Season of '42: Joe D, Teddy Ballgame, and Baseball?s Fight to Survive a Turbulent First Year of War

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Marc Notes: World War II was not going well for the United States in the Pacific and not much better in Europe. Moreover, the country was in drastically short supply of ships, planes, submarines, torpedoes, and other war materials, and Uncle Sam needed men, millions of them, including those from twenty-one through thirty-five years of age who had been ordered to register for the draft, the age range of most big league baseball players. But after a green light from President Roosevelt, major league baseball played on in 1942 as it would throughout the war. In 'Season of '42', veteran sportswriter Jack Cavanaugh takes a look at this historic baseball season, how it was shaped and affected by the war and what, ultimately, it meant to America. Biographical Note: Jack Cavanaugh is a veteran sportswriter whose work has appeared most notably on the sports pages of The New York Times. He is the author of "The Gipper" (2010), "Giants Among Men" (2008), and "Tunney" (2006), which was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in biography. Currently an adjunct professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and a columnist for the "Stamford Advocate," he lives with his wife in Wilton, Connecticut. Table of Contents: Introduction -- Chapter 1. Opening Day and More Bad War News -- Chapter 2. The War Gets Closer to Home -- Chapter 3. Baseball's Gypsies and Their Mudcat Band -- Chapter 4. Turning Point in the Pacific War? -- Chapter 5. Baseball by Twilight -- Chapter 6. Pistol Pete and Leo the Lip -- Chapter 7. The Donora Greyhound -- Chapter 8. Playing in Their Brother's Shadow -- Chapter 9. The U-Boat Commander from the Brooklyn Navy Yard -- Chapter 10. Riding the Rails -- Chapter 11. Saboteurs Land on Long Island -- Chapter 12. The Mighty-Mite Yankee Shortstop from Brooklyn -- Chapter 13. A Pint of Blood Gets You into the Ballpark -- Chapter 14. Running Doubles into Singles -- Chapter 15. Last of the .400 Hitters -- Chapter 16. Guadalcanal and a Dramatic Pennant Race Back Home -- Chapter 17. A Mismatched World Series? -- Epilogue -- Acknowledgments -- About the Author -- Bibliography -- Index. Publisher Marketing: Big league baseball would seem to have been a hard sell in 1942. World War II was not going well for the United States in the Pacific and not much better in Europe. Moreover, the country was in drastically short supply of ships, planes, submarines, torpedoes, and other war materials, and Uncle Sam needed men, millions of them, including those from twenty-one through thirty-five years of age who had been ordered to register for the draft, the age range of most big league baseball players. But after a "green light" from President Roosevelt, major league baseball played on in 1942 as it would throughout the war. It turned out to be an extraordinary season, too, spiced by a brash, young, and swift St. Louis Cardinal team that stunned the baseball world by winning the World Series. The 1942 season would be overshadowed by war, though, with many people wondering whether it was really all right for four hundred seemingly healthy and athletic men to play a child's game and earn far more money than the thousands of young Americans whose lives were at risk as they fought the Germans and Japanese abroad. In "Season of '42," veteran sportswriter Jack Cavanaugh takes a look at this historic baseball season, how it was shaped and affected by the war and what, ultimately, it meant to America. Review Citations:

Booklist 06/01/2012 pg. 16 (EAN 9781616087401, Hardcover)

Publishers Weekly 07/16/2012 (EAN 9781616087401, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Cavanaugh, Jack Jack Cavanaugh is a popular historical fiction author. He has fifteen published novels which have received numerous Christian and secular awards. His novels "While Mortals Sleep" and "His Watchful Eye" won Christy Awards for excellence in Christian Fiction. "The Puritans", from the American Portrait series, won an ECPA Silver Medallion Award.