Sailors at War, Players at Peace: Baseball in the Sea Services Through the Years

By the end of July, baseball season is usually in full “swing,” as it were, just about every year. However, among the plethora of aspects of daily life that have been disrupted by the coronavirus, sports seasons are perhaps among the most culturally painful losses for Americans, and Major League Baseball is certainly no exception. The Navy Memorial’s staffers, who are diehard fans and appreciative of the game’s role throughout American and Naval history, had been eagerly counting down the return of baseball season since the close of the World Series. With a delayed Opening Day at last on the books, fans can finally see an end to the exhausting baseball drought.

MLB was not alone in its coronavirus disruption. In South Korea, where coronavirus hit before it came to the United States, the KBO League also had its season disrupted. Now, as the nation’s cases continue to fall, KBO has resumed play under new COVID regulations, potentially offering a model of what MLB might also resemble.

In fact, the quarantine could not have had much worse timing for baseball fans. On February 10, pitchers and catchers were starting to report to Spring Training facilities, followed four days later by position players, bringing a much-welcomed end to the winter baseball drought. By the end of the month, several rounds of exhibition games were on the books. The 2020 season promised to be a particularly exciting season, and fans counted down to Opening Day, scheduled for March 26, in earnest.

Anyone who tuned in for the simulation games between the New York Yankees and Mets earlier this week likely got the truest sense of what this season will look like, as simulated crowds in an otherwise empty stadium watch the game take place. Yankees outfielder Clint Frazier even opted to play the entire game, both hitting and fielding, wearing a mask that flaunted his team affiliation. He even managed to hit a home run with it on, suggesting that the mask may have had little to no effect on a player’s ability to play the game.

Yet COVID-19 clearly has no patience for baseball. By early March, confirmed cases in the U.S. exceeded 100, and some states began to contemplate potential ways to confront this escalating situation. MLB initially intended to keep its original schedule despite the growing crisis, although actions were taken to limit clubhouse access to protect the players and essential personnel. Meanwhile, the Mariners, Giants, and A’s, whose home cities and states passed early regulations against large public gatherings, worked with MLB about how these limitations would affect the season. On March 12, their questions were answered when MLB cancelled all spring training games and postponed Opening Day, a decision that followed similar announcements from the NBA, NHL, and MLS. While initially only postponing the regular season two weeks, the duration of the following quarantine has stretched the two-week postponement into a two-month hiatus. Finally, over the last few weeks, MLB, players, and clubs reached a consensus of what the sport’s return will look like. Throughout July, a COVID-conscious “Spring Break 2.0” has taken place, as players resumed preparation for the abbreviated season in the clubs’ home facilities under strict supervision and testing. Opening Day of a now 60-game season has officially taken place as of July 23rd, with the reigning World Series champion Nationals hosting the New York Yankees at their empty Washington stadium, an intense game for what promises to be an emotional year for the sport, despite this opening game also being cut short due to poor weather. However, as some players elect to opt out of this season for safety reasons, the COVID testing and quarantine for players and staff that test positive for the virus, and the fact that most games for the foreseeable future will be played for empty stadiums will certainly make this year’s baseball season a memorable one, no matter who does end on top when and if the World Series does take place.

As the baseball fans around the Navy Memorial office again diligently tune in to track the American League standings through a mere sixty-game season, the Navy Log wanted to take the time to offer a little historical context for the current predicament. How unprecedented is this disruption to baseball really?

In fact, there were actually a dozen similar periods throughout baseball’s history that affected the sport’s regular and postseason schedule. Although surely no large solace for those impatiently waiting to see the returning World Champs return to action off a historic win in October, it might offer some perspective about the place our favorite sport occupies throughout history. Until we can debate changing division standings and count RBIs, perhaps a discussion of historical baseball stats can quench some thirst through the end of the month.

After the earthquake took place, quick response was taken to ensure that no players or staff were injured in the earthquake. Next, experts were assessing the integrity of the stadium itself. Before long, fans were sent home and the game canceled.

