World War II Chronicle: June 21, 1941
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Pictured on the front page is George F. Crocker, a Navy diver preparing to descend 440 feet to reach the USS O-9. Crocker earned the Navy Cross for his efforts during the salvage of the sunken USS Squalus in 1939. 33 members of the crew were saved then, but it is unlikely anyone from O-9 has survived. Pressure at that depth is nearly 200 pounds per square inch — roughly 13 times that found at sea level… Meanwhile, the U.S. Army Air Corps is now the U.S. Army Air Force…
Sports section starts on page 28. Ted Williams paces American League hitters with an impressive .420 mark, and The Kid has been above .400 since May 24… Nearly the entire St. Louis Cardinals lineup is in the National League’s top ten list. Pinch hitter Estel Crabtree hasn’t appeared in a big-league game for eight years prior to the 1941 season, he is on a tear. Crabtree is currently hitting .368 and finishes the year with a .341 batting average in 198 plate appearances for the Cardinals…
National League Batting Leaders through June 21
| 1 | Pete Reiser (Brooklyn) | .366 |
| 2 | Enos Slaughter | .352 |
| 3 | John Mize | .342 |
| 4 | Stan Hack (Chicago) | .333 |
| 5 | Johnny Cooney (Boston) | .325 |
| 6 | Terry Moore | .316 |
| 7 | Jimmy Brown | .314 |
| 8 | Arky Vaughn (Pittsburgh) | .314 |
| 9 | Don Padgett | .310 |
| 10 | Johnny Hopp | .308 |
Detroit’s Dizzy Trout (5-2) and Al Benton held Joe DiMaggio to just one hit. DiMaggio knocked in first baseman Johnny Sturm with two outs in the second, and the Yankees would lose 5-2. He is now tied with St. Louis Browns first baseman George McQuinn with a 34-game hitting streak. Dom DiMaggio notches 34 consecutive games with a hit in 1949.
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | |
| DiMaggio CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .353 |
Al Benton closed out the game for the Tigers. An All-Star in 1941 and 42, Benton was considered one of baseball’s top relief pitchers but loses two seasons to service in the U.S. Navy during the 1943 and 1944. Benton is the only Major League pitcher to have faced both Babe Ruth (1934) and Mickey Mantle (1952).
1941 is Sturm’s first and only Major League season. He becomes the Yankees regular first baseman, hitting .239 and playing 124 games, then joins the Army where he loses fingertip in a tractor accident during his service. He stays in and serves in Guam, Saipan, Tinian, and Iwo Jima. After a broken wrist ends his comeback attempt in 1946, Sturm becomes a minor league manager and scout is credited with inviting a young player named Mickey Mantle to try out for the Yankees.
Major League Baseball’s Longest Hitting Streaks (as of June 21, 1941)
| 1 | Willie Keeler | 45 | 1896-97 |
| 2 | Bill Dahlen | 42 | 1894 |
| 3 | George Sisler | 41 | 1922 |
| 4 | Ty Cobb | 40 | 1911 |
| 5 | Gene DeMontreville | 36 | 1896-97 |
| 6 | Fred Clarke | 35 | 1895 |
| Ty Cobb | 35 | 1917 | |
| George Sisler | 35 | 1924-25 | |
| 7 | Joe DiMaggio | 34 | 1941 |
| George McQuinn | 34 | 1938 |
Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 21 June 1941. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1941-06-21/ed-1/