From the earliest days of baseball, young men who filled team rosters felt compelled to fill the uniforms of America’s armed forces when their country called. This exhaustive volume, arranged chronologically by conflict, then alphabetically by player, records every known former Major League and Negro League player who served in the U. S. military during wartime. Legends like Ty Cobb and Ted Williams appear alongside lesser-known players like pitcher George Zettlein, who served aboard a ship during the Civil War; Baltimore Orioles pitcher Arlington Pond, who fought in the Spanish-American War; and infielder Eddie Grant, who lost his life in battle during World War I. Entries list each player’s position and career statistics and include a short narrative of his military and athletic career.

Brett Kiser is a freelance writer in Marshall, Missouri.

Brett Kiser
Format: softcover (8.5 x 11)
Pages: 284
Bibliographic Info: appendix, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2012
pISBN: 978-0-7864-6679-5
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8914-5
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vi
Introduction      1

Civil War—Spanish- American War      3
World War I      12
World War II      60
Korean War—Vietnam War      218
Calling on Cooperstown      262

Appendix      267
Bibliography      269
Index      271

• “Kiser delivers a painstakingly drawn compendium of all Major League and Negro League baseball players who served in U.S. wars”—Library Journal
• “this work is a fascinating look at the lives of men who played the game of baseball and also served their country in America’s armed forces”—ARBA