When the Boys Came Back: Baseball and 1946

The year 1946 was an unusual one for the national pastime, because of the owners' embarrassment of riches. Besides their prewar stars returning from military service, they still had the replacement players who had filled in during the war years. Though many of the replacements were substandard, some were of major-league caliber. And waiting in the wings were young men who reached maturity during the war and were hoping their day would dawn. The result was an exciting season on the field that was just as suspenseful off the diamond, where a multimillionaire Mexican dreamed of starting a league south of the border and lured away some stars and many journeymen with the offer of huge salaries. There was also a short-lived attempt to start a players' union, an idea whose time had not yet come. The Cardinals and the Dodgers tied for the National League pennant and, after the first-ever playoff series, the victorious St. Louis team went on to defeat the Boston Red Sox in a breath-stopping seven-game World Series. The lively text by Turner (A Border of Blue) is supplemented by photos. (June)