When Baseball Went to War

On December 7, 1941, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, plunging the United States into World War II. The next day, Bob Feller, star pitcher for the Cleveland Indians, enlisted in the U.S. Navy--becoming the first major-league ballplayer to join the military during the war--and volunteered immediately for combat service. The dramatic confluence of patriotism and the national pastime changed not only the lives of many enlistees, but of America itself.

When Baseball Went to War is the stirring account of how Feller and other major leaguers answered their nation's call, leaving their homes and loved ones for duty, honor, and country. The lucky ones sacrificed only a few years of their playing careers; others sacrificed their lives. Men like Yogi Berra, Dom DiMaggio, Monte Irvin, Jerry Coleman, Moe Berg, Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, and Warren Spahn, called heroes at the ballpark by their adoring fans, discovered true heroism in the lives of their fellow servicemen and women who never made it home.