The Game Must Go On

March 23, 2015
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, it appeared as though baseball might be doomed, as established players and up-and-comers alike enlisted with the armed services. Klima's chronicle of the survival of the great American pastime during WWII zips along and offers great depictions of the players who made baseball history. He enthusiastically brings to life Hank Greenberg, the Detroit Tigers slugger who was the first Major League player to enter the Army; Pete Gray, the astonishing one-armed center fielder who played one season in the majors for the St. Louis Browns; and Billy Southworth Jr., whose father managed the St. Louis Cardinals, and who later died flying a B-17 during the war. He hits all the big names along the way as well: Stan Musial, Bob Feller, Warren Spahn, and Satchel Paige. Klima (Bushville Wins!) clearly illustrates that much of baseball as we know it todayâthe amateur draft, free agency, and the integration of African-American and Latino players, among other elementsâtook shape between 1941 and 1945.

February 15, 2015
A sweeping saga of baseball during World War II: of the players who enlisted and fought overseas, of the ones who replaced them and of the significant changes in the culture.Most fans know that the war deprived Hall of Famers such as Hank Greenberg, Bob Feller and Ted Williams of what could have been prime seasons and that the motley crew who replaced them was a ragtag assemblage. Former Los Angeles Daily News baseball columnist Klima (Bushville Wins!: The Wild Saga of the 1957 Milwaukee Braves and the Screwballs, Sluggers, and Beer Swiggers Who Canned the New York Yankees and Changed Baseball, 2012, etc.) has a broader scope: "The war created who we are and it created modern baseball, and from that came the evolution of modern professional sports today, because the games we play change because of the battles we fought." Florid prose accompanies such big claims, as the author attempts to get inside the heads of players he never met, indulges in sportswriter sentiment ("He was generously listed at five foot nine, but he had a smile wider than his height"), and jumps around a little too much from character to character. Yet he makes a persuasive case that the war ushered baseball into the modern era, that night baseball, integration, TV, planes replacing trains, the hint of free agency and the proliferation of baseball wherever the soldiers went all have at least some connection with the war and that baseball helped boost morale among soldiers fighting overseas as well as the fans back home. The author delivers some compelling narrative threads: the enlistments and returns of Greenberg, Feller and the others; the battle to the majors of one-armed Pete Gray, and, most movingly, the death of pilot Billy Southworth Jr., who sacrificed his baseball aspirations and life for his country, and the devastation of his father, manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. The book would have benefitted from a stronger edit, for length as well as overwriting, but the story is worth telling.

March 15, 2015

When baseball Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg left the game at the peak of his career to serve in World War II, other star players such as Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, and Bob Feller followed suit. With players abandoning their high paying salaries for a mere $21 a month, this era of baseball was like none other. Baseball historian Klima's (Bushville Wins; Willie's Boys; Pitched Battle) engaging book seamlessly blends World War II and baseball in an engaging and detailed manner. Fascinating stories of players such as Pete Gray, a one-armed ballplayer whose automobile tragedy never distracted him from his dream of playing in the major leagues, and home run slugger Hank Greenberg, who left the Detroit Tigers at the height of his career, are intricately told in this one-of-a-kind book. VERDICT Well researched and well written, this work is a rarity when it comes to books about World War II and baseball. Fans of the game and World War II buffs will be more than pleased with Klima's account.--Gus Palas, Ela Area P.L., Lake Zuirch, IL

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