About this episode

This episode recreates a baseball game from May 14, 1941, highlighting the impact of World War II on the sport.

The shadow of war hangs over the 1941 season, a season that historians call “the last pure summer of baseball” before the world is irrevocably changed. Club rosters will be weakened as the peacetime draft moved to a wartime footing, yet baseball served as a vital yet fragile distraction. As the defending American League champions, the visiting Detroit Tigers are without star player Hank Greenburg, who was called up one week before tonight’s game against the Washington Nationals. The Tigers are hoping to prove that their 1940 pennant was not a one-hit wonder and are under pressure to perform. The Nationals are fighting to escape the cellar of the American League. Shortstop Cecil Travis. Travis was in the midst of a historic breakout season, which would see him out-hit both Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio. For Washington, this series against the defending champs was a chance to assert that speed and guile could usher in a new era of winning baseball in the capital. Ewan Spence and the Classic Baseball Radio team bring you this recreated radio broadcast from May 14, 1941. This should not be considered a complete or fully accurate historical record. Nevertheless, this is our story of…

People in this episode

Host: Ewan Spence

Topics covered

• baseball
• World War II
• Detroit Tigers
• Washington Nationals
• historical sports
• American League
• sports history

Keywords

• baseball
• Detroit Tigers
• Washington Nationals
• Hank Greenburg
• Cecil Travis
• 1941 season
• American League
• sports history

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Detroit Tigers, Washington Nationals

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