Dom Malchiodi - Holland - 1945

Dom Malchiodi was a young catcher embarking on a pro career in the 1940s. On this day in 1945, military service and a tragic accident overseas would ensure that career would have no future.

Dom P. Malchiodi, who was born in Chester, Connecticut, but grew up in the Bronx, New York. He signed with the New York Yankees’ organization in 1941, and played a handful of games for Wes Ferrell’s Leaksville-Draper-Spray Triplets of the Class D Bi-State League that year. The Triplets won the league title with a 64–46 record but were beaten in the playoffs, four games to one, by Danville-Schoolfield. He spent the 1942 season playing in Canada, first with the Trois-Rivières Renards of the Class C Canadian-American League and then the Quebec Athletics of the same league. The young catcher played 27 games in 1942 and batted .272.

Malchiodi’s brief career in professional baseball ended at that point as military service beckoned and he trained as a bombardier with the Army Air Force. He served in Europe with the 495th Bomb Squadron of the 344th Bomb Group, Ninth Air Force, a Martin B-26 Marauder outfit that supported Allied forces during the Battle of the Bulge, and continued to strike supply points, communications centers, bridges and marshalling yards from its base at Cormeilles-en-Vexin in France. The 344th Bomb Group flew its last operational mission on April 26, 1945, and with the surrender of Germany on May 7, the group was at Florennes-Juzaine in Belgium.

For Malchiodi, baseball was on his mind, and he wrote home during the spring telling his mother how they had got a bulldozer and were going to plow out a diamond and form some teams to play ball while waiting to go back stateside. Nevertheless, military duties continued and the group conducted regular training flights, including simulated attacks on target rafts at the Blankenburghe Gunnery Range in the North Sea off the coast of Holland.

Dom Malchiodi (third from left) with the crew of his B-26

On May 31, 1945, Second Lieutenant Malchiodi was the bombardier with a new crew that was led by pilot First Lieutenant Harrell Foxx. Foxx led a formation of six B-26Gs in a strafing run at the gunnery range and after making his pass, he announced over the radio transmitter that part of his plane’s tail had been shot away by his own turret gunner. Foxx headed straight for land as the rest of his echelon followed in loose formation from where they could see that all but four feet of the right horizontal stabilizer was missing, there were holes in the base of the vertical stabilizer and the left horizontal stabilizer was almost shot in two. Foxx intended to land at the first available airfield and as the plane reached the coast of Holland, he started a slight turn. At this point the left stabilizer broke off and the plane nosed into a steep dive, hit the ground and exploded on impact. All seven crew members were killed.

Malchiodi was originally buried at the Netherlands American Military Cemetery, but his body was later returned to the United States and now rests at St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Chester, Connecticut.

Hugh Lott - Illinois - 1959

After his brief baseball career, Hugh Lott, Jr., decided to pursue a career in the military. A decision that cost him his life.

Hugh B. Lott, Jr., was born on March 5, 1931 in Binghamton, New York. His father, Hugh B. Lott, was a football star at Binghamton Central High School and Amherst College, who went on to coach the Schlitz Wildcats of the New York State Professional Football League and the semi-pro Endicott baseball team. During the 1940s the family moved to the Midwest and settled in Illinois, where Lott, Sr., operated a grain and feed business as well as scouting for the St. Louis Browns.

In May 1950, Lott, Sr., was named the Browns’ full-time scouting representative in northern Illinois and the Chicago area. At the same time, his son, a right-handed pitcher, signed with the Browns’ organization and was assigned to the Aberdeen Pheasants of the Class C Northern League where he made 17 appearances.

In 1951, 20-year-old Lott, Jr., started the season with the Pine Bluff Judges of the Class C Cotton States League. On April 20, he combined with fellow right-hander Vachel Perkins to hurl a 6-2, no-hitter over Hot Springs. Lott, who pitched the first five innings of the game, walked 12 batters and allowed both runs. Lott was 5-2 with a 6.14 ERA when he was assigned to the Pittsburg Browns of the Class D Kansas-Oklahoma-Missouri League later in the year. Lott did little pitching with Pittsburg but batted .218 in 44 games.

Hugh Lott, Jr., was back with Aberdeen in 1952, but made just 11 appearances before entering military service with the Army. He served in Korea and attained the rank of sergeant. Lott never returned to baseball. He chose, instead, to pursue a career in the military and trained to be a fighter pilot with the United States Air Force.

On March 14, 1959, 28-year-old Second Lieutenant Hugh B. Lott, Jr., was piloting an F-84F Thunderstreak attached to the Peoria-based 169th Fighter Interception Squadron. As the leader of a four-plane unit completing a routine operation, 2/Lt. Lott was on his final approach to Greater Peoria Airport at Bartonville, Illinois, with the landing gear down. Suddenly, however, the aircraft nosed down and smashed into the ground, 1.5 miles short of the airfield. It bounced 150 feet before plowing through an aluminium farm equipment shed, killing Lott.

