The Role Of Baseball Players In War

Players not only lost their ability to play during the war, but they also missed out on multiple years of their careers; these years could have been used to achieve records that would make them the greatest of time. Ted Williams went into the war on pace to break Babe Ruth 's home run record, the most sought out record in baseball. But because he missed 5 years due to his service he was unable to concur this feat. Bob Feller would have easily eclipsed the 300 win mark, but he was unable to win enough games. Although statistics may have seemed irrelevant at the time, statistics in baseball mean a lot. They are how you put your name in the history books. Some players did not serve in the military, some made other efforts proving to be more important than actual service; they helped with war funding, propaganda, and morale boosting. Players would dedicate their time to try to help out the war cause in any way possible. The most effective area that the players made a huge difference on was morale boosting. They thrived in this area because they were looked up to like celebrities, people would see them helping so they would want to help. It was very common and is still common today. Propaganda was a big part of funding the …show more content…
The United States found comfort in baseball on the battle field and the home front. The contributions of baseball players like Bob Feller, Joe DiMaggio, Hank Greenberg made huge differences in the morale of the soldiers. They inspired the soldiers to play baseball, which lifted their spirits and could have gave them a sense of what they were fighting for. The effect of baseball on the soldiers was so great that they heads of the military were marketing baseball to their companies to raise morale in the ranks and it worked. Players on the home front made their own success by raising money for the war effort and war bonds. Did baseball win the United States the war? No, but it made a