Of the twelve historical disruptions to the baseball season, many of them were not as long as the delay that coronavirus has caused to the game. In 1989, for example, a 7.1 earthquake hit the Bay Area where the Oakland Athletics were playing the San Francisco Giants in Game 3 of the World Series. The game was cancelled, and the World Series was delayed for 10 days (for those trying to remember, the A’s swept the Giants in the series once play could continue).

A few of these historical baseball disruptions through the years were actually self-inflicted, like in 1904, when animosity from National League owners over the newly-promoted role of the American League in New York canceled what should have been the second annual World Series. In 1972, the first players’ strike delayed the regular season a week, pushing Opening Day back to April 14. A few years later, the 1981 season was also disrupted by a strike when players advocated for free agent compensation. This pause lasted from June 12 to July 31, and a total of 712 games were lost. In 1985, a two-day strike in August forced some games during that span to be rescheduled. In 1990, the owners locked out players during spring training for 32 days in February and March. Opening Day had to be pushed back a week, but the same number of games were still played that year.

Following the season delay after 9/11, the first World Series game played at Yankee Stadium (Game 3 of the series) was a unifying moment for a nation in mourning. After a powerful Colors ceremony, President George W. Bush took the mound to throw the night’s ceremonial first pitch in an FDNY jacket. When he threw a strike, the New York fans erupted.

In 2001, the 9/11 terrorist attacks postponed all MLB games for one week. The delay pushed that year’s World Series, which famously featured the Yankees playing in the midst of the attacks on their hometown, to be the first to extend into November (although Yankees fans will never forgive the D-backs for taking the title in Game 7). In 2003, the season-opening series between the A’s and the Mariners, supposed to take place in Japan, was also canceled due to mounting threats of military action in Iraq.

All these disruptions pale in comparison to the duration of the 1994-95 baseball hiatus. From August 1994 to March 1995, the longest work stoppage in sports’ history lasted a total of 232 days and cancelled 932 games across two seasons, including the entire 1994 World Series. Once the strike at the heart of the hiatus was resolved, the 1995 season resumed in late April to give players time to prepare, and the regular season worked on a 144-game schedule. Fans that remember this hiatus surely felt a bad case of déjà vu this year through quarantine.

While baseball at home frequently suffered some disruption as big players served in uniform, that disruption was not always similarly experienced by the players themselves. During World War II especially, players frequently used baseball to pass their leisure time, whether informally onboard a carrier at sea or more formalized in a unit-wide league. This meant that casual players frequently shared improvised diamonds with major and minor league players, making for interesting skirmishes.

Wartime has left arguably the largest mark on American society through the years, and its impact on baseball can also hardly be understated. Foreign wars have affected the baseball season in many ways, including causing its own disruptions to the duration of the baseball season. In 1918, for example, high rates of conscriptions to fill ranks to fight in World War I compromised team rosters and forced the season to close on September 12, when non-essential labor was shut down by Labor Day. The World Series that year was allowed to take place over two weeks. World War I also affected the baseball season through the following year, when the regular season did not begin until late April and was shortened to just 140 games due to the war. That same year, had it not been for the war, it is likely that another pandemic, Spanish Flu, would have had its own effect on the season, since many former players and umpires died from the disease and proximity to others quickly spread the disease as well. Despite FDR’s 1942 Green Light Letter imploring baseball to continue through World War II’s duration for the sake of morale, the game was affected by this conflict as well. Two games scheduled to take place on D-Day, June 6, 1944, were rescheduled to mark the day.