A Republic F-84F Thunderstreak

Hugh B. Lott, Jr., is buried at Olio Township Cemetery in Eureka, Illinois.

Baseball and Battlefields – 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment

With more than 100 military installations operating fiercely competitive sports programs for troops during World War II, North Carolina was a veritable gold mine of baseball talent. But when the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment Red Devils clinched the particularly coveted Camp Mackall championship during the summer of 1943, they had little idea that the next game they were to play would be 3,000 miles away amid the chaos and devastation of bomb-torn England.

The 508th, one of four regiments assigned to the 82nd “All American” Airborne Division, moved to Camp Mackall from Georgia at the end of 1942. Located west of Fayetteville in Scotland County, the 62,000-acre camp was a remarkable example of wartime construction. Completed in just four months, it featured heated barracks, five movie theatres, a hospital, and a three-runway airfield. It was named for Private John T. Mackall, the first American paratrooper to be killed during the war.

Baseball at Camp Mackall began with lazy afternoon games of catch during off-duty hours. Because of the encouragement those games provided, a camp league was soon established. The all-volunteer airborne forces consisted of men from different regions of the country, drawen, perhaps, as much by the $50 monthly hazardous duty bonus as by the thrill and honor of serving as a paratrooper. The 508th found it was rich in baseball talent.

Forrest V. "Lefty" Brewer

In additional to several players with semi-pro experience – among them colliery league pitcher Okey Mills of Crab Orchard, West Virginia, and second baseman Lee Reisenleiter of Brentwood, Missouri – the Red Devils were fortunate to have the services of some minor leaguers. John McNicholas was an outfielder in the Boston Red Sox farm system, Frank Shank – also an outfielder – had played in the St. Louis Cardinals’ organization before military service, while shortstop Frank Labuda had played for the Ogden Reds. However, the most prominent minor leaguer was Forrest “Lefty” Brewer, a tall, lean Floridian, who had played three seasons in the Washington Senators’ organization before the war. He pitched a no-hitter in the Florida State League in 1938 on his way to compiling a 25-11 won-loss record that season, and was pitching for the Charlotte Hornets before entering military service in March 1941. Nevertheless, he is remembered for more than just his athletic talents.

“Lefty was my platoon sergeant all through the three tough months of basic training, and I cannot say enough about what a great guy he was,” recalled Bill Dean of Camp Hill, Pennsylvania. “He even brought some culture into our lives during off-duty hours in the barracks. His favourite poem was Rudyard Kipling’s Gunga Din, and he would recite it with such gusto while cleaning his rifle or shining his boots that most of us rookies would stop everything and take it all in with rapt attention.”

The Camp Mackall baseball season opened in April 1943, under the directorship of Lieutenant Alfred Dodd, post athletic officer, and the Red Devils were serious contenders for the championship.

After suffering three early losses to unexpectedly stiff competition, the team settled down to register a series of resounding victories in addition the wreaking vengeance against the much-heralded semi-professional Red Spring Robbins of neighboring Robeson County. Losing to the Robbins, 6 to 5, in their first meeting, the Red Devils came back with two convincing wins, 9 to 1, and 13 to 0.

To conclude the season, the Red Devils won their last seven games in succession for a record of 26 wins and 4 losses – and clinched the Camp Mackall championship in fitting style with Okey Mills throwing a no-hitter against the 135th Quartermaster Company in the playoffs.

508th Parachute Infantry Regiment Red Devils – Camp Mackall, NC - 1943
T/5 Frank Labuda (SS) Chicago Heights, IL - Minor leaguer
Pvt. Joseph L. Laky - Ottawa, IL
S/Sgt. Howard R. Smith
Pvt. John T. M. Barry - Bronx, NY
T/Sgt. John J. Gieb  
Sgt. Adolph F. "Bud" Warnecke - Fayetteville, NC
Pvt. William F. Wall  
Pfc. James E. Beckham  
T/Sgt. John D. Kersh  
Russ Barton  
Pfc. William G. Sauer  
Pvt. William M. Dagon - Hillsboro, IL
Sgt. Ralph J. Busson - Doylestown, OH
George Kincaid  
John McNicholas (OF)
T/5 Abraham L. Axelrod  
Pvt. Okey A. Mills (P) - Crab Orchard, WV – Colliery League
Pvt. George A. Shenkle - Woodbury, NJ
S/Sgt. Forrest V. "Lefty" Brewer (P) Jacksonville, FL – Washington Senators organization
Pfc. Orbie M. King  
2/Lt. Francis J. Bolger - 508th Athletic Officer
Pvt. Raymond J. Brown - Vivian, LA
Pfc. Joseph J. "Jack" Bonvillian - Shreveport, LA
Francis “Frank” Shank OF - Ohio State League (1941)
Pvt. Walter R. Lupton - Springfield Gardens, NY

