The Pastime in Turbulence

by Brent P. Kelley

Summary:"The 1940s were years of change. Minor league free agents were introduced in 1940 by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis; Japan bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941 and player after player left to join the war effort with men and boys both below and well above draft age completing the rosters; 1946 saw a first: two National League teams, the St. Louis Cardinals and Brooklyn Dodgers, tied for first place, forcing a best two-out-of three series; 1947 brought Jackie Robinson to the field for the Brooklyn Dodgers; and the American League saw its own tie for first in 1948 between the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox, resolved in a one-game playoff."-OCLC