Ball Players who Served

[Peter_Spaeth]

4 years in WW II, imagine the stats otherwise.

[71buc]

Here are some photos. The Greenberg image is one of my favorites. I love the P51 Mustang in the background. The two DiMaggio photos originate from his estate. The team picture is of the 1942 Service All Stars. There is information about this team in the link below.

http://research.sabr.org/journals/fo...-all-star-game

[Bosox Blair]

Ted...

[Brian Van Horn]

Cecil Travis:

From Wikipedia:

"Sent to Europe in late 1944 while serving in the 76th Infantry Division, he suffered a severe case of frostbite during the Battle of the Bulge, necessitating an operation to prevent amputation of his feet. Travis received a Bronze Star for his military service."

Picture is from Yahoo image search results:

[Brian Van Horn]

Buddy Lewis.

From Wikipedia:

"During World War II, Lewis served in the United States Army Air Forces as a transport pilot. He flew more than 500 missions in the China-Burma-India Theater and won the Distinguished Flying Cross before returning to the Major Leagues in 1945."

[Chris-Counts]

Here's two Reds from the late 1930s who served in both wars, Hank Gowdy and Ted Kleinhans.

Both distinguishing themselves during the brutal trench warfare of WWI. Here's a quote about Gowdy from one of his commanding officers: “Every outfit ought to have somebody like Hank. The boys idolize him and he gets them all stirred up with his baseball stories. He helps ‘em forget about the terror of war. He carried the flag. He was one of them who heaved gas bombs at the enemy. He was fantastic!”
Kleinhans was wounded in the same campaign that killed Eddie Grant.

In WWII, Gowdy enlisted and served as chief athletic officer at Fort Benning, Georgia. Kleinhans — who earlier made his major league debut at 35 — served as a medical administrator in a hospital that treated soldiers from D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge.
“He was a superb gentleman,” said a doctor who served with Kleinhans, “a great leader, and an inspiration to anyone who was associated with him – particularly his athletes on his baseball teams.”

[CW]

Great idea for a thread, Steven.

Thanks to all those who served in one way or another. Man, woman, baseball player, coal miner, school teacher -- all remembered this weekend.

One prewar, one postwar (pretty cool that the Mays card actually mentions his entering the service on the reverse)...

[packs]

A true American hero:

[detroitbaseball]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/4...flame-division

http://blog.detroitathletic.com/2011...nt-off-to-war/

[detroitbaseball]

http://www.baseballinwartime.com/pla...er_charlie.htm

No new ones here

[itjclarke]

Many of these were mentioned already, but there's no harm in repeating the appreciation...
1915 Cracker Jack Grover Alexander.jpgLeaf Jackie Robinson.jpg
1933 Goudey Moe Berg.jpgLeaf Joe Dimaggio front.jpg
1939-1946 Salutation Exhibits Ted Williams signed.jpg1938 Goudey Bob Feller signed.jpg

Dean Davenport.jpg
Also pictured above is Doolittle Raider- Lt Dean Davenport, co-pilot of the "Ruptured Duck", which was the B-25 depicted in the WWII classic "30 Seconds Over Tokyo" (and then terribly and falsely in the really crappy movie "Pearl Harbor"). He was also one of my Dad's superior officers during the Vietnam War and by all accounts a very good man.

Thanks to all who've served.

Originally Posted by 71buc

I love the P51 Mustang in the background[/url]

Love the pic of Greenberg... the plane is nagging at me though. I don't disagree it's a P-51 but it's got 3 props. I think the only 3 prop P-51 was the P-51A, which didn't really see much if any action and was quickly replaced by the B with its more powerful Rolls engine and 4 props.. and then later the iconic D version (bubble canopy). Wish I could see more of the plane/landing gear, tail, canopy, to know for sure.

[the 'stache]

One of baseball's all-time greatest power hitters, the late, great Ralph Kiner


Ralph Kiner led the National League in home runs each of his first seven seasons in the Majors.

From Baseball in wartime:

Kiner joined the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League in 1943, but within a few weeks he was inducted in the Navy. As a cadet he attended St Mary's Pre-Flight School in California and earned his pilot's wings and commission at Corpus Christi in December 1944. He flew Martin PBM Mariners from Kaneohe Bay Naval Air Station in Hawaii on submarine patrols, accumulating 1,200 flying hours and playing hardly any baseball during that time.

Martin PBM Mariner Patrol Plane

Thank you, Mr. Kiner, and thank all of your fellow ballplayers for their service to our country!!!!