Just days after the game, a regimental order effectively disbanded the team. It was felt that further play would result in the loss of valuable military training time. This seemed particularly harsh for the players. Had the season continued, it is likely that the Red Devils would have attained national prominence as games had been scheduled against the North Carolina Pre-Flight Cloudbusters and the mighty Norfolk Naval Training Station, where the likes of Phil Rizzuto and Dom DiMaggio were playing their service baseball. Little did the troopers know that preparations for the Normandy Invasion were under way and that the 508th would be among the first airborne regiments activated.

At the end of 1943, the 508th left Camp Mackall. At the time no one knew if they were headed for the European, Mediterranean or Pacific Theater, but they were soon aboard a troop ship bound for England and encamped at Wollaton Park near the historic town of Nottingham – their home-away-from-home for the next nine months.

The gregarious young paratroopers, immaculate in their resplendent uniforms and polished jump boots, made a favourable impression with the local community, and during a particularly hot spell in May, they were invited to stage a baseball game at the local soccer stadium. On Sunday, May 28, 1944, before an enthusiastic crowd of 7,000, the Red Devils ball team began to limber up for the first time since leaving North Carolina. “We had no uniforms,” recalled Adolph “Bud” Warnecke of Fayeteville, North Carolina. “We had to wear remnants of military clothing and jump boots, so we didn’t look much like a ball team. But I’ll always remember the great reception we got from the British people.”

Their opponents were the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment Panthers, a sister regiment in the 82nd Airborne Division, who had completed their training at Fort Bragg and were also stationed near Nottingham in England.

The Panthers proved no match for the former Camp Mackall champions. “We beat the heck out of the 505th,” said Warnecke. “The score at the end was 18 to 0, to our guys.”

Okey Mills started the game on the mound for the Red Devils and was relieved by Brewer in the fourth inning. With his deceptive pick-off move, Brewer picked off the first two men that got on base, and the Nottingham Guardian the next day described how the teams “played with extraordinary vigor,” and noted there was “spectacular hitting, some magnificent catches and many exciting incidents.”

“I think most of the spectators enjoyed the game,” remembered Lee Reisenleiter, “but it must have been hard for them to make sense of it all.” 

“I certainly enjoyed myself,” added Warnecke, “but little did I know that eight days later we would jump into Normandy!”

508th Parachute Infantry Red Devils – Nottingham, England - 1944
Pvt. Elmer A. Mertz - Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Pvt. Daniel L. Peskin - Brooklyn, New York
Pvt. Leo Hoynowski
Cpl. William F. Maloney - Hartford, Connecticut
Pvt. Paul Pavlick  
Pvt. Harry L. Reisenleiter - Brentwood, Missouri
Pvt. Henry McLean
Pfc. William G. Sauer
Cpl. William M. Dagon - Hillsboro, Illinois
Cpl. Okey A. Mills (P) - Crab Orchard, WV
Sgt. John J. Judefind (IF) - Chester, PA
Pfc. George A. Shenkle - Woodbury, NJ
Pvt. Merle W. "Mike" Blethen - Portland, OR – Son of major leaguer Clarence Blethen
Cpl. Kenneth H. Hook - Dayton, OH
Pfc. John T. M. Barry - Bronx, NY
Pvt. Joseph L. Laky - Ottawa, IL
Pvt Lemuel B. Parrish - Lakeland, FL
T/5 Raymond J. Brown - Vivian, LA
Sgt. Ralph J. Busson - Doylestown, OH
Pvt. Forrest V. "Lefty" Brewer (P) - Jacksonville, FL
Sgt. Adolph F. "Bud" Warnecke - Fayetteville, NC
Cpl. Frank Labuda (SS) – Chicago Heights, IL
Pfc. Joseph J. "Jack" Bonvillian - Shreveport, LA
Pvt. Walter R. Lupton - Springfield Gardens, NY
Sgt. Thomas D. MacBlane - Elmira, NY
Pvt. Gene Matuszewski - Buffalo, NY
Pfc. Rene A. Croteau - Holyoke, MA

Speculation still hangs over the true reason this baseball game was staged. The “official” story at the time was that the Nottingham Anglo-American Committee requested the Americans to stage a sporting event because the people of Nottingham had for years been void of entertainment. However, because the game was arranged by Brigadier General James M. “Jumpin’ Jim” Gavin, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, many believe the game was designed to fool the Germans. If American paratroopers were playing baseball in England, how could an invasion be imminent? To further publicize the event, photographs were taken of each player and sent back to their hometown newspapers. Probably the most convincing fact that this game was staged to fool the Germans was the noticeable absence of paratroopers in the stands at the game. Having been such a familiar sight in Nottingham for the last few months, only officers and players were on hand. As the crowd cheered each crack of the bat, the rest of the regiment made a 40-mile journey to a local airfield where runways were packed with C-47 transport planes adorned with black and white stripes. Preparations for the invasion had begun. 

