The Gas and Flame Men
Baseball and the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I
Seiten
2024
Potomac Books Inc (Verlag)
978-1-64012-605-3 (ISBN)
Potomac Books Inc (Verlag)
978-1-64012-605-3 (ISBN)
The Gas and Flame Men tells how chemical warfare changed the course of World War I, war in general, and the game of baseball—with famous players stepping away from the game to serve and fight in France.
When the United States officially entered World War I in 1917, it was woefully underprepared for chemical warfare, in which the British, French, and Germans had been engaged since 1915. In response, the U.S. Army created an entirely new branch: the Chemical Warfare Service. The army turned to trained chemists and engineers to lead the charge—and called on an array of others, including baseball players, to fill out the ranks.
The Gas and Flame Men is the first full account of Major League ballplayers who served in the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I. Four players, two club executives, and a manager served in the small and hastily formed branch, six of them as gas officers. Remarkably, five of the seven—Christy Mathewson, Branch Rickey, Ty Cobb, George Sisler, and Eppa “Jeptha” Rixey—are now enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York. The son of a sixth Hall of Famer, player and manager Ned Hanlon, was a young officer killed in action in France with the First Gas Regiment. Prominent chemical soldiers also included veteran Major League catcher and future manager George “Gabby” Street and Boston Braves president and former Harvard football coach Percy D. Haughton.
The Gas and Flame Men explores how these famous baseball men, along with an eclectic mix of polo players, collegiate baseball and football stars, professors, architects, and prominent social figures all came together in the Chemical Warfare Service. Jim Leeke examines their service and its long-term effects on their physical and mental health—and on Major League Baseball and the world of sports. The Gas and Flame Men also addresses historical inaccuracies and misperceptions surrounding Christy Mathewson’s early death from tuberculosis in 1925, long attributed to wartime gas exposure.
When the United States officially entered World War I in 1917, it was woefully underprepared for chemical warfare, in which the British, French, and Germans had been engaged since 1915. In response, the U.S. Army created an entirely new branch: the Chemical Warfare Service. The army turned to trained chemists and engineers to lead the charge—and called on an array of others, including baseball players, to fill out the ranks.
The Gas and Flame Men is the first full account of Major League ballplayers who served in the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I. Four players, two club executives, and a manager served in the small and hastily formed branch, six of them as gas officers. Remarkably, five of the seven—Christy Mathewson, Branch Rickey, Ty Cobb, George Sisler, and Eppa “Jeptha” Rixey—are now enshrined in the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York. The son of a sixth Hall of Famer, player and manager Ned Hanlon, was a young officer killed in action in France with the First Gas Regiment. Prominent chemical soldiers also included veteran Major League catcher and future manager George “Gabby” Street and Boston Braves president and former Harvard football coach Percy D. Haughton.
The Gas and Flame Men explores how these famous baseball men, along with an eclectic mix of polo players, collegiate baseball and football stars, professors, architects, and prominent social figures all came together in the Chemical Warfare Service. Jim Leeke examines their service and its long-term effects on their physical and mental health—and on Major League Baseball and the world of sports. The Gas and Flame Men also addresses historical inaccuracies and misperceptions surrounding Christy Mathewson’s early death from tuberculosis in 1925, long attributed to wartime gas exposure.
Jim Leeke is a former news journalist, a retired copywriter and creative director, and a U.S. Navy veteran. He is the author of several books, including The Turtle and the Dreamboat (Potomac Books, 2022), The Best Team Over There: The Untold Story of Grover Cleveland Alexander and the Great War (Nebraska, 2021), and From the Dugouts to the Trenches: Baseball during the Great War (Nebraska, 2017).
List of Illustrations
1. Nashville
2. Gabby
3. Frightfulness
4. Winter
5. Good Scout
6. CWS
7. France
8. Summer
9. Final Innings
10. Shipping Out
11. Autumn
12. Coignes
13. Homecomings
14. Saranac Lake
15. Cooperstown
Acknowledgments
List of Abbreviations
Notes
Bibliography
Index
| Erscheinungsdatum | 17.01.2024 |
|---|---|
| Zusatzinfo | 19 photographs, 6 illustrations, index |
| Verlagsort | Dulles |
| Sprache | englisch |
| Maße | 152 x 229 mm |
| Themenwelt | Natur / Technik ► Fahrzeuge / Flugzeuge / Schiffe ► Militärfahrzeuge / -flugzeuge / -schiffe |
| Sachbuch/Ratgeber ► Sport ► Ballsport | |
| Geschichte ► Allgemeine Geschichte ► Neuzeit (bis 1918) | |
| Geschichte ► Teilgebiete der Geschichte ► Militärgeschichte | |
| Sozialwissenschaften ► Politik / Verwaltung | |
| ISBN-10 | 1-64012-605-8 / 1640126058 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1-64012-605-3 / 9781640126053 |
| Zustand | Neuware |
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Buch | Softcover (2023)
Motorbuch Verlag
CHF 38,90
