Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

Page 13

physical handicaps, like one armed outfielder Pete Gray, joined the scarce supply of veterans technically unfit for service and provided the nation with a brand of baseball far removed from the glamour days that began the decade, though the fans that took their mind off war to watch them understood. By the way, Gray batted an unbelievable .218.

World War II stripped many of the game’s greats of up to four years of their prime in baseball. If not for armed conflict, Ted Williams, arguably the best pure hitter the game has ever seen, might have finished his career with 3,200 hits and 650 home runs. Warren Spahn, the game’s most productive southpaw, quite possibly would have topped 400 wins. Bob Feller, armed with a