Men of the 508th were among the 24,000 Allied paratroopers who ascended during the early hours of June 6, 1944, into occupied France. Their objective was to keep German reinforcements from reaching the American landing beaches, codenamed Omaha and Utah, but the airborne operations did not go according to plan. Whole regiments landed miles from their intended drop zones and often found themselves in the midst of the awaiting enemy forces.

Even so, small groups of men valiantly engaged the enemy, and when the 82nd Airborne Division raised the Stars and Stripes in the small Normandy town of Ste-Mere-Eglise, it signified the first French community to be liberated by American forces.

Despite heavy losses, objectives had been achieved, but to the Red Devils, the losses were particularly tragic. Their pitching ace, Lefty Brewer, was dead.

Bill Dean was with Brewer when they were ambushed by German tanks and infantry near the Merderet River. Their only hope was to make a dash for the water.

“As I ran I was aware someone was running hard just behind me,” recalled Dean. “In my panic I took a quick look and saw Lefty, at port arms, running like he was going to stretch a triple into a home run! A split second later I heard a burst of machine-gun fire, and all around me bullets were clipping the upstanding reeds along the river bank.” 

Dean plunged into the precarious safety of the river. Brewer was not so fortunate. He bore the full brunt of the gunfire and was killed instantly.

“I will never forget Lefty,” Dean reflected, “nor how fickle fate is . . . he taught me how to soldier and I made it back . . . he didn’t.”

The 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment continued in combat throughout the war, participating in the airborne assault into Holland, followed by the Battle of the Bulge, and the Ruhr valley campaigns. When the war in Europe ended in May 1945, the 508th performed occupational duties in Germany and during the summer of 1945, the baseball team was reorganized for a series of games. Sadly, many familiar faces were missing. William Maloney died the day after Lefty Brewer at Normandy, infielder John Judefind was killed on June 9, Elmer Mertz died June 13, and Rene Croteau lost his life on July 4. Walt Lupton was killed in Holland on September 18, 1944, and Joe Laky died in Holland on October 1.

Milt Drumm - France - 1918

Milt Drumm played three seasons in the minors and batted .330 with the Kearney Kapitalists in 1914. On this day in 1918, he lost his life on a French battlefield.

Clarence Milton “Milt” Drumm was born on October 28, 1889 in Bigelow, Kansas, a town in Marshall County that was located six and a half miles southwest of Frankfort. It was demolished during the construction of Tuttle Creek Lake in the early 1960s.

Drumm was educated in the public schools of Irving, Kansas and Grand Island, Nebraska. He later taught in the Grand Island Business College for one year, after which he engaged in farming. But Drumm also pursued a career in professional baseball.

In 1910, he signed with the Chapman club of the Class D Central Kansas League - a team that managed just 18 wins against 62 losses and finished the season 34-and-a-half games out of first place. The 20-year-old outfielder batted .236 with 29 hits in 123 at-bats. The Chapman team did not return in 1911 (in fact, the Central Kansas League disbanded half way through the season), and Drumm joined the Falls City Colts of the Class D MINK League for his sophomore year as a minor leaguer. In 94 games Drumm batted .302 as the Colts (1910 league champs) finished just two games behind the pennant winning Humbolt Infants.

In 1912 he was signed by the MINK League's Nebraska City Forresters. Batting a league best .341 with 65 runs scored and 23 stolen bases, the 22-year-old (playing first base for the Forresters) led the team to the league title, their first since the league was formed in 1910, during which time the Forresters had been the circuit’s basement team both seasons.

In 1913, Drumm spent spring training with the Monmouth Browns of the Class D Central League, but when the season started he was with the Waterloo Jays of the same league. Despite moments of greatness, including driving in the winning run two consecutive days in July, he never really got going and batted a disappointing .203 in 74 games in leftfield. Nevertheless, Drumm bounced back in style in 1914 with the Kearney Kapitalists of the Class D Nebraska State League batting .330 (second best in the league).

Despite this great comeback that was the end of Drumm’s professional baseball career. He probably returned to farming before entering the Second Officers’ Training Camp at Fort Sheridan, Illinois in 1917. Upon receipt of his commission Second Lieutenant Drumm was ordered overseas, sailing in January 1918. Upon arrival in France he received further training at an AEF school before being assigned to Company K of the 28th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division.