Beyond the disruptions it causes to the season, war also affects the very rosters with which baseball teams play year to year. In World War II alone, some 500 MLB players were conscripted or enlisted, causing some to woe a hiatus of talent as names like Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams left the game to serve overseas. This trend is merely a continuation of one that saw many early baseballers put their careers on hold to serve their nation during the First World War. Throughout baseball’s duration, the sport has seen many of its players who served before, in the middle of, or after their baseball careers in the United States Armed Forces, a large percentage of which were in the Sea Services. Fortunately for the Navy Memorial, the vast majority of these baseballer-veterans have been added to our Navy Log, which puts the Log in a unique position to be able to share some of their service memories. As MLB at last begins its 2020 season, the Navy Log would like to take some time to draw attention to some Sea Service veterans whose baseball careers were interrupted or punctuated by their service at sea. Through this strange 2020 season, hopefully baseball fans can take some time to search through the Navy Log for some of these renowned baseball players to learn about the impressive service careers they logged in addition to the Hall-of-Fame-worthy baseball achievements they achieved.

Three famous baseballers Pee Wee Reese, Phil Rizzuto, and Hugh Casey in their Navy uniforms at Norfolk Naval Training Station early in their wartime service. These three were a few of the many baseballers who traded uniforms through the war.

The Navy Log also wants to make sure to mention another incredible resource at its disposal: the Navy Memorial’s Interview Archive, a free educational database of primary source stories focusing on eyewitness accounts through history. This treasure trove of history includes interviews of veterans and family members that tell their own stories of service throughout the twentieth century. A few of these interviews are also of some of these baseballers we will discuss below. Tales from the Navy Log encourages you to check out the Navy Memorial’s Interview Archive to hear some of these incredible stories, all of which can be found on the Navy Memorial Interview Archive YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/navymemorial

Four players particularly stand out at the Navy Memorial. Not only did each of them lead impressive careers in both the Sea Services and the MLB, but each also recipients of the Memorial’s Lone Sailor Award, which is presented to Sea Service veterans who have excelled with distinction in their careers during or after their service. With this distinction, these three baseballers join the lineup of a roster that include the likes of astronaut John Glenn, actor Beau Bridges, Senator John McCain, tech pioneer Grace Hopper, golfer Arnold Palmer, and President John F. Kennedy.

The first of these four is outfielder Stan Musial, who first signed a contract with the Cardinals in 1938 and retired from MLB in 1963. During his impressive career in St. Louis, he tied Willie Mays for a record 24 All-Star selections and earned 3,639 hits—a 4th all-time record and the most earned in a career spent with only one team. He was named National League MVP three times and was a three-time World Series champ. His career at the plate earned him a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969 and the reputation by many as being the most consistent hitter of his era. World War II interrupted Musial’s MLB career, and, in May 1944, he was drafted for military service. He entered the Navy in 1945 for a 15-month service career, during which time he served ship repair duties at Pearl Harbor. His military service did not exactly impair him from playing baseball, however, as Musial was able to continue to play in the base’s eight-team league while there. In 2007, the Navy Memorial presented Musial with the Lone Sailor Award. His Navy Log entry can be found here: http://navylog.navymemorial.org/musial-stanley

In 2009, the Navy Memorial presented the Lone Sailor Award to its second Baseball Hall of Famer: Yankees catcher Lawrence Peter “Yogi” Berra. In 1946, Yogi was called up to the Majors to catch for New York, where he remained for the remainder of his career as a player. During his impressive career, he was a 15-time All-Star and a three-time American League MVP. Yogi also won ten of the astounding fourteen World Series championships in which he appeared, having been a part of the midcentury Yankees’ Golden Age. On October 8, in Game 5 of the World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Yogi also made history when he caught Don Larsen’s perfect game, the only one thrown in a World Series that is now immortalized in the “everlasting image” of Yogi jumping into Larsen’s arms after the last pitch. Before he retired from baseball in 1989, Yogi also managed and coached for the Yankees, Mets, and Astros. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972. Yogi Berra’s career in pinstripes was actually preceded by a career in peacoats through World War II. As a sailor, Yogi served aboard a landing craft support missile boat. During the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944, his ship supported the assault from the English Channel. During the war, Yogi earned the Purple Heart, Distinguished Unit Citation, two battle stars, and the European Theater of Operations Ribbon. You can learn more about Yogi Berra’s military service in his Navy Log: http://navylog.navymemorial.org/berra-lawrence

