During the four seasons the U.S. was at war in World War II (1942-1945), 533 players made their major-league debuts. There were 67 first-time major leaguers under the age of 21 (Joe Nuxhall the youngest at 15 in 1944). More than 60 percent of the players in the 1941 Opening Day lineups departed for the service. The 1944 Dodgers had only Dixie Walker and Mickey Owen as the two regulars from their 1941 pennant-winning team. The owners brought in not only first-timers but also many oldsters. Hod Lisenbee pitched 80 innings for the Reds in 1945 at the age of 46. He had last pitched in the major leagues in 1936. War veteran and former POW Bert Shepard, with an artificial leg, pitched in one game for the 1945 Senators, and one-armed outfielder Pete Gray played for the St. Louis Browns. The war years featured firsts and lasts. The St. Louis Browns won their first (and last) pennant in 1944 — a feat made more amazing by the fact that they had not finished in the first division since 1929. The 1944 team featured 13 players classified as 4-F. The Chicago Cubs appeared in the 1945 World Series but have not made it back since. More than 50 members of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) have contributed to this volume. We invite you to sit back and relax as you learn Who's on First. Sternman, Mel Marmer, Merrie A. Fidler, Michael Huber, Michael Huber And Rachel Hamelers, Mike Mcclary, Peter C. Bjarkman, Rex Hamann, Rich Bogovich, Richard Cuicchi, Richard Moraski, Rory Costello And Lou Hernández, Seamus Kearney, Sidney Davis, Steve Smith, Thomas Ayers, Tom Hawthorn, Walter LecontePartial Table of Contents:The Business of BaseballDuring World War II“But Where is Pearl Harbor?” Baseball and the Day the World Changed, December 7, 1941The Tri-Cornered War Bond Baseball GameNATIONAL LEAGUEBoston BravesBen CardoniBuck EtchisonButch NiemanMystery Member of the ‘45 BravesBrooklyn DodgersJohn “Fats” D’AntonioBill HartLee PfundChicago CubsJorge ComellasBilly HolmWalter SignerCincinnati RedsTomás de la CruzBuck FausettDick SipekNew York GiantsAl GardellaFrank SewardRoy ZimmermanPhiladelphia PhilliesChet CovingtonHilly FlitcraftLee RileyPittsburgh PiratesXavier RescignoLen GilmoreFrankie ZakSt. Louis CardinalsJack CreelGene CrumlingBob KeelyAMERICAN LEAGUEBoston Red SoxOtey ClarkTy LaForestStan PartenheimerThe Frostbite League: Spring Training 1943-45The 1944 Red Sox: What Could Have BeenChicago White SoxVince CastinoGuy CurtrightFloyd SpeerCleveland IndiansOtto DenningJim McDonnellMickey RoccoDetroit TigersChuck HostetlerBobby MaierCharlie MetroNew York YankeesJoe BuzasMike GarbarkBud MethenyPhiladelphia AthleticsOrie ArntzenJim TyackWoody WheatonSt. Louis BrownsMilt ByrnesCharley FuchsPete GrayWashington SenatorsEd ButkaJug ThesengaTony ZardónSenators Who Died in CombatOTHER ESSAYSThe All-Star Games in the War YearsWartime Baseball: Minor Leagues, Major Changes (San Diego to Buffalo)Impact of WWII on the Negro LeaguesBaseball’s Women on the Field During WWIIIn-season Exhibition Games During WartimeThe Double Victory Campaign and the Campaign to Integrate Baseball