Today's audio selections: Baseball and The Greatest Generation

Baseball in ’41, by Robert Creamer, narrated by Tom Parker (Unabridged)

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When the Boys Came Back: Baseball in 1946, by Frederick Turner, narrated by Brian Emerson (Unabridged)

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These books span the WWII years from an interesting angle. Creamer’s book is a foreshadowing, examining the year of The Streak and Ted Williams race for .400 (.401 actually, making the Red Sox outfielder the last player to achieve the mark). It was one of those watershed years that baseball historians look back upon as one of the highlights of the game’s Golden Era.

On the other side of the war, we have Turner’s offering, which is both joyous (for those who were able to returned hale and hearty) and melancholy (for those who didn’t or who lost the best years of their lives to the service of their country.)