How Did Baseball Change America

On December 7th, 1941, the attacks on Pearl Harbor drastically changed life in America. Many lives were lost and many aspects of life changed once the U.S. entered the war. Sports played a role in keeping a sense of normalcy, but the war changed them. Therefore, baseball was affected by the attacks as well. Over 500 MLB players left the diamond for the battlefield (Weintraub). With so many players leaving, it was feared that Major League Baseball might become defunct. World War I had ended the 1918 season early. An armistice agreement had to save the 1919 season. The president at the time, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, put an end to those worries as he said, “I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going” (Bedingfield “Baseball”). While it continued with men, the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, or the AAGPBL, was also created. Baseball was also played in other parts of the world by servicemen. World War II affected baseball because MLB stars went to the battlefield, the game was …show more content…
Professional players weren’t the only ones to play baseball during World War II. Facilities for baseball, basketball, and other sports became common among the frontlines (Charlston). The Germans surrendered in May of 1945. (Japan wouldn’t surrender until September 2nd of the same year.) Troops waiting to be discharged from the European theater watched military-formed baseball leagues in which military units competed against each other (Graf). Servicemen created games for fun in both camps and POW camps. When the Nazis surrendered in 1945, the army used athletic events to keep soldiers busy. Baseball was the popular choice among the G.I.s and a league was created. Most of their games were played in the repurposed Stadion der Hitlerjugend, which was a former Hitler Youth stadium that held Nazi rallies