On May 28, 1918, the 28th Infantry Regiment captured the village of Cantigny from the German 18th Army, but 2/Lt. Drumm, who fearlessly led his platoon through shell and machine-gun fire, lost his life in the battle. He was 28 years old and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for bravery.

Six McDonnell, who had played high school baseball in Abilene, Kansas with Dwight Eisenhower and pitched against Drumm in 1913 for the Beatrice Milkskimmers, mentioned the ballplayer’s death in a letter to his fiancée while stationed at Fort Riley in 1918. "I read in yesterday’s Star where my old pal Milt Drumm (you've heard me speak of him) was killed in action in France . . . He sure was a swell fellow, honey, a real human."

Drumm was survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William M. Drumm, and a brother, C. E. Drumm. He is buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Marshall County, Kansas.

A World War II Baseball Bibliography

I often get asked what books are available about baseball during World War II. Well, in addition to the two I have written (as well as contributing to "When Baseball Went to War") there are actually quite a few books that cover the war years from different perspectives. Here is a list of most of the books I am aware of, the majority of which I have in my collection.

Allen, Tom E.
If They Hadn’t Gone: How WWII Affected Major League Baseball (Springfield, MO: Missouri State University, 2004)

Anton, Todd
No Greater Love: Life Stories from the Men Who Saved Baseball (Burlington, MA: Rounder, 2007)

Anton, Todd and Nowlin, Bill, eds
When Baseball Went to War (Chicago: Triumph, 2008)

Barthel, Thomas
Baseball Ambassadors Visit WWII Combat Areas (Amazon Digital, 2012)

Bedingfield, Gary
Baseball in World War II Europe (Charleston, SC: Arcadia, 1999)

Bedingfield, Gary
Baseball’s Dead of World War II: A Roster of Professional Players Who Died in Service (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2010)

Bement, James
Baseball, Battle and a Bride: An Okie in WWII (Victoria, BC: Trafford, 2009)

Berkow, Ira
The Corporal Was a Pitcher: The Courage of Lou Brissie (Chicago: Triumph, 2009)

Bloomfield, Gary
Duty, Honor, Victory: America’s Athletes in WWII (Guilford, CT: Lyons, 2003)

Bradlee, Ben, Jr.,
The Kid: The Immortal Life of Ted Williams (New York: Little, Brown, 2013)

Bullock, Steven R.
Playing For Their Nation: Baseball and the American Military During WWII (Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 2004)

Cavanaugh, Jack
Season of ’42: Joe D, Teddy Ballgame, and Baseball’s Fight to Survive a Turbulent First Year of War (New York: Skyhorse, 2012)

Cleve, Craig Allan
Hardball on the Home Front: Major League Replacement Players of WWII (Jefferon, NC: McFarland, 2004)

Compton, Lt. Lynn “Buck” and Brotherton, Marcus
Call of Duty (New York: Berkley, 2008)

Creamer, Robert W. 
Baseball and Other Matters in 1941 (Lincoln, NE: Bison, 2000)

Dawidoff, Nicholas
The Catcher Was a Spy: The Mysterious Life of Moe Berg (New York: Vintage, 1995)

Finoli, David
For the Good of the Country: World War II Baseball in the Major and Minor Leagues (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2002)

Gilbert, Bill
They Also Served: Baseball and the Home Front, 1941-1945 (New York: Crown, 1992)

Gilbert, Thomas
Baseball at War: World War II and the Fall of the Color Line (New York: Franklin Watts, 1997)

Gogan, Roger S.
Bluejackets of Summer: The History of the Great Lakes Naval Baseball Team 1942-1945 (Kenosha, WI: Great Lakes Sports Publishing, 2008)

Goldstein, Richard
Spartan Seasons: How Baseball Survived the Second World War (New York: Macmillan, 1980)

Guthrie-Shimizu, Sayuri
Transpacific Field of Dreams: How Baseball Linked the United States and Japan in Peace and War (Chapel Hill, University of North Carolina, 2012)

Kashatus, William C.
One-Armed Wonder: Pete Gray, Wartime Baseball, and the American Dream (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1995)

Kelley, Brent
The Pastime in Turbulence: Interviews with Baseball Players of the 1940s (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2001)

Kirkpatrick, Robert J. 
Cecil Travis of the Washington Senators: The War-Torn Career of an All-Star Shortstop (Lincoln, NE: Bison, 2009)

Kiser, Brett
Baseball’s War Roster: A Biographical Dictionary of Major and Negro League Players Who Served, 1861 to the Present (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2012)

Marchildon, Phil, with Kendall, Brian
Ace: Phil Marchildon, Canada’s Pitching Sensation and Wartime Hero (Toronto: Penguin, 1994)

