Who's on First: Replacement Players in World War II

This is a book about baseball’s true “replacement players.”

During the four seasons the U.S. was at war in World War II (1942-1945), 533 players made their major-league debuts. There were 67 first-time major leaguers under the age of 21 (Joe Nuxhall the youngest at 15 in 1944). More than 60 percent of the players in the 1941 Opening Day lineups departed for the service. The 1944 Dodgers had only Dixie Walker and Mickey Owen as the two regulars from their 1941 pennant-winning team.

The owners brought in not only first-timers but also many oldsters. Hod Lisenbee pitched 80 innings for the Reds in 1945 at the age of 46. He had last pitched in the major leagues in 1936. War veteran and former POW Bert Shepard, with an artificial leg, pitched in one game for the 1945 Senators, and one-armed outfielder Pete Gray played for the St. Louis Browns.

The war years featured firsts and lasts. The St. Louis Browns won their first (and last) pennant in 1944 — a feat made more amazing by the fact that they had not finished in the first division since 1929. The 1944 team featured 13 players classified as 4-F. The Chicago Cubs appeared in the 1945 World Series but have not made it back since.

In addition to player biographies, a chapter on each team in wartime in included. Some 53 members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) have contributed to this volume. We invite you to sit back and relax as you learn Who's on First?

Includes contributions by: Alan Cohen, Ashlie Christian And Armand Peterson, Bill Nowlin, Bob Brady, Bob Lemoine, Bob Mayer, Bob Webster, Charles Faber, Charlie Weatherby, Chris Rainey, Cort Vitty, David Finoli, David M. Jordan, David Raglin And Barb Mantegani, David W. Pugh, Don Zminda, Duke Goldman, Greg Erion, Gregg Omoth, Gregory H. Wolf, J. G. Preston, James D. Smith, Iii, Jay Hurd, Jeff Marlett, Jeff Obermeyer, Jim Sweetman, Joanne Hulbert, John Shannahan, Leslie Heaphy, Lyle Spatz, Marc Lancaster, Marc Z Aaron, Mark S. Sternman, Mel Marmer, Merrie A. Fidler, Michael Huber, Michael Huber And Rachel Hamelers, Mike Mcclary, Peter C. Bjarkman, Rex Hamann, Rich Bogovich, Richard Cuicchi, Richard Moraski, Rory Costello And Lou Hernández, Seamus Kearney, Sidney Davis, Steve Smith, Thomas Ayers, Tom Hawthorn, Walter Leconte

Partial Table of Contents:
The Business of BaseballDuring World War II
“But Where is Pearl Harbor?” Baseball and the Day the World Changed, December 7, 1941
The Tri-Cornered War Bond Baseball Game

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Boston Braves
Ben Cardoni
Buck Etchison
Butch Nieman
Mystery Member of the ‘45 Braves

Brooklyn Dodgers
John “Fats” D’Antonio
Bill Hart
Lee Pfund

Chicago Cubs
Jorge Comellas
Billy Holm
Walter Signer

Cincinnati Reds
Tomás de la Cruz
Buck Fausett
Dick Sipek

New York Giants
Al Gardella
Frank Seward
Roy Zimmerman

Philadelphia Phillies
Chet Covington
Hilly Flitcraft
Lee Riley

Pittsburgh Pirates
Xavier Rescigno
Len Gilmore
Frankie Zak

St. Louis Cardinals
Jack Creel
Gene Crumling
Bob Keely

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Boston Red Sox
Otey Clark
Ty LaForest
Stan Partenheimer
The Frostbite League: Spring Training 1943-45
The 1944 Red Sox: What Could Have Been

Chicago White Sox
Vince Castino
Guy Curtright
Floyd Speer

Cleveland Indians
Otto Denning
Jim McDonnell
Mickey Rocco

Detroit Tigers
Chuck Hostetler
Bobby Maier
Charlie Metro

New York Yankees
Joe Buzas
Mike Garbark
Bud Metheny

Philadelphia Athletics
Orie Arntzen
Jim Tyack
Woody Wheaton

St. Louis Browns
Milt Byrnes
Charley Fuchs
Pete Gray

Washington Senators
Ed Butka
Jug Thesenga
Tony Zardón
Senators Who Died in Combat

OTHER ESSAYS
The All-Star Games in the War Years
Wartime Baseball: Minor Leagues, Major Changes (San Diego to Buffalo)
Impact of WWII on the Negro Leagues
Baseball’s Women on the Field During WWII
In-season Exhibition Games During Wartime
The Double Victory Campaign and the Campaign to Integrate Baseball