Blog No.14 – November 1, 2024

Here’s a Dodgers jacket amongst my many L.A. Dodgers possessions. Yes, all my life I’ve been a Dodgers fan while my entire family has stood on the side of the Yankees. I could never figure out how this happened. I’ve been questioned about this many times in my life, from New Jersey to Philadelphia to Los Angeles. I had no answer. While attending those famous stadiums, I never knew in whose bleachers I should sit. But why purchase the Dodgers paraphernalia? Why don their clothing? Easy. Easy response. Because it’s my initials and I don’t have to pay extra for embroidery. This morning I learned the answer when my nephew Joey emailed me, “Remember when poppy was a Dodgers fan?” Okay, memory gone. Perhaps that’s where I inherited this favoritism. My father took me to the famous stadiums in NY to watch the games. Could it have been Ebbets Field? It was destroyed in 1960, it says. Dad always talked about that stadium. Nah, must’ve been Yankee Stadium. That I remember. I was a Brooklyn Dodgers fan at that time. Then much later in life, I took him to Philly Stadium. Was it Veterans? I just don’t remember. But thank you, dear Father, for keeping me close to you at all times (I always sat next to you) – from my cheerleading days in high school to the bigtime sports days.

Now, the first thing the U.S. had to do at the start of WWII to prepare us for defense against the warring nations was increase our defense forces. So, President Roosevelt signed the Selective Training and Service Act on September 16, 1940, and every American male between the ages of 21 and 36 needed to register for military service. Why? It was said it was “to ensure the independence and freedom of the United States.” So, what happened? This resulted in putting nearly two million men into action by the end of 1941. Two million!

Fans know that many players now entered the fighting “game,” as it were, and many can name the stars — like Ted Williams, Hank Greenberg, and Bob Feller – who served in the military during World War II; however, there are but few who can name the two major leaguers who died during the action. Sadly, they were catcher Harry O’Neill and outfielder Elmer Gedeon.  Did you know that there were another 125 minor league players who also lost their lives during the war? Yes, it was not a happy time for the baseball leagues of America.

Here are two direct quotes from : Baseball players who died in war.

Harry M. O’Neill, May 8, 1917 – March 6, 1945

O’Neill was a three-sport athlete at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. Upon graduation in June 1939, the 6-foot-3, 205-pound catcher signed with Connie Mack’s Philadelphia Athletics and spent the rest of the season as the club’s third-string catcher. He would see action in just one game, on July 23, as a late-inning defensive replacement in a 16-3 loss to the Tigers. O’Neill played two seasons of semi-pro baseball before enlisting in the Marine Corps after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941. He attended Officer Candidate School in Quantico, Va. As a first lieutenant in the 4th Marine Division, O’Neill took part in the amphibious assaults of Kwajalein, Saipan and Tinian. On March 6, 1945, during the assault of Iwo Jima, O’Neill was killed by sniper fire. He was 27 years old, and he was one of only two Major Leaguers to die in World War II.

Elmer Gedeon, April 15, 1917 – April 20, 1944

Gedeon, a three-sport star from Cleveland, Ohio, excelled in baseball, football and track at the University of Michigan. As a junior, he ran an American-record tying 8.6 seconds in the 70-meter hurdles. In 1938, he was the first to match Jesse Owens’ 7.2 seconds in the low hurdles. But baseball was his true love, and he signed with the Washington Senators on June 3, 1939, where he played just five games. He was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1941 and was later transferred to the Army Air Force, where he earned his pilot’s wings. Gedeon survived a fiery plane crash when his B-25 clipped trees during a training flight in North Carolina. But on April 20, 1944, Gedeon’s B-26B Marauder was shot down on a flight from Boreham Field in the U.K. to bomb a German target at Bois d’Esquerdes, France. Five of the six crew members, including Gedeon, were killed. He was 22 years old, and the first Major Leaguer killed in World War II.

During World War II, a great deal of the military installations had their own baseball teams. I placed a photo of my uncle in one of them in Marana, Arizona, on my new Facebook page and on my new LinkedIn page this morning. Please check it out. These military teams not only played against other military teams but also competed against the local civilians. Perhaps the Wolverines of Neptune, N.J., of my book, The WWII Chain Letter Gang, were one of them. There are some photos depicting a game at Georgia’s Augusta Arsenal between two such teams in my book, too. I’m sure these teams sprang up all across our nation.

Boosting morale was in the minds of all, especially the government, and sports was the way to go since it was already a staple, to put it simply, in the heart of America. It helped build camaraderie, it promoted physical fitness, it brought people – no, America together. Men and women – soldiers, sailors, paratroopers, medics – all of the military played a variety of sports This included baseball, basketball, softball, volleyball, table tennis, and football. They would play on the flight decks of ships or with a fake kind of ball if they didn’t have equipment. They built golf courses everywhere they could, golf clubs out of scrap iron. The local people helped. Golf balls were even mailed to soldiers to keep up their game, as they were sent to one of our own 11 men in The WWII Chain Letter Gang. Military leaders – our presidents, also — encouraged organized sports, and sometimes they were as important as military drills.

So, now we shall bow our heads to those who gave up their favorite pastime to fight for freedom for our country. We thank them. We grieve for them. And then we ask ourselves: are we celebrating that the Dodgers won the World Series this past Wednesday? Nope. Well, yes, they did. And, yes, we are. We are also celebrating that the Yankees played against them and played hard and well.  But really, we are celebrating not only one of the greatest sports there is, but we are celebrating that people are coming together and enjoying what really is in their hearts, something of a nationality. Baseball. America.