Marshall, William
Baseball’s Pivotal Era, 1945-1951 (Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 1999)

Mead, William B.
Baseball Goes to War (Washington, DC: Farragut, 1985)

Moore, Gary W. 
Playing with the Enemy (New York: Savas Beatie, 2006)

Nowlin, Bill
Ted Williams at War (Burlington, MA: Rounder, 2007)

Obermeyer, Jeff
Baseball and the Bottom Line in WWII: Gunning For Profits On The Home Front (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2013)

Rosengren, John
Hank Greenberg: The Hero of Heroes (New York: New American Library, 2013)

Schacht, Al
G.I. Had Fun (New York: Putnam’s, 1945)

Sickels, John
Bob Feller: Ace of the Greatest Generation (Washington, DC: Potomac Books, 2004)

Silverman, Al
Warren Spahn (New York: Bartholomew House, 1961)

Stout, Glenn
Soldier Athletes [Good Sports] (Boston, MA: HMH, 2011)

Tebbets, Birdie with Morrison, James
Birdie: Confessions of a Baseball Nomad (Chicago, IL: Triumph, 2002)

Terwilliger, Wayne
Terwilliger Bunts One (Guilford, CT: Insider’s Guide, 2006)

Turner, Frederick
When the Boys Came Back: Baseball and 1946 (New York: Henry Holt, 1996)

Van Blair, Rick
Dugout to Foxhole: Interviews with Baseball Players Whose Careers Were Affected by WWII (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1994)

Wakefield, Wanda Ellen
Playing to Win: Sports and the American Military, 1898-1945 (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1997)

Weintraub, Robert
The Victory Season (New York: Little, Brown, 2013)

Wolter, Tim
POW Baseball in World War II: The National Pastime Behind Barbed Wire (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2002)

Len Glica - Korea - 1951

Len Glica, a shortstop, played four seasons in the Brooklyn Dodgers' farm system before entering military service with the army. He died on this day in Korea in 1951.

Leonard G. “Len” Glica, the son of Henry and Caroline Glica, was born in Omaha, Nebraska on October 8, 1928. He played baseball at South High School in Omaha and signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization following graduation in 1947.

The right-handed hitting shortstop-second baseman was assigned to the Abilene Blue Sox of the Class C West Texas-New Mexico League where he batted .252 his rookie year with eight home runs. In September, after the regular season had finished and he was back home in Omaha, Glica was recruited to play for the Omaha Pros against the Satchel Paige All-Stars at American legion Field in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Pros beat Paige’s All-Stars, 4-3, in 12 innings. Glica, playing second base, was 1-for-5 against Paige and Larry Napoleon.

Back with the Blue Sox in 1948, Glica spent spring training at Vero Beach, Florida, under the watchful eyes of such Brooklyn tutors as Fresco Thompson, Andy High, George Sisler and Pepper Martin. He batted .259 with 81 RBIs during the season and proved to be a fan favourite for his all-out style of play.

Glica was advanced to the Newport News Dodgers of the Class B Piedmont League in 1949. After playing 10 games and batting .258, he joined the Lancaster Red Roses of the Class B Interstate League, batting .261 in 126 games with six home runs. He remained with the Red Roses in 1950 and batted .253 with a career-high 10 home runs. On July 9 he had led Lancaster’s hit parade against the Hagerstown Braves with successive home runs in the third and fifth innings and a double in the sixth for his three for five, as the Red Roses walloped the Braves, 17-3.

"If I can't make the majors or high minors I would like to play out my string in pro baseball with Abilene," he confided to his friends in Omaha. "They play good ball down there and treat the players like heroes."

But Glica never had the opportunity to return to Abilene. He entered military service on November 30, 1950. Serving as a private with the 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division in Korea, he was killed in action on May 26, 1951 at Sanghongjong-ni, just four days after arriving in the war zone.

"Of the players whom I had the pleasure of associating with during my three years with the Abilene club,” Howard L. Green, former GM of the Blue Sox told the Abilene Reporter News after hearing of Glica’s death, “Len Glica and Joe Konitzki stand out as all-time favorites, not because of their playing talents altogether, but because of their character and devotion to the game of baseball. Both of them joined us during the 1947 season when the club was hopelessly out of the race but they hustled every inning as if a World Series were at stake. It was spirit like that which enabled us to average 1,200 [spectators per game] during the last three weeks of the season with nothing more to lure the customers than the promise of a ball game.

"Many of us thought they were headed for the majors. Joe may make it yet. He is now on the NDS list of the Minneapolis club in the American Association, having been drafted from the Dodger organization by the Giants [Konitzki peaked with 7 games for Minneapolis in 1950].

