In 1918, a seat-cushion battle at Shibe Park overlapped with an existential debate over baseball’s place in American life amidst a global conflict. Who knew?
I came here for the baseball but I’m staying for the history stuff. This is among the best short pieces I’ve read anywhere this year. Stay the course please.
Definitely two other stories there, particularly with regard to the Negro Leagues--I'll keep an eye out for stories that might lead to bigger answers.
Though I will say that the big difference (with regard to baseball) in the WWII draft was the fact that there was no equivalent to the "work-or-fight" order of 1918. President Roosevelt made it immediately clear--players who were drafted would need to leave the game and "go into the services," but the rest could stay with their day job and keep the game up and running, if diminished. That was huge. The killer of the work-or-fight rules was the way it "double-dipped" from the same pool of manpower, first with those called to service, and then again by driving players away from work in baseball to work elsewhere, leaving, in theory, almost no one left.
Another interesting read, Paul! Can’t wait for parts 2 and 3! Never heard of Enoch Crowder and he doesn’t seem like much fun if he didn’t like baseball ⚾️.
I don't think he knew what fun was. But that actually made him really good at his job, and at putting together an extremely-fraught process in a way that was immune to sentiment (and accompanying criticism). When the Selective Service Act passed, a lot of people still weren't sure if it could be done--there was great concern Americans could simply revolt. But thanks to the way it was done, and the lack of fear or favor in the implementation, it was accepted.
I came here for the baseball but I’m staying for the history stuff. This is among the best short pieces I’ve read anywhere this year. Stay the course please.
Thanks so much Brent! The baseball will pick up as we go here, now that I've given an obscure WWI character his due.
A great read, Paul - I look forward to the next two parts.
I’m curious as to how the draft functioned in WWII (another story maybe) with blacks & the Negro League (1920 start - 1946 end).
Definitely two other stories there, particularly with regard to the Negro Leagues--I'll keep an eye out for stories that might lead to bigger answers.
Though I will say that the big difference (with regard to baseball) in the WWII draft was the fact that there was no equivalent to the "work-or-fight" order of 1918. President Roosevelt made it immediately clear--players who were drafted would need to leave the game and "go into the services," but the rest could stay with their day job and keep the game up and running, if diminished. That was huge. The killer of the work-or-fight rules was the way it "double-dipped" from the same pool of manpower, first with those called to service, and then again by driving players away from work in baseball to work elsewhere, leaving, in theory, almost no one left.
Another interesting read, Paul! Can’t wait for parts 2 and 3! Never heard of Enoch Crowder and he doesn’t seem like much fun if he didn’t like baseball ⚾️.
I don't think he knew what fun was. But that actually made him really good at his job, and at putting together an extremely-fraught process in a way that was immune to sentiment (and accompanying criticism). When the Selective Service Act passed, a lot of people still weren't sure if it could be done--there was great concern Americans could simply revolt. But thanks to the way it was done, and the lack of fear or favor in the implementation, it was accepted.