342 Field Artillery Regiment
342nd Field Artillery Regiment
A01=Jim Leeke
Armistice
Athlete in the Military
Author_Jim Leeke
Baseball
Baseball History
Biography
Camp Funston
Camp Mills
Category=DNBS
Category=SFC
Chicago Cubs
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_sports-fitness
Great War
Major League Baseball
Military Athlete
Military History
Military Service
Military Studies
MLB
National Baseball Hall of Fame
Occupation
Occupied Germany
Philadelphia Phillies
Soldier Athlete
Sports
Sports History
Sports Studies
St Louis Cardinals
Twentieth Century History
World War I
World War One
WW I
Product details
- ISBN 9781496217165
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 01 Mar 2021
- Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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Finalist for the 2022 SABR Seymour Medal
Grover Cleveland Alexander was one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, with 373 career victories during twenty seasons in the Major Leagues. Elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938, the right-hander remains a compelling-and tragic-figure. “Pete” Alexander’s military service during World War I was the demarcation line between his great seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies and his years of struggle and turmoil with the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals after the Great War. Indeed, Alexander’s service during World War I has all but been forgotten, even though it dramatically changed his life-and his game.
Alexander served in the 342nd Field Artillery Regiment, which included big leaguers and star athletes among its officers and men. Naturally, the regiment fielded an outstanding baseball team, but it also faced hard service during the final weeks of the war. After the armistice in November 1918, the unit undertook occupation duty in Germany.
The Best Team Over There examines this crucial period closely: where Alexander was stationed, how he was trained, how he withstood the effects of combat and shelling, how he interacted with his fellow athletes and soldiers, and how the war changed his baseball career, revealing for the first time the little-known details of this critical stage in the legendary pitcher’s life and career. We can’t truly understand Alexander and his enduring appeal to baseball fans without also understanding his life as a gunner and soldier.
Grover Cleveland Alexander was one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, with 373 career victories during twenty seasons in the Major Leagues. Elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938, the right-hander remains a compelling-and tragic-figure. “Pete” Alexander’s military service during World War I was the demarcation line between his great seasons with the Philadelphia Phillies and his years of struggle and turmoil with the Chicago Cubs and the St. Louis Cardinals after the Great War. Indeed, Alexander’s service during World War I has all but been forgotten, even though it dramatically changed his life-and his game.
Alexander served in the 342nd Field Artillery Regiment, which included big leaguers and star athletes among its officers and men. Naturally, the regiment fielded an outstanding baseball team, but it also faced hard service during the final weeks of the war. After the armistice in November 1918, the unit undertook occupation duty in Germany.
The Best Team Over There examines this crucial period closely: where Alexander was stationed, how he was trained, how he withstood the effects of combat and shelling, how he interacted with his fellow athletes and soldiers, and how the war changed his baseball career, revealing for the first time the little-known details of this critical stage in the legendary pitcher’s life and career. We can’t truly understand Alexander and his enduring appeal to baseball fans without also understanding his life as a gunner and soldier.
Jim Leeke is a retired copywriter and creative director as well as a U.S. Navy veteran. He is the author of several books, including From the Dugouts to the Trenches: Baseball during the Great War (Nebraska, 2017), winner of the Larry Ritter Book Award and a SABR Baseball Research Award.
