How World War II Changed Baseball Forever and Revived America’s Pastime

On Feb. 1, 1942, Hank Greenberg — Detroit Tigers slugger and two-time American League Most Valuable Player — took his place in line at Fort Dix, New Jersey, two months after his honorable discharge from the Army, reenlisted and ready to volunteer for service in the U.S. Army Air Corps.

Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor months earlier had brought the United States into World War II, and Greenberg was ready to heed the call. “We are in trouble,” he told The Sporting News, outlining the gravity of the war effort, before adding the obvious: “This doubtless means I am finished with baseball, and it would be silly for me to say I do not leave it without a pang.”