"If Len Glica isn't the first professional ball player killed in the Korean fighting, he is one of the first [he was, in fact, the second]. I think that the least that the Abilene club and their legion of wonderful supporters could do would be to set aside a night to the memory of Len Glica and to erect a memorial in the Abilene park in tribute to one of the finest competitors that ever represented Abilene in any sport. His life has ended far ahead of schedule, not through any fault of his, but the game of baseball will go on because of fellows like him who are called upon to fight so that we at home may continue to play.”

Len Glica is buried at Saint Johns Cemetery in Bellevue, Nebraska.

John Regan - India - 1944

John Regan's minor league career was brief; just a handful of appearances with Cubs' farm teams during the summer of 1942. On this day in 1944, he went missing on a flight to India and it would be 64 years before his fate was known.

John J. Regan was a pitcher on the varsity baseball team at Mount Carmel High School, an all-boys Catholic school on Chicago's South Side. In 1942, he was signed by the Chicago Cubs' organization and sent to the Ashland Colonels of the Class C Mountain State League. After a brief stay he joined the Janesville Cubs of the Class D Wisconsin State League, where he made two appearances.

Regan's fledgling baseball career was put on hold in November 1942, when he entered military service with the Army Air Force and trained as a radio operator. He was sent to the China-India-Burma Theater in November 1943, where he served with the 373rd Bomb Squadron of the 308th Bomb Group, Fourteenth Air Force, at Yangkai, China. Technical Sergeant Regan flew regular ferrying missions in a Consolidated B-24J Liberator over "the Hump" to India, and on May 25, 1944, he was the radio operator/gunner on B-24J "Zoot Chute" piloted by First Lieutenant Robert M. King. On board were five other crew members in addition to Regan and King, plus three passengers. The plane was bound for Chabua, India, and the last radio contact was made 30 minutes east of its destination. It was never heard from again. One year later the crew were officially declared dead and due to the mountainous terrain where the plane was lost, it was believed that if the wreckage were located, it would be impossible to recover the remains.

T/Sgt. John Regan served as a radio operator/gunner aboard this
Consolidated B-24J Liberator nicknamed "Zoot Chute"

John Regan was posthumously awarded the Air Medal, and is memorialized at the Manila American Cemetery at Fort Bonifacio in the Philippines. On October 26, 2008, 64 years after "Zoot Chute" disappeared, it was discovered by aviation archaeologist Clayton Kuhles. Kuhles conducts regular expeditions to Burma, India, Bangladesh and China, to locate and document missing-in-action Allied aircraft lost in that area during World War II. He discovered the B-24 at over 11,000 feet elevation on a rugged mountain north of Damroh, India. The nearest village was Milang, a five-day trek. Kuhles intends to locate and notify the surviving family members.

Ralph Sharman - Alabama - 1918

On this day, eight months after his major league debut with Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics, Ralph Sharman lost his life in a tragic accident at Camp Sheridan, Alabama, in 1918.

Ralph E. Sharman was born on April 11, 1895 in Cleveland, Ohio. Living in Norwood, Ohio, he played semi-pro baseball for Norwood and the U.S. Printing team in Cincinnati.

Making his professional debut, aged 20, with the Portsmouth Cobblers of the Class D Ohio State League in 1915, the fleet-footed centerfielder had a sensational year. Appearing in 103 games he stole 31 bases, led the league with a .374 batting average and made just two errors for a .991 percentage.

Sharman was drafted by the New York Giants at the end of the season and he quickly dispelled talk of him making his big league debut in 1916. “Better to have another year in the minors and be sure of success in the big show afterwards,” he told the Cincinnati Times-Star, “than to go into the majors too green and score a failure.”

Sharman spent the spring of 1916 with John McGraw’s second string quad and was disappointed when he was sent the Memphis Chicks of the Class A Southern Association, although McGraw told manager Dolly Stark that he (Sharman) was one of the most promising looking youngsters he had seen in a long time.

Sharman batted just .132 in 15 games at Memphis and was unhappy at being sent to the Galveston Pirates of the Class B Texas League. McGraw took up the matter personally with Sharman and advised him to go. "If you can hit in the Texas League," said the Giant leader, "you can hit anywhere. Bat .300 down there and we will bring you back."

His batting got off to a slow start with the Pirates but he impressed all who saw him with his fine fielding and strong, accurate arm. "I never have seen as much curve pitching in my life as I have looked at in the last three days," Sharman told the Galveston Daily News in June. In the preceding days he had just batted against the fearful left hooks of John Smithson and Fred Troutman of Beaumont. "I never looked at half as many curves in the Southern [Association] the whole time I was there," he declared.

