The Boys Who Were Left Behind by John Heidenry

Were a bad baseball franchise, and their fans, what there were of them, Louis they had finished in last place fourteen timesĪnd second-to-last a dozen more heading into 1944. Had taken permanent lodging in the depths of the second division.

With the depleted rosters throughout the league. No one gave them a chance heading into the 1944 season, even The team was littered withĬharacters whose 'character' most often took the form ofĭrunkenness, which often led to brawling, another of their favorite The Browns consisted largely of castoffs and men who had beenĬategorized as 4-F, not fit enough to serve in the military yet somehowĪble to play professional baseball. The Boys Who Were Left Behind is theĪbly-told story of that most improbable meeting and provides a welcomeĬontribution to our understanding of baseball during the World War Two Heidenry and Brett Topel argue was the most unlikely World Series in the Reality is that in 1944 two teams from St. Thought exercises, parlor games, and cocktail party arguments. They would have made the championship series, would not have faced offĪgainst the hapless cross-town Browns were it not for the dastardly interventions of Hirohito and Hitler.īut historians do not generally deal in counterfactuals except as Remaining fans from that era agree: the talented Cardinals, assuming In the form of World War Two the 1944 fall classic might well have It was the World Series confrontation that under ordinaryĬircumstances never would have taken place. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2006. The Boys Who Were Left Behind: Theġ944 World Series between the Hapless St. The Boys Who Were Left Behind: The 1944 World Series between the Hapless St. APA style: John Heidenry and Brett Topel.2006 Sports Literature Association 11 May. MLA style: 'John Heidenry and Brett Topel.

The Boys Who Were Left Behind by John Heidenry