In 2011, Robert “Bob” Feller, a Indians pitcher, earned the third Lone Sailor Award presented to a baseballer. During his 18-year career pitching in Cleveland from 1936 to 1956 (don’t do the math yet), Feller won 266 games and earned 2,581 strikeouts. He led the American League in strikeouts seven times and in BB eight times. He also threw three no-hitters and shares the MLB record of one-hitters with Nolan Ryan at twelve. Additionally, Feller was the first pitcher to win twenty games before age 21. Following Pearl Harbor, Bob Feller was the first MLB player to volunteer for combat service on December 8, 1941. He served in the Navy as a Gun Captain aboard the USS Alabama. During his service, he earned five campaign ribbons and eight battle stars. Feller missed games from four seasons to serve his nation through the war. His service record is also documented in his Navy Log: http://navylog.navymemorial.org/feller-robert

Although he served in the Army during World War II, the Navy Memorial also had a chance to interview Lou Brissie and talk about his military service. After serving in Europe, Brissie returned home and was called to play with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1947. In part six of his interview, Brissie recalled playing with Bob Feller, who never talked about his time in the service when on the baseball diamond. Make sure to check out Lou Brissie’s interview as well; the first of his six-part interview can be found here: https://youtu.be/Qhr9-kxfdS0

Jerry Coleman saw his 1952 and 1953 seasons interrupted by military service. During World War II and the Korean War, Coleman served as an aviator in a Marine Corps Attack Squadron, where he would fly some 120 combat missions and earn two Distinguished Flying Crosses and thirteen Air Medals. By the time Coleman retired from the Marine Corps, he had reached the rank of lieutenant colonel. When not using his skill in the cockpit of a fighter, Coleman was showing off his skills on the baseball diamond, playing from 1949 to 1957 as an infielder with the Yankees. While in pinstripes, Coleman earned four World Series rings. After his time as a player, Coleman stayed involved with the game as a broadcaster. The Baseball Hall of Fame honored his service on the airwaves in 2005 with the Ford C. Frick Award. Coleman also earned the Lone Sailor Award in 2011, the same year as Bob Feller. His service record is also recorded in his Navy Log: http://navylog.navymemorial.org/coleman-gerald-1

The Navy Memorial Interview Archive has also interviewed Jerry Coleman to discuss his service as a Marine aviator. His interview begins with his memories of the attacks on Pearl Harbor, then he discusses his experiences in training, flying missions throughout the Pacific during World War II, and his memories of flying in the Korean War. Coleman also remembers losing a wingman over Korea and how he viewed the air war as a “clean war” in comparison. The first of Jerry Coleman’s fascinating five-part interviews can be found here: https://youtu.be/DG0CM5wERnc.

There are many other famous baseballers beyond these three who served in the Sea Services across the sport’s long history, and many of them are similarly memorialized in our Navy Log. For example, Ted Williams, regarded as one of the greatest hitters in the history of baseball, also saw his baseball career interrupted by military service. Williams played interrupted from 1939 to 1960 as a left fielder for the Red Sox. While with Boston, Williams was a 19-time All-Star, six-time American League batting champ, and two-time Triple Crown winner. Williams missed five seasons of this impressive career to serve in the marines. After joining the Naval Reserve, Williams was commissioned as a Marine officer and became an aviator. During World War II, Williams flew fighter planes and served as an instructor from 1943 to 1945. Williams was also recalled to duty to serve for over a year in the Korean War, during which time he flew combat missions. Tris Speaker, who was in the second class inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame for his career spanning from 1907 to 1928, also served in the Navy during World War I in the middle of his career. Although his service did not interrupt any of his seasons, Rod Carew, who played infield for the Twins and Angels before coaching the Angels and the Brewers and earned the second most American League batting titles in history at seven, served six years (1965-1971) as a Marine combat engineer in the Reserves through a large percentage of his career playing ball. Similarly, catcher Mickey Cochrane played with the Philadelphia Athletics and the Tigers from 1925 to 1937, during which time he earned three World Series champions. After his career, World War II broke out, and Cochrane served with the Navy through the duration of the war.

