these men - no easy task considering they all died more than 60 years ago. Memories of some have been kept alive by surviving family members (to whom I am hugely indebted), while others had few or no relatives to keep the flame burning. I spent many long hours tracking down family members, friends and former teammates. I contacted libraries, local historical societies and smalltown newspapers, making countless transatlantic telephone calls in my quest to discover who these men were.

This project has been immensely challenging, often emotionally troubling but always highly rewarding. Have I included every professional baseball player who died during World War II? Probably not. There is no definitive list to go by. Organized baseball appears to have been unable to keep track of their alumni that died during the war, and every list you find varies drastically depending on the source. The deaths of many were reported in The Sporting News and that was a good starting point (although The Sporting News also reported the deaths of some, who, in fact, did not die). But the deaths of others were never reported in the weekly sports tabloid and I had to search local newspapers for more names. Therefore, what you will find in this book are the biographies of 127 former professional baseball players who died serving their country between 1940 and 1946.

I hope you will enjoy reading Baseball's Dead of World War II as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you get to experience even a tiny part of the emotional journey I took, then it has been worthwhile.

Gary Bedingfield

Glasgow, Scotland

December 2009

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You can contact me at gary@baseballinwartime.com

Remembering Spud Chandler

Yankee right-hander, Spud Chandler, was 37 years old when he entered military service at the beginning of 1944, but he had no regrets. "I came back. Some of those boys didn't," he said years later.

Spurgeon “Spud” Chandler was born on September 12, 1907, in Commerce, Georgia. He attended the University of Georgia where he was a four-year baseball and three-year football varsity athlete, pitching and playing halfback.

Chandler signed with the New York Yankees in 1932, and played with Springfield and Binghamton his rookie year. Working his way through the Yanks’ farm system, he had stops at Newark, Minneapolis, Syracuse, Oakland and Portland before making it to the major league club at the age of 29 in 1937.

Chandler was 7-4 in 12 appearances that year, and was 14-5 in 1938. But through relentlessly pushing himself on every pitch he suffered a sore arm and made only eleven appearances the following year, all in relief. He then made a steady comeback winning eight games in 1940, 10 in 1941, 16 in 1942 and then having a career-year in 1943 with an exceptional 20-4 record to earn the MVP Award. His 1.64 ERA established a modern major league record, the best in the game since Walter Johnson’s 1.49 mark in 1919.

“With any kind of luck,” Chandler said, “I could have been 24-0. I pitched five shutouts and nine one-run games and the most runs they ever scored on me was three earned runs; and hell with the hitter we had . . .”

Chandler pitched just one game in 1944 before he was called to military service with the Army. He was 37 years old and classified 1-AL, restricting him from active duty, due to limitation of movement in his right arm. Initially based at the Fort McPherson Reception Center in Georgia, Private Chandler was soon assigned to the Headquarters Company of the 65th Infantry Division at Camp Shelby, Georgia.

On June 10, 1944, Chandler was given an emergency furlough from Camp Shelby to visit his wife in St. Petersburg, Florida, following the tragic death of their newborn son. The child had survived only a few hours following a Caesarean operation.

While in the service Chandler hoped he would get the opportunity to play baseball on a daily basis. “But the Army isn’t run that way,” he told The Sporting News in September 1944. “If they’d wanted me to be a pitcher, they would have had me stay with the Yankees. I’m proud now that I was assigned to an infantry unit as a soldier, because I now realize the importance of my job. And it’s a hard job, too. I’ve had to learn to fire more types of weapons than I ever knew existed.”

Chandler did, however, find time to pitch a few games for the Special Troops team in the Camp Shelby League.

On September 9, 1944, a presentation was made by Major General Stanley E. Reinhart at Camp Shelby in recognition of Chandler’s selection by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America as the American League’s Most Valuable Player of 1943. General Reinhart presented Private Chandler with an engraved watch.

Private Chandler receives an engraved watch from Major General Stanley E. Reinhart

Chandler was based at Moore General Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina in 1945, where he had an opportunity to pitch for the hospital ball team. On August 3, 1945, for example, he defeated the Appalachian League all-star team.

Spud Chandler was discharged in September 1945, and was back in Yankee pinstripes within days. On September 9, an astonishing crowd of 72,152, turned out to watch Chandler against Bob Feller in the first game of a Sunday double-header. Feller was in fine form, winning 10-3, while Chandler was a long way from being ready but the New York crowd was happy to have their MVP hurler back.

Chandler came back in style in 1946 despite being 38 years old. He was 20-8 with a 2.10 ERA and was selected to the American League all-star team for the third time. Arm problems hampered him throughout the following year and he dropped to 9-5 in 17 games. He underwent surgery to remove bone chips from his elbow at the end of the 1947 season but the magic had gone and the Yankees gave him his unconditional release after spring training in 1948.

In a major league career that spanned 11 seasons, Chandler won 109 games and lost only 43 for a .717 winning percentage, the best winning percentage for any pitcher since Al Spalding in the 1870s.

Chandler continued to work for the Yankees organization as a scout and then a minor league manager. In later years he scouted for Kansas City, Cleveland and Minnesota, before retiring to St. Petersburg, Florida in 1985.

Spud Chandler was in good health until a fall in September 1989, when he suffered a fractured shoulder. Complications set in and he died of heart failure, aged 82, at South Pasadena, Florida, on January 9, 1990.

You can contact me at gary@baseballinwartime.com