World War II was a trying time for the United States and equally so for baseball. More than 4,500 professional players swapped flannels for military uniforms to serve their nation and future Hall of Famers like Bob Feller, Hank Greenberg, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams lost vital playing time in the prime of their careers.

But the war years also saw rise to a new dynasty of military baseball as teams all around the globe suddenly found their lineups stacked with former professionals. Teams like the Great Lakes Naval Training Station in Illinois were as strong as some of the major league clubs and indeed often beat big league teams in exhibition games. The Army also built formidable teams as did the Army Air Force and Coast Guard.

Undoubtedly, baseball's greatest sacrifice must be the professional players who lost their lives serving their country. Two players with major league experience (Elmer Gedeon and Harry O'Neill) along with 113 minor leaguers died while in military service in World War II. Baseball in Wartime honors those and all others who lost playing time during the dark days of the war. It also commemorates the great achievements of military baseball teams and the morale-boosting affects they had on all who watched them play.

I'd like to say thank you to everyone who has kindly made donations to the Baseball in Wartime project in recent weeks. Your contributions are much appreciated and help greatly in further WWII baseball research.