Chronicle Commentary: May 8, 1941
Belleau Wood, ‘the Bulge,’ and Baseball
American League pitchers couldn’t stop Cecil Travis and the Germans couldn’t either.
We have mentioned Washington shortstop Cecil Travis before, and today’s newspaper highlights just how tough the Georgia farmboy is, playing through hands completely covered with blisters and sporting an open wound from Phil Rizzuto’s spikes and still reaching base one out of every two at-bats (.500 on-base percentage). Here is how baseball’s top three hitters of 1941 stack up at this point of the season:
Batting averages going into May 8’s game:
Cecil Travis .464
Ted Williams .368
Joe DiMaggio .293
At the end of the 1941 season Williams famously concludes his campaign at .406, Travis comes in second with .359 — leading the majors with 209 hits — and American League Most Valuable Player DiMaggio ends up two points behind at .357. An article in today’s sports section claims that Washington’s trainers have trimmed so much skin from Travis’ hands that he only has an area the size of a dime remaining. Many of us — myself included — know the pain of batting or throwing with blistered hands or playing with an open wound, but who could do so against the likes of Bob Feller and Thornton Lee?
On this day 80 years ago, Washington faced the defending American League champion Detroit Tigers, who are taking the field without 1940 MVP Hank Greenberg for the first time. Although the draft board allowed Greenberg to take the field one more time so he could join the team as they raised the 1940 championship pennant over Tiger Stadium, he declined and traveled to Fort Custer to begin basic training. He leaves behind his $50,000 salary for $21 a month (just under $1 million in 2021 dollars).
Hank did squeeze in 19 games before departing, belting his 248th and 249th career home runs on his last game, and as yesterday’s paper reports, he leaves a huge hole in the clubhouse. Ned Harris is picked to take over left field, but only plays a dozen games in left. Rip Radcliff handles most of the left field duties, along with Barney McCosky and Ned Harris. All three of these Tigers will serve in the Navy during World War II, Harris doing so despite being 38 years old when he enlisted. Del Baker’s Tigers had to make do with losing at least 15 players to military service, and incidentally, the Detroit manager served in the Navy during World War I.
Moving on from sports, Capt. James Roosevelt — one of Pres. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s four sons in uniform — has reportedly arrived in Cairo, Egypt as an observer. Accompanying him is Maj. Gerald C. Thomas, who earned a Silver Star during the Battle of Belleau Wood during World War I and later fought in Haiti. You can find out more about Capt. Roosevelt’s mission here. As for Maj. Thomas, he is recalled from Egypt in two months when he is named assistant operations officer for the newly formed 1st Marine Division, and is decorated for his role in the Guadalcanal, Tulagi, and Bougainville campaigns. Thomas is named Commanding General of the 1st Marine Division during the Korean War and earns the Army’s Distinguished Service Cross for his leadership and courage under fire. After returning to the United States, Pres. Harry Truman names him Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps.