Season of '42: Joe D., Teddy Ballgame, and Baseball's Fight to Survive a Turbulent First Year of War

by Jack Cavanaugh, Robert C. Brewster (Narrator)

Big league baseball would seem to have been a hard sell in 1942. World War II was not going well for the United States in the Pacific and not much better in Europe. Moreover, the country was in drastically short supply of ships, planes, submarines, torpedoes, and other war materials, and Uncle Sam needed men, millions of them, including those from twenty-one through thirty-five years of age who had been ordered to register for the draft, the age range of most big league baseball players.

But after a “green light” from President Roosevelt, major league baseball played on in 1942 as it would throughout the war. It turned out to be an extraordinary season, too, spiced by a brash, young, and swift St. Louis Cardinal team that stunned the baseball world by winning the World Series. The 1942 season would be overshadowed by war, though, with many people wondering whether it was really all right for four hundred seemingly healthy and athletic men to play a child’s game and earn far more money than the thousands of young Americans whose lives were at risk as they fought the Germans and Japanese abroad.

In Season of ’42, veteran sportswriter Jack Cavanaugh takes a look at this historic baseball season, how it was shaped and affected by the war and what, ultimately, it meant to America.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Nonfiction, History, Audiobook

Audible Audio

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed. I do not discount the hard work that went into such a huge undertaking that the sub-title of the book promised: "Jo D, Teddy Ballgame, and baseball's Fight to Survive a Turbulent First Year of War." However, the editing was very poorly done, as I identified at least five glaring errors in fact; and countless typos that were never corrected. This kind of poor editing put doubt in my mind as a reader regarding the veracity of any other fact.

The story did not really have a cohesive thread and any connection between baseball and the first year of World War II seemed incidental. It read like a series of sport articles from the newspaper. This was perhaps its strongest feature, ironically enough. However, with the poor editing, it read as if I were sitting with an experienced sports writer who was telling story after disjointed story. Some of them were entertaining but taken with a grain of salt. Some of the stories included opinions that just do not hold up--and sometimes seemed out of place--to my understanding of some of the figures and events with which I have some knowledge. But that seems to be the quality of a sports writer, who full of knowledge, can sometimes get too involved in the content.

I congratulate the author for the massive effort. I just wish he had a better editing team at his disposal. In in a way, I got to see what a first draft of a really awesome book looks like.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good idea in theory, but practice a tepid history of both baseball and the war. In seeking to cover both topics, Cavanaugh succeeds at neither.

[C.G. Carey · Rating 1 out of 5]

If the reader forgives about a million typos and it being factually inaccurate, this would still be a mediocre book.
But, owing to the millions of typos and factual inaccuracies in what was supposed to have been a well researched and well edited, non-fiction title, this book is planted firmly in the terrible column.

The best part of this book is the soft and absorbent paper it's printed on.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

This *could* have been a good book. Unfortunately, it lacks focus, is riddled with mistakes, repeats itself, and was in dire need of an editor.

[Austin Gisriel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jack Cavanaugh's Season of '42 is a new experience for me--it's the first time I've given up on a book after only 25 pages. That's saying something because the book is supposed to deal with two of my favorite topics, i.e. baseball and the American home front during WW II. I no sooner got to page 2, however, when I read ". . . it wouldn't be until late 1943 before some of the aircraft carriers . . . and other ships that had been sunk on December 7 and in 1942 would be replaced. The American Navy didn't lose any carriers at Pearl Harbor. All three were on maneuvers and out of port, a basic WW II fact.

Perhaps worse than such an egregious historical error is the self-important tone with which the reader is strafed with various facts, many of which have no bearing on the subject. Somehow, in a book on baseball in 1942 we get almost an entire page on Pumpsie Green, and if you don't know who this is, you wouldn't be interested in reading any book on this subject anyway. If Cavanaugh came across a fact and he thinks you don't know it, he's going to show you that he does regardless of its relevance. I'll leave it to the other commenters who have already pointed out other factual errors and the many editorial error contained herein.

[Mike Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to the audio version of this book. The title says it covers the Major League Baseball season of 1942, but in reality it covers much more.

The book goes into details of what was happening with World War II on the home front. The book also went into back stories of a lot of the people and events in the book. I didn’t like the layout of the book due to that reason. Multiple times as events in 1942 were explained, it led to a backstory sometimes stretching back forty years.

There is a ton of information in the book, both about baseball and World War II. I just wish it was laid out a little better. Even so I enjoy the book because of the wealth of knowledge it possessed.

[Megan Kortze · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dove into this book headfirst. I was so curious about baseball during the critical parts of WWII, but this book left me with not enough information about baseball itself. A LOT of information was repeated twice, or maybe even three times! And that repeated information was war stories or history, not about baseball.
While I don’t think this book was great, it was good.

[Russell Berry · Rating 1 out of 5]

I recycled this book after finishing it - it does not belong on my book shelves.

The text (and the bibliography!) contains numerous factual errors/typos. For example, he claims that Babe Ruth hit 60 HRs in 1926, instead of the correct season of 1927. "David McCullough" is spelled "Davis McCullough" and so on and so on.

I don't see an editor or fact checker listed. That's too bad.

[Mark Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a scattered, somewhat incohesive, account of both the 1942 baseball season and America's first year at war. The jumping back and forth between WWII battle scenes and baseball in New York does neither justice, but the book does contain some fun history.

[Bill Friedmann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhere in there, was a great story loaded with interesting anecdotes and fun facts. Unfortunately the scattered writing style and unnecessary asides detracted from the experience and made this book almost unreadable.

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting account of the year 1942 in America.....contrasting the major league baseball season with what was going on in Europe and the Pacific during America's first full year in WWII.

[Megan]

DNS 7/14/2021

[Randall D. Mantik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of baseball information and...

Lots of baseball information in this book. Plus historical facts about WWII I'd never heard before. Thank you Jack Cavanaugh!

[Lady ♥ Belleza · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1942 the war was not going well for the United States. There was a great need for ships, planes, submarines etc and manpower. Especially strong young men between the ages of 21 and 35. It therefore might have seemed frivolous for men to be playing a “kid’s game”, at this time. President Roosevelt however gave major league baseball a ‘green light’, many draft boards went along with it, the ball players that were drafted were usually assigned as physical fitness trainers or actually played ball for the Army or Navy.

The season ended with the St. Louis Cardinals beating the NY Yankees in the World Series in 5 games (don’t worry, Yankees beat the Cardinals in 1943 in 5 games). Baseball would be played for the rest of the war, but not at the same level since after 1942 many players did end up drafted. But it was a magical season, with twilight games played in some cities because of the blackouts. With rationing of sugar and butter and nylons and gasoline, baseball took peoples minds off the war for a few hours.

This book covers baseball in that season, but also life in that season, an interesting well researched and written account, that I feel would be enjoyed by baseball fans and anyone interested in the history of the United States.

[Paul Miller]

It's quite a feat to take a fascinating topic (the first year of the war, intermingled with its impact on baseball) and tell the story in a flat, boring way. This author manages to pull it off.

Lesson here is you need some genuine passion for a topic that comes through OR some pervasive theme of your book OR something to make the book pull you in and really CARE about the topic. This is a great illustration of an author that doesn't do any of this.

All that aside, the one thing I did learn was that during the first year of the war the German U-Boats were all up and down the east coast, sinking merchant ships. I honestly didn't realize that they were THAT close; makes you more readily understand the mindset that would lead to Japanese internment camps. Nevertheless, don't bother with this book.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite the books' errors, of which there are a few, the author sheds light on a very interesting aspect of American Baseball's history in light of World War II.

There are a lot of traditions and slogans that originated in baseball having to do with the war at the time, which I was surprised to find out. Every chapter was a new insight to why there are so many deep roots within baseball, and why fans of such teams as the Yankees and the Cardinals have such a deep connection.

I know I'll look at Baseball a little differently from now on.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had this book on my wish list. Very disappointed. A lot of history/biography of players that had little to do with what actually happened in 1942.

Would have been interesting, I suppose, to someone less well read in baseball, but there was nothing new here.

[Idgiesmom Shotsky]

Excellent. A blend of my two favorite subjects-- baseball and World War II. However, I did note some typos, which didn't thrill me.

[Jean]

So far it's great!