Over the past few years, I’ve shared some stories that were first published in the Chicago Daily News' "My Biggest Baseball Day" series during World War II. This post is about the story of the stories. How what started as a short-term fill-in series became baseball’s first large scale oral history project while making an important contribution to World War II morale. To do so we'll explore how the series came about, who made it happen, how they did it and its importance then and now.
The first of 159 stories. For some reason this one was entitled "My Greatest Day in Baseball" Chicago Daily News January 23, 1943
In January of 1943, Lloyd Lewis, the sports editor of the Chicago Daily News had a problem. Over the past six years Lewis had built a popular sports section that encouraged reader participation. Now, however, the outlook for finding interesting content wasn’t promising. Winter was always a period of reduced sports activity, limited even further by war time restrictions. Nor was previewing the upcoming baseball season as attractive as it once was. While there would be major league baseball in 1943, the best players were increasingly likely to be wearing fatigues not baseball uniforms.
Fortunately, Lewis, or a staff member, had an idea. Why not have each sportswriter write about his “Biggest Baseball Day?” The goal was to publish enough stories for a week or so. But the writers’ memories proved so popular the series was expanded to include players, managers and even umpires. And even that wasn’t enough. “My Biggest Baseball Day” became a regular offseason feature for the last three years of the war. Unintentionally, the Chicago Daily News created baseball’s first large scale oral history project.
Lloyd Lewis
All told, the paper published 159 baseball memories highlighted by great players like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Cy Young talking about their greatest games. Popular then, these stories still resonate today. Just one example is Cobb's account of a crucial game in the 1907 pennant race, a story that because the game ended in a tie, might otherwise have been forgotten. Other players, although perhaps not well remembered today, contributed to a more complete picture of major league baseball before World War II. While there may not be any direct cause and effect, the series anticipated Lawrence Ritter’s classic The Glory of Their Times.
Lewis began the “Biggest Baseball Day” series with his memories of the fourth game of the 1911 Giants – Athletics World Series. He vividly described the atmosphere at Shibe Park and the drama’s two leading protagonists Christy Mathewson and Frank “Home Run” Baker. Even today, well over a hundred years later, Lewis’ rich prose makes the reader feel like they were there on that long ago October afternoon.
Lewis contributed six stories to the “Biggest Day” series, but his direct participation ended later in 1943 when he became the paper’s managing editor. John Carmichal, the new sports editor, took over the series which became so identified with him, his name is on the original book version. Carmichael was already writing a popular, syndicated column called the “Barber Shop.” By the time he retired, Carmichael estimated he had written over 11000 columns. But even with that hard to believe number, longtime Chicago Tribune writer, Jerome Holtzman’s claimed he couldn’t remember a single time Carmichael “knocked somebody.”
Carmichael was so “universally liked and respected,” that Ted Williams, no fan of sportswriters, called him “the home-run champion of sports writers.” Since players trusted Carmichael, they were more likely to talk to him, enabling Carmichael to use his “ability to set the scene and allow the players to . . . tell their stories.” In addition to leading the project, Carmichael wrote 33 “Biggest Day” stories, fifteen of Hall of Famers including Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson and Connie Mack.
In addition to good leadership, the “Biggest Day” project had the newspaper equivalent of a deep pitching staff. Four writers Hal Totten, Francis Powers, Jack Ryan and Lyall Smith were especially important contributors. Not only were they good writers, but they also knew and valued baseball history. Totten was a pioneering radio play-by-play announcer who reportedly “interviewed about every outstanding player in both leagues.” That alone was excellent preparation for his contributions to the series.
Francis Powers, the most experienced writer, had seen a lot of historic baseball moments and also wrote about the game’s history. He worked on 29 player memories, including Ty Cobb’s story mentioned earlier, one of the best in the series. Like Powers, Jack Ryan, also wrote about baseball history. His 25 stories included Mordecai Brown’s account of the Merkle replay game, which vividly captures the intensity of Dead Ball Era baseball. Lyall Smith not only wrote some of the Daily News stories, he introduced a similar series to the Detroit Free Press in 1947. Totten, Powers, Ryan and Smith understood the game, valued its history and knew how to write interesting and readable articles.
