Today marks the “official” beginning of American involvement in World War II, spurred by the attack on Pearl Harbor.
There are several excellent books that note the toll the War took on the national pastime, as well as the role baseball had in keeping up the country’s morale. Among them:
Spartan Seasons: How Baseball Survived the Second World War
, by Richard Goldstein, who frequently writes baseball obituaries for The New York Times
- Baseball’s Dead of World War II: A Roster of Professional Players Who Died in Service
and When Baseball Went to War
, both by Gary Bedingfield who hosts the Baseball in Wartime blog.
- Hardball on the Home Front: Major League Replacement Players of World War II
, by Craig Cleve
- Even the Browns: Baseball During World War II (Dover Baseball)
, by William Mead
- Playing with the Enemy: A Baseball Prodigy, World War II, and the Long Journey Home
, by Gary Moore
- POW Baseball in World War II: The National Pastime Behind Barbed Wire
, by Tim Wolter
- Playing for Their Nation: Baseball and the American Military during World War II
, by Steven Bullock
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