Back in 2000, I launched a humble little website called Baseball in Wartime. Originally intended as a vehicle to promote my book "Baseball in World War II Europe", the website soon outgrew the boundaries of the book and became a depository for everything related to baseball during the dark years of the war.
The website now contains in excess of 1,000 pages including more than 700 biographies of players who served with the Armed Forces during the war years. Furthermore, there are book reviews and game reports, team line-ups, photo galleries and a host of special features, including this blog which I launched in October 2009 and already contains nearly 500 posts.
I've certainly enjoyed running Baseball in Wartime and have tried hard to make the powers that be at Major League, Minor League Baseball and the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown see the significant sacrifices made by the players of that era, especially in connection with the 130-plus players who lost their lives while serving their nation.
But despite my efforts, it seems to have fallen upon deaf ears. My hopes that MLB will honor the players who made the ultimate sacrifice fades with each passing day and blurs my vision of the future of Baseball in Wartime.
I have reached that time in my life where I need to focus more on my business ventures and, sadly, less on Baseball in Wartime. My hopes of attracting a major sponsor who would at least cover the costs of me dedicating one working day per month to the Baseball in Wartime project has also failed to come to fruition and without this financial input I'm not sure I can continue to develop Baseball in Wartime or even cover the running costs.
For the time being, Baseball in Wartime will remain in place. The domain names and webspace have already been paid for in advance and I will continue to produce biographies and updates as often as time permits until such time as I see it is no longer a viable option.
In the meantime, I would like to thank the thousands of people who have visited Baseball in Wartime over the years. Receiving your emails, letters and phone calls have been a joy and I am honored to call many of you my friends.
Thank you.
Gary Bedingfield
6 hours ago
4 comments:
Hi, Gary
That this blog hasn't been more honored is a damn shame, and your decision to more or less let it dwindle comes as a real disappointment.
That said, your dedication to it thus far has been far above and beyond any reasonable expectations any of we baseball fans could have had. I want to thank you for all the time and effort you've given it, and for all the education and enjoyment I've gained from it.
I plan to drop in once a week or so anyway in the hopes that your enthusiasm and the time available for its upkeep prompt you to add to it occasionally.
That encouragement from MLB and other organizations have not been forthcoming strikes me as a damn shame.
Thanks again, Gary, for doing a superb job at your voluntary task of memorializing America's WW II athlete-soldiers.
Ox
I'm saddened to hear that your extraordinary efforts have fallen upon deaf ears within MLB. Perhaps, in another time, hopefully soon, there may be someone in a leadership capacity, or even the HOF that may recognize your incomparable efforts.
I truly enjoy reading your bios of long forgotten players. I hope this site doesn't go away. I have traded a couple of emails with you, and do hope that you don't reach a level of frustration to just kybosh the web page.
I truly appreciate your time and efforts into this passion of baseball history. I intend to send a few emails, if that is OK with you. Wit
Hi Ox
Thanks so much for your kind words and for the wonderful support you have given Baseball in Wartime over the years. I intend to keep things going for as long as I can. Having said that, my work schedule for the next couple of weeks is dominating my time so there may not be too many updates this side of mid-November.
Thanks again for everything.
Gary
Hi Wit
Thank you for your lovely words and I agree it's a shame MLB haven't acted on this but I guess they're just too big to worry about the little guys!
I intend to keep things going for as long as I can and any help you you can offer by sending emails would be greatly appreciated, not least by the families of the ballplayers who lost their lives during WWII.
Regards,
Gary
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