World War II era[edit]

The onset of World War II created a significant shortage of professional baseball players, as
more than 500 men left MLB teams to serve in the military. Many of them played on service
baseball teams that entertained military personnel in the US or in the Pacific. MLB teams of this
time largely consisted of young men, older players, and those with a military classification of 4F,
indicating mental, physical, or moral unsuitability for service. Men like Pete Gray, a one-armed
outfielder, got the chance to advance to the major leagues. However, MLB rosters did not include
any black players through the end of the war.[88] Black players, many of whom served in the war,
were still restricted to playing Negro league baseball.[89]
Wartime blackout restrictions, designed to keep outdoor lighting at low levels, caused another
problem for baseball. These rules limited traveling and night games to the point that the 1942
season nearly had to be canceled.[89] On January 14, 1942, MLB Commissioner Kenesaw
Mountain Landis wrote a letter to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and pleaded for the
continuation of baseball during the war in hopes for a start of a new major league season.
President Roosevelt responded, "I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep
baseball going. There will be fewer people unemployed and everybody will work longer hours
and harder than ever before. And that means that they ought to have a chance for recreation and
for taking their minds off their work even more than before." [90]
With the approval of President Roosevelt, spring training began in 1942 with few repercussions.
The war interrupted the careers of stars including Stan Musial, Bob Feller, Ted Williams, and Joe
DiMaggio, but baseball clubs continued to field their teams.[91]