Commander Kelly: American Invasions, Italian Invasions & Baseball!

Monday, November 2, 2015

American Invasions, Italian Invasions & Baseball!

Americans Invade Cooperstown!
Baseball Hall of Fame, Cooperstown, NY

In America Invades we noted several of the connections between the US military and baseball, our national pastime. (See also my earlier post...http://americanconservativeinlondon.blogspot.com/2015/10/american-baseball-imperialism-revised.html)

2 out of 5 original hall of famers served in World War I
Cooperstown, NY

Pay a visit to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY (http://baseballhall.org/) and you will get a sense of how many major league baseball players served in the military. Two out of five of the original inductees to the Hall of Fame (Ty Cobb and Christy Mathewson) served in World War I.

Stan Musial, USN Vet WW2

Many more Hall of Famers served in World War II and during the Korean war. Stan Musial, for example, served in the US Navy during World War II.

Angels Sombrero

In the Mexico chapter we note that "Abner Doubleday, served in the Mexican-American War with the First Regiment of Artillery." Today baseball remains very popular in Mexico.

In the Dominican Republic chapter we wrote that "The US Marines would occupy the country from 1916 to 1924. They brought a kind of peace to the country and helped bring baseball to the Dominican Republic." Today many Dominicans play in the big leagues.

In the German chapter we discussed the American occupation that followed the end of World War II. "Steps were immediately taken to exorcize the ghosts of fascism from Germany with a program of de-Nazification and targeting the symbols of Nazism. For instance, GIs blew up the huge stone swastika that overlooked Zeppelin Field in Nuremberg. We even converted the Hitler Youth stadium in Nuremberg into a baseball park. It was here at Soldier’s Field that the European Theatre of Operations World Series was played in September of 1945."

Italians don't play much baseball but Italian Americans have distinguished themselves on diamonds in the USA and around the world.

Joe DiMaggio shirt, Cooperstown, NY

Joe DiMaggio, the famous Yankee Clipper, joined the United States Army Air Force in 1943 but did not see combat. His parents had been classified as enemy aliens during the war. Joe’s younger brother, Dom DiMaggio, was classified as 4F but managed to enlist in the US Navy, where he played baseball for the Norfolk Naval Training Station Nine.