On this day in 1943: In a war-benefit exhibition game at Yankee Stadium, Babe Ruth and Ted Williams meet in uniform for the second and last time during their careers.
Ruth, 48 and long retired, manages and pinch-hits for a team of New York Yankees and Cleveland Indians. Williams, 24, plays for the North Carolina Pre-Flight Cloudbusters, made up of major leaguers undergoing training at Marine pre-flight school in Chapel Hill.
Lew, there is an entire chapter devoted to this game in author Anne Keene’s new book, “The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II.”
Anne, a UNC Chapel Hill alumna class of 1987, not only brings her magnificent writing and research skills to play in this book, but she also has a family tie as well. Her Grandfather was Commanding Officer of UNC’s Navy Pre-Flight School and her father was batboy and mascot for the famous baseball team, which featured Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, Johnny Sain and other major league players.
The book, which was released in May, is doing really well…already in its 2nd printing.
https://www.annerkeene.com/
More on the story in the NYTs…but they leave out the North Carolina connections.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/28/sports/baseball/baseball-yankees-world-war-ll-ruth-williams.html
Thanks to you both… What a shot of the photogs capturing Ruth’s “mighty foul”!