The fans wishes come true. The series will go on - Chicago Daily News - February 3, 1943
With a solid team in place, the next step was finding sufficient material for about 50 articles each offseason. In addition to the Daily News reporters, Lewis recruited writers from other newspapers across the country. Thanks to his interactive approach with the paper’s readers, fans also had a chance to participate. When a reader suggested Rogers Hornsby, Lewis immediately arranged an interview with the future Hall of Famer. Simultaneously, John Carmichael put his time in Florida for spring training to good use, seeking players who “winter there.”
Getting the interview, however, didn’t guarantee a high-quality article. In remembering long-ago events, a player might, intentionally, or otherwise, embellish his performance. Wisely, Lewis and his team took steps to facilitate accuracy. Before the interview, the paper provided the player with the play-by-play, the box score and the Daily News contemporary game article. There was also some screening of players worthiness particularly Buck Weaver of the infamous “Black” Sox. Lewis told readers that the paper’s investigation concluded that Weaver didn’t participate in the fix.
In the interview, the writer used his time with the player to gather as much detailed information as possible about the game and the player’s part in it. Working with that raw material the writer then crafted a story designed to attract, inform and entertain the reader. An excellent example is how John Carmichael worked with Casey Stengel on his “Biggest Baseball Day” story. Stengel chose his major league debut in Brooklyn in a meaningless late 1912 game. Meaningless for everyone but Stengel who got four hits in first major league game.
Casey Stengel about 1916, in front of the fabled Ebbets Field right field wall (before the scoreboard) - Bain Collection
The story begins not with Stengel’s record setting performance, but a raw rookie’s rude introduction to the major leagues. Upon arrival in New York City, the timid Stengel stays close to his hotel for fear of getting lost in the big city. Going to the ballpark the next day does nothing to make him feel more comfortable. His only welcome from his new teammates is an invitation to lose money in a dice game which doesn’t exactly endear the young player to Bill Dahlen, his new manager. Stengel then makes the situation even worse by naively thinking that, like the minor leagues, obeying the manager’s signs is optional.
Stengel’s haphazard arrival in the majors makes it seem unlikely he would survive much less be successful. Against this unpromising backdrop, Stengel’s four hit performance is even more impressive. The story weaves his accomplishments and a rookie’s introduction to the majors into a compelling story any baseball fan would enjoy reading then or now.
Clarence "Ginger" Beaumont
“My Biggest Baseball Day,” was a regular off-season feature in the Chicago Daily News through1945 and was briefly revived in 1950. While most of the stories were from the twentieth century, the paper was fortunate to interview three nineteenth century players – Bobby Lowe, Bill Lange and Ginger Beaumont. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, no attention was paid to the Negro Leagues. But early on the paper did interview Satchel Paige, perhaps due to Lewis’s support for the integration of Major League Baseball.
Drawing that accompanied Satchel Paige's story - Chicago Daily News - March 13, 1943
Players, managers and others shared memories from 26 different World
Series including four classic seventh games. Important regular season contests were also part of the
series including perfect games and no-hitters. Fifty-one of the participants
were Hall of Fame inductees. Among these
were Cobb, Ruth, Tris Speaker, Walter Johnson and Cy Young all of whom
were dead by the time Lawrence Ritter began his Glory of Their Times interviews.
The expanded series more than met the hopes and
expectations of both the paper and its readers. Speaking for many fans, Joseph
Mitchell said that each story was “just like sitting in the park looking at
the game itself.” One fan, Louis Horace became
so dependent on his daily dose of baseball history he warned the paper not to –
“dare run out of em’ for a long time yet.”
It’s no wonder Lewis told one reader that “I can say to you with perfect
frankness that I never worked on a newspaper series that gave me the kick that
this has.”
It was only a question of time before a selection was published in book form. The first version was published in April of 1944 in a special edition for those in the military. Printed in a tabloid format, the book had 35 stories featuring Cobb, Wagner, Ruth as well as Chicago favorites Johnny Evers, Gabby Hartnett and Ed Walsh. Entitled "My Biggest Baseball Day," the anthology was available at cost to servicemen.