As the season progressed, Sharman’s hitting improved and he finished the year with a respectable .277 average over 105 games. In 1917, the 22-year-old had certainly adjusted to the curve ball pitchers of the Texas League. He got off to a flying start with Galveston, hitting over .300 throughout the year and continuing to hit that way when he joined the Fort Worth Panthers after Galveston dropped out of the league. Sharman finished the season with a .341 batting average in 156 games and during one stretch played 47 games in the outfield without an error.

Sharman was called up by the Philadelphia Athletics in September and made his major league debut against the New York Yankees. In 13 games for Connie Mack’s club, Sharman batted .297 and bright future appeared to be ahead of the youngster.

That bright future was never to be seen, however, as military service intervened and Sharman served as a corporal with Battery F of the 136th Field Artillery. On Friday, May 24, 1918, Corporal Ralph Sharman was tragically drowned during a training exercise in the Alabama River, adjacent to Camp Sheridan at Montgomery, Alabama. His body was not recovered until Sunday, May 26, and on May 28 it was placed on a caisson and brought through the streets of Montgomery, followed by members of Battery F. Ralph Sharman’s body was then sent to Cincinnati for internment and rests at the Spring Grove Cemetery.

Roswell Higginbotham - Rhode Island - 1943

Roswell Higginbotham, star athlete of Texas A & M college and minor league ballplayer, served with the US Navy in WWII and lost his life on this day in 1943.

Roswell G. Higginbotham, known as “Little Hig,” first gained prominence as an outstanding backfield football player at Sherman High School, Texas, and went on to become a renowned football and baseball player at Texas A&M from 1917 to 1920. In his junior year, he pitched a no-hitter against the University of Texas, and was a football All-Southwest Conference back in 1919 and 1920.

Following in the footsteps of his brother Graly, Higginbotham left Texas A&M in 1920 to start a career in professional baseball.1 He was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals and attended spring training in 1921 at Orange, Texas, before being assigned to the Paris Snappers of the Class D Texas-Oklahoma League. Batting in the number two spot for fiery manager Earl “Red” Snapp, the young second baseman hit .301 and led the league with 53 stolen bases.

Higginbotham was back with the Snappers in 1922, and his brother Graly was in the same league as player/manager with the Sherman Red Sox. Higginbotham, who played shortstop that year, batted .315 in 96 games, leading the league with 36 doubles, as the Snappers clinched their second successive league title in a season that ended August 6, due to a railroad strike. One advantage of the early season finish was that Higginbotham was called up by the Fort Worth Panthers of the Class A Texas League. On August 25, 1922, he made his first appearance for the Panthers, playing shortstop and going hitless in two trips to the plate. He played one more game before the end of the season.

Higginbotham, however, turned his back on professional baseball after 1922. It was a time when there was often more money to be made with semi-pro teams, and he played with Thurber of the West Texas Oil Belt League during the summer, while coaching football at Austin College in the winter. In 1927, he accepted a position as freshman athletic coach at Texas A&M, and in 1928, aged 29, he made a surprising return to professional baseball. Red Snapp — his manager at Paris back in 1922 — was manager and part-owner of the San Angelo Red Snappers of the newly-formed Class D West Texas League, and encouraged Higginbotham to join the club. Batting in his familiar number two spot, but playing the outfield rather than the infield, he played 81 games and hit .286 with 10 home runs as the Red Snappers clinched the league title. They went on to defeat the Abilene Aces, three games to two, in the playoffs, before stumbling against the Palestine Pals of the Lone Star League in a dual championship playoff series. On September 2—in a game against the Pals that was to be one of Higginbotham’s last games in professional baseball — he hit three singles.

Higginbotham continued to coach freshman football and varsity baseball at Texas A&M, and produced two championship baseball teams including the school’s first ever Southwest Conference title in 1931, and another in 1934. In 1936, Southern Methodist University in Dallas began playing baseball again, after having dropped the sport during the early Depression years, and Higginbotham was hired to coach the team as well as the freshman football team.

He remained at Southern Methodist until April 1943, when, at the age of 44, he enlisted in the Navy. Lieutenant Junior Grade Higginbotham was stationed at Quonset Point Naval Air Station in Rhode Island, but two weeks after his arrival he underwent an emergency abdominal operation at the naval hospital. Higginbotham never recovered from the surgery. He died on May 23, 1943 and is buried at West Hill Cemetery in Sherman, Texas.

“I have met many of his former Southern Methodist players,” said his grandson Scott Higginbotham, “and have heard nothing but great things. They tell me he was strict, and extremely fair. All had the highest respect. I would have loved to have known him.”

Roswell Higginbotham was buried in Sherman, Texas, and survived by his wife, Margaret, and their son, Bobby. In 1973, he was elected to the Texas A&M Athletic Hall of Fame.