Of the hundreds of players who put their baseball careers on hold to fight in World War II, many of their stories can also be found in the Navy Log today. When World War II broke out, Hank Bauer was only a minor league player when America entered World War II. He became a Marine and served with G Company, 2nd Battalion, 4th Marines, 6th Marine Division through the war. As a Marine, Bauer suffered several bouts of malaria and was injured twice by shrapnel. During his service, he earned two Bronze Stars, two Purple Hearts, and eleven campaign ribbons after seeing 32 months of combat in the Pacific. After he returned home from the war, Bauer was certain his baseball career was over. Despite his fears, the Yankees called Bauer up in 1948, starting an impressive career in the majors that produced eight World Series titles in pinstripes. After only one year in the majors playing first base for the Dodgers, Gil Hodges served in the Marines. First playing baseball at Pearl Harbor, Hodges later earned a Bronze Star for his service in the assault echelon at Okinawa. After his discharge from the Marines, Hodges returned to the Dodgers and later to the Mets. By the end of his career, Hodges won three World Series titles and three Gold Gloves. Bill Dickey, who won an astounding fourteen World Series titles catching for the Yankees and was actually Yogi Berra’s predecessor, was drafted into the Naval Reserve in 1944. He served as an athletic officer in the Pacific and managed the U.S. Navy team that won the 1944 Service World Series. Yankee shortstop Phil Rizzuto, who won seven World Series titles, interrupted his time in pinstripes to serve in the Navy in the Pacific on a 20mm gun crew. While in New Guinea, Rizzuto contracted malaria and was sent to Australia to recover, where he was also able to coach the Navy baseball team on base. Brooklyn Dodgers shortstop Pee Wee Reese, who won two World Series rings and is popularly remembered for his camaraderie with Jackie Robinson when he broke the color barrier, missed three seasons to serve in the Navy through the war. While in uniform, Reese was able to play baseball for the Third Fleet’s team and even served as shortstop and assistant coach for the 3rd Marine Division’s team. Larry Doby first played with the Negro Leagues before becoming the second player to break the color barrier. While playing for the Indians, he won a World Series ring in 1948. Doby’s career in the Negro Leagues was interrupted by Navy service, where he was also able to continue to play ball. Second baseman Charlie Gehringer, who played second base for the Tigers for 19 years, enlisted in the Navy after the end of his 1942 season—he served through the duration of the war. Billy Herman, who played second base and managed for several teams through his career, interrupted his stint with the Dodgers to serve in the Navy. Before playing outfield for the Pirates, Ralph Kiner served as a Navy pilot in the Pacific. Pitcher Ted Lyons interrupted his time with the White Sox to serve in the Marine Corps from 1946 to 1946. Johnny Mize, who played first base for the Cards, Giants, and Yankees from 1936 to 1953, also interrupted his MLB career to serve in the Navy, where he played for the Great Lakes Naval Station baseball team during World War II. Once he returned to civilian baseball, he won five World Series championships (all with Casey Stengel’s Yankees juggernaut) and earned a 1981 Hall of Fame induction. Duke Snider, two-time World Series champ who played center field with the Dodgers for most of his career, also served aboard the USS Sperry in the Pacific from 1944 to 1946. Not only are each of these players immortalized in the Baseball Hall of Fame for their skill on the diamond, but they are also each honored in the Navy Log for their service in during World War II.

As baseball season finally returns, the Navy Log also asks you to take some time away between games to search through our Log entries to learn about the Sea Service records of many baseball legends. While it might not fully replace the excitement of a full count in the bottom of the ninth, we hope that you take the time to remember these baseballers who sacrificed their talents and careers for our nation.