Chicago Daily News - June 27, 1944
To no one’s surprise, the book was just as popular as the series, but with even more readers. Over the next two months 50,000 copies were “distributed.” So popular was the book that some businesses got involved. The Edwin Hines Lumber Company, for example, sent almost 600 copies to its employees serving in the military. The head of the Daily News mailroom was so moved by the company's effort that he worked with two of its employees to get all the copies in the mail that same day. Also involved was St. Benedict’s Church in Blue Island, Illinois which sent 375 copies to parishioners in the military including one POW.
If the Daily News needed any confirmation from the servicemen themselves, it came from Corporal Maurice Levy, wounded five times and the recipient of the Distinguished Service Cross. Levy told the paper that “You have no idea how a thing like the Biggest Baseball Day will go the rounds” of servicemen. In complete agreement was Mr. & Mrs. Sam Odelson who sent copies to their seven sons and a son-in-law in the military.
Access to the stories wasn’t limited to the immediate recipient. Exaggerating for effect, Sgt. Nick Delmonico claimed there were “a million guys waiting for me to finish it, so they could enjoy it too.” In a message to Carmichael, Bill Merar said “we discussed each article in the mess room until the wee hours.” Tech Sergeant Stanley Wronski spoke for everyone when he said the stories made him “hope it won’t be long until we see the good old national pastime in the states again.”
The final story - Chicago Daily News - February 28, 1945
The “Biggest Baseball Day” series ended in 1945, but not because of a lack of interest. That same year, the first book version, entitled My Greatest Day in Baseball, was published. More editions followed, with new writers interviewing players from later eras. The 1960s brought Lawrence Ritter’s classic The Glory of Their Times arguably the most popular baseball book of all time. Multiple collections of baseball oral histories followed Ritter and will likely continue to do so.
While there may not be a direct connection between the Chicago Daily News series and Ritter’s book, the “My Biggest Baseball Day” stories are, to my knowledge, the first large scale baseball oral history project. Lloyd Lewis was likely well aware of the irony of how a short-term, stopgap effort grew into a three-year project that made a major contribution to wartime morale.
Lawrence Ritter's Masterpiece
The series was well received because baseball was not just the country’s most popular sport, but its National Pastime. During one of the most difficult times in American history, the stories were more than a pleasant diversion, they were reminders of happier days. Stories of memorable days at the ballpark reminded those far away from home of a life they hoped to return to as soon as possible. The series offered moments of happiness when they were in short supply.
Like any successful baseball team, the “My Biggest Baseball Day” series had leadership, talent and teamwork. Lloyd Lewis approved the initial idea, had the wisdom to see the series potential and a commitment to a high-quality product. He was followed by John Carmichael who led the project for two plus years while working on many of the stories. And the series had a deep roster of writers who appreciated baseball history, could work with players and write well.
The series also couldn’t have happened without players willing to talk about their most memorable days in baseball. The teamwork between players and writers was like a highly skilled pitcher-catcher battery. The player provided the content which the writer wove into an interesting, readable story. Francis Powers said the goal of the series was “to give lovers of baseball vivid word pictures of the great games of long ago and immediate past.” The “team” did that and then some.
While the series’ greatest contribution was to its initial readers, it’s also an important baseball history resource. Oral histories offer a participant’s perspective which even if recorded many years later still has value. One of baseball’s greatest pitching achievements was the 1934 All Star game when Carl Hubbell struck out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jimmy Foxx, Al Simmons and Joe Cronin. In his story, Hubbell explained his pitching strategy, valuable information for anyone interested in that great accomplishment.
The “Biggest Day” series made another less visible, but no less important contribution to baseball history. Just as the game needs fans, baseball history needs those who research and write about that history. Well written, concise stories like these make baseball history accessible. They open a door to the game’s past, inspiring readers to want to know more and, in some cases, to write about the game’s long history.
I speak from personal experience. About 70 years ago, thanks to my father, Hank Zinn, I read the original My Greatest Day in Baseball book. Learning that baseball had a rich history of intense pennant races, legendary World Series games and other historic moments inspired an interest in baseball history that continues to this day. Without the Chicago Daily News series this might never have happened. My lifelong love for baseball history began with these stories. I hope others will have, and enjoy, the same experience.
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