This is Memorial Day Weekend. We think of it as the kickoff to summer, the traditional opening of the pool season, a great time to have a picnic or take off for a vacation. But let’s take a moment to remember the real reason behind the federal holiday. Memorial Day honors men and women who died in service while defending our country during war or military action. 

Major leaguers Elmore Gedeon and Harry O’Neill died in World War II. Alex Burr, Larry Chappel, Harry Glenn, Eddie Grant, Newt Halliday, Ralph Sherman and Bun Troy perished in World War I. Countless minor league players also died in these and other conflicts. 

Many major leaguers served their country in the military. While some served basically by playing baseball there was no shortage of those who saw active combat around the globe. So here are just 10 of hundreds who distinguished themselves in service.

10. Roy Gleason – 1963 – 1.000-0-0-3-0 

According to the North County Times, Gleason was the only one of over 3.4 million Americans that served in Vietnam to have previously played in the majors. Gleason was wounded in battled in 1968 and evacuated by helicopter. After recovering, he was sent home without any of his possessions he brought with him, including his 1963 World Series ring. In 2003, Gleason threw out the first pitch at a September game in Dodger Stadium. The entire Dodger team then came out on the field and presented Gleason with a replica of his lost ring.

9. Hank Greenberg – 1938 - .315-58-146-144-7

Drafted in 1940 after first being classified as 4F (unfit for duty, flat feet), he was honorably discharged after Congress released men 28 and older from service. This came two days before Pearl Harbor. Greenberg later re-enlisted and volunteered for the Air Force. After graduating from Officer Candidate School, he was commissioned as a First Lieutenant. Greenberg served overseas in the China-Burma-India Theatre scouting locations for B-29 bases. 

8. Ty Cobb – 1911 - .420-8-127-147-83

7. Christy Mathewson – 1908 – 37 W, 5 SV, 1.43 ERA, 259 K, 0.837 WHIP

World War I was known for the use of poisonous gas. To fight this, the U.S. developed a Chemical Warfare Service division. This was a high-profile unit and the military actively recruited professional athletes as members. Cobb and Mathewson trained with the unit in France during 1918, but never saw combat duty because of the unexpected armistice late that year. 

But while they did not face enemy fire, the two Hall of Famers were exposed to Mustard Gas during a training drill. It was standard procedure to release the poison gas in an air-tight chamber. The men would receive a signal that they were going to release the gas and then they would put on their masks and wait for the gas to dissipate.

During one drill, the signal was poorly delivered and many of the men missed it and were exposed to the gas. Eight men died within a few hours, others were crippled. Cobb ended up having a colorless discharge drained from his chest for weeks. Mathewson, who had the rank of Captain, died of tuberculosis in 1925.

6. Hoyt Wilhelm – 1952 – 15 W, 11 SV, 2.43 ERA, 108 K, 1.155 WHIP

Shortly after signing a professional contract out of high school in 1942, Wilhelm was in the army. He earned a Purple Heart while being wounded in The Battle of the Bulge, the most bloody battle in the European Theatre. Wilhelm was one of 81,000 American casualties of the German offensive in Eastern Belgium and Northern Luxembourg that occurred in snow and sub-freezing temperatures.

5. Yogi Berra – 1950 - .322-28-124-116-4

Like Wilhelm, Berra saw active duty before his major league career began. He served in the Navy, where he volunteered for duty on a rocket launcher, the USS Bayfield. He participated in the first wave of D-Day, as an 18-year old, and fired rockets onto the beach at Normandy. Click here to read an interview with Berra, available in text, audio and video, in which he talks about his war days.

4. Warren Spahn – 1953 – 23 W, 2.10 ERA, 148 K, 1.058 WHIP

A member of the 276^th Engineer Combat Battalion, Spahn was a member of an outfit that was not attached to any one unit, but one that was a “trouble-shooter.” Like Wilhelm, Spahn saw duty at The Battle of the Bulge, where he earned a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star and a battlefield commission to Second Lieutenant for his part in maintaining the traffic flow across the LudendorfBridge at Remagen.

3. Pete Alexander – 1915 – 31 W, 3 SV, 1.22 ERA, 241 SO, 0.842 WHIP

He enlisted in the Army and served as a Sergeant in the 342^nd Field Artillery battalion in  France and was part of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, the deadliest battle for U.S. forces in World War I. Alexander left the Army shell-shocked and deaf in his left ear. He also was hit with shrapnel in his right ear, which later developed cancer and had to be amputated. His war injuries also worsened his epilepsy, which he self-medicated with alcohol. One of the finest pitchers in history and a proud member of the military, Alexander spent time after his major league career in a flea circus, telling his life stories to those who paid him a quarter. He is interned with full military honors and buried at Elmwood Cemetery, outside of St. Paul, Nebraska.     

2. Ted Williams – 1941 - .406-37-120-135-2

 

Missed three whole seasons and played a total of just 43 games in two others because of his service in both World War II and the Korean War. Williams was a Marine Corps pilot who served as a US-based instructor in World War II. But in Korea, he flew 39 combat missions. Williams was a Captain and a member of the Third Marine Air Wing, 223rd Squadron, where he flew an F-9. On an early mission, he was hit by enemy fire but then successfully landed his burning plane without the aid of landing gear. The next day he was back in the air. Williams was awarded the Air Medal and two Gold Stars before receiving a discharge for health reasons, as he contracted both pneumonia and an inner ear problem that made flying impossible. The official Ted Williams Web site has a plethora of pictures of his Korean War days.

1. Bob Feller – 1946 – 26 W, 4 SV, 2.18 ERA, 348 K, 1.158

Feller is still alive and today he might be best known for being the go-to source for the press whenever they want a quote from a cranky old baseball man. But before anyone knocks him for one single thing, we should remember his heroism. Feller was the first player in the majors to volunteer for service, as he joined the Navy three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The previous three years, Feller lead the AL in Wins, and he led the loop in strikeouts for four straight seasons before enlisting. He was en route to negotiate a contract for the 1942 season when he heard about the attack. Feller could have gotten a deferment, as he was the sole provider for his parents and a younger sister. Instead, he spent four prime seasons of his career as a Chief Petty Officer aboard the USS Alabama, where was in charge of a 40-millimeter anti-aircraft mount, usually staffed by 10 gunners.

Feller saw time in both the Atlantic and Pacific theatres in World War II. He earned five campaign ribbons, eight battle stars and fought, among other battles, in the capture of Guam, the battle for Saipan, the invasion of Okinawa and at Iwo Jima.

Everyone wonders what could have been if these players did not lose prime years to the military. But in Feller’s case, it might have been the best thing that could have happened for his career. By the age of 22, Feller already amassed 1,448.1 innings. Perhaps the time off kept him from suffering a career-ending arm injury. He came back to pitch in parts of 12 seasons and amassed 159 wins in the majors after his Navy service.

This is a weekly Top 10 column and I usually try to find the best and rank them accordingly. But this week is about men who put the good of the nation ahead of their own welfare. Feller scoffs at the use of the word “hero” as a description of his war efforts. Williams says that 99 percent of the pilots he flew with were more skilled than he. So, while there are numbers before these names, let’s not get too caught up in that and instead celebrate these men for their achievements both on the field and (especially) in service of their country.

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written by BrianJoura, May 24, 2009

The picture of Gleason shows him holding his Purple Heart and wearing his World Series ring.

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