Show Notes

There are a lot of baseball books out there but few delve into the kind of detail that Steve Gietschier (rhymes with "itchier") delivers in "Baseball: The Turbulent Midcentury Years."
His book covers the sport from the depths of the Great Depression to the uncertainties of World War II right through the 1950s. Gietschier draws his title from the quote, "I prefer turbulent progress rather than quiet stagnation," uttered by Brooklyn Dodger executive Branch Rickey, the man who integrated the major leagues by inserting Jackie Robinson into the Dodger lineup in 1946.
While Robinson broke the color barrier, another individual highlighted by Gietschier brought color to the game. Bill Veeck, the man responsible for planting ivy in Wrigley Field  was both a promoter and a forward thinker, the author told Steve Tarter.
Veeck served in the Marines during WWII, suffering an injury that later resulted in the amputation of his right leg. But losing a leg didn't slow Veeck, the owner of the Cleveland Indians when they won the World Series in 1948.  After taking over the St. Louis Browns, Veeck was responsible for sending 3-foot-7 Eddie Gaedel to the plate in 1951, the smallest batter to ever appear in a major league game (Gaedel walked on four pitches as you might have figured).
Veeck later took ownership of the Chicago White Sox. "He was renown for trying to attract fans," noted Gietschier, who shed light on the exploits of another executive,  Harry Frazee, the former Peorian who was the Boston Red Sox owner  remembered for selling Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1920.
Ruth was sold for $100,000 (in today's money, that would be $1.5 million).
While the story goes that Frazee sold off Ruth to finance his Broadway productions, that version isn't quite right, said Gietschier. 
"You have to remember that Ruth, while a rising talent in 1920, wasn't doing what Shohei Ohtani is doing for the Los Angeles Angels this year, starring as both pitcher and slugger," he said, adding that Ruth was also a troublemaker and a free spirit at that time. 
The fact that Ruth slammed 54 home runs in his first year with the Yankees, 39 more than the National League home-run leader, forever tainted the transaction that Red Sox fans have agonized over for 100 years.