American Heroes — Baseball Bench Coach

Yeah, I realize that I made this promise a few weeks ago – no more mixing politics with baseball for the rest of the regular season! BUT. . . I need to share a story of an American Hero. We have all heard the comparisons between the political events in 1968 and 2024, and also that the DNC was in Chicago both years. You might also know that the type of baseball being played in 1968 and 2024 is strikingly similar. If you check the batting averages today, only 9 players in the MLB are batting .300 or higher. In 1968, the number of .300 hitters was six! Just like this year, pitchers dominated in 1968, even causing the mound to be lowered in the offseason to help along the hitters.

Lefty Ken Holtzman was in the Cubs’ starting rotation in 1968. When he came into the league in 1966 as a Jewish left-hander, he was deemed the “new Sandy Koufax”. The next year, 1967, he was only available to pitch on weekends since he served in the National Guard. He had a sterling record, 9-0, in just 12 games. During the chaotic 1968 Chicago DNC, his Cubs were on a West Coast trip to Los Angeles and San Francisco. Holtzman was called back to Chicago as he and the National Guard attempted to restore order in the city. His baseball stardom took off in the next few seasons, two no-hitters while with the Cubs and three World Championships while pitching for the Oakland A’s. Holtzman was an American Hero, not just for his pitching success, but for his service to our country.

There have been many other American Heroes who played baseball. As I mentioned last week, Hank Greenberg stands out. A two-time American League MVP and World Champion as a slugging first baseman for the Detroit Tigers in the 1930s and 1940s, his career statistics are outstanding – four seasons leading the AL in home runs and RBIs; a 5-time All-Star; and a career batting average of .313. Yet, his overall career numbers were cut short due to his service in WWII. Greenberg, widely thought of as the first Jewish superstar in the sport, was also the first major leaguer to join the U.S. Army. He served as an anti-tank gunner as a sergeant in the Army, and later served as a first lieutenant in the Air Force. His service, 47 months in the prime of his baseball career, remains the longest of any major leaguer.

Near the end of Greenberg’s playing days, another American Hero arose on the baseball landscape, Jackie Robinson. Robinson also served in the U.S. miliary. Jackie was drafted in 1942 and assigned to a segregated Army cavalry unit at Fort Riley, Kansas. While serving as a second lieutenant in 1944, Robinson boarded an Army bus on a segregated bus line and refused to move to the back. Because of the incident, he was court-martialed and ultimately acquitted. When Jackie broke MLB’s color barrier as a Dodger in the 1947 season, the first player to welcome him to the big leagues was none other than Greenberg. Hank could empathize; he had endured much antisemitism in his career.

World War II interrupted the playing careers of many MLB stars. The best natural hitter of all time, Ted Williams, is an excellent example. He debuted for the Red Sox in 1939 and quickly became a hot hitting commodity. In 1941 he batted .406, the last time in MLB history that a player hit .400 or above. He followed that with a Triple Crown season in 1942. In 1943, Williams became a second lieutenant and naval aviator in the U.S. Marine Corps. Williams was stationed at Pearl Harbor in 1945 when the war ended, and played in the Navy Baseball League, an eight team league that attracted huge crowds. Williams returned to MLB baseball and in 1947 again won the Triple Crown. Ted returned to duty in the Korean War in 1952. In 1957 and 1958 he won the AL batting championship for the fifth and sixth time. What could have been.

Playing in the Navy Baseball League with Williams were Stan Musial and Joe DiMaggio. In many ways, Musial was Williams’ NL counterpart. Stan the Man played 22 MLB seasons for the Cardinals (1941-1963) and compiled some eye-popping career stats – 3,630 hits, 475 HRs, and a .331 batting average. Musial enlisted in the U.S. Navy in January 1945 and served for over a year. DiMaggio’s 13 year MLB career with the Yankees began in 1939. He, of course, is most known for a 56 game hitting streak during the 1941 season, a streak that to date has not been matched. DiMaggio enlisted in the Army Air Forces in 1943 and served for two years. These two baseball heroes from our past were indeed also American Heroes.

A player during that era who received less national acclaim is one of my personal favorites of all time, pitcher Bob Feller. Feller played 18 MLB seasons for the Indians, spanning from 1936 through 1956. His pitching numbers were spectacular – 3 no-hitters, 12 one-hitters, and led the AL in wins six seasons and in strkeouts for seven seasons. After the 1941 season when he learned of the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy, the first American professional athlete to do so. He served in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Alabama (1942-1945). A fun story is that, in addition to playing in some baseball games during his service years, he would keep his arm in shape by throwing near a gun terret. It paid off pretty well as he returned to the big leagues for the 1946 season.

About 25 years ago I decided to meet some of my baseball heroes and attended a Reds Fantasy Baseball Camp in Sarasota, Florida. About a month prior to camp I met up with Ken Holtzman, who was serving as the facility director at my JCC recreational facility. Ken gave me some of the best advice ever, “swing a bat 50 times every night in your basement and throw as much as possible off a mound if you want to pitch”. I took his advice and soon experienced one of my favorite weeks ever at my camp. Earlier this year, Holtzman passed away, on April 15, in fact, baseball’s Jackie Robinson Day. Rest in peace, Kenny, a baseball hero, an American Hero.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach