Featured Photo Above:
Addie Joos Benefit Game, July 24, 1911
(Color Restoration by Chris Whitehouse of They Played in Color website)
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The “Salute to Baseball and the Military” Photo Gallery
Click on any image below to see photos in full size and to start Photo Gallery:
1917 White Sox In Military Formation!
L-R: Ray Schalk, Jim “Death Valley” Scott, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, John “Shano” Collins, Unidentified, Swede Risberg, Joe Jenkins, Pants Roland (Mgr.), Unidentified, Ted Jourdan, Eddie Murphy, Happy Felsch, Eddie Collins. Nemo Leibold is behind Hap Felsch, possibly Reb Russel behind Pants Roland, Eddie Ciccotte behind Ted Jourdan, and possibly Dave Danforth behind Risberg.
Here’s a repost of one of my favorite “baseball and military” photos, showing the 1917 White Sox going through military formations. With war looming over the 1917 season, only a handful of players had been drafted into the military and fewer enlisted. Those who continued to play took part in token military “drills,” as we see in the featured photo, to show their support for the war effort. It also was a way for ballplayers to avoid being seen as “slackers” – the common term at the time applied to those trying to avoid military service. Baseball has a great connection with the military. Over the years, many major leaguers have served in the military, both in peacetime and during war, often sacrificing valuable years of their careers to military service time.
If you have a photo of a favorite player with a connection to the military, just post it in the comments section below. I’ll be sure to add it to the photo gallery, crediting you as the source!
Photo Credits: All from Google search
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