This week in baseball history featured the establishment of an important precedent in the history of baseball and the country, and the beginning of the first-year player draft as we know it.
January 15, 1942
Following the devastating terrorist attack on Pearl Harbor, America was stunned and Major League Baseball was unsure if it would be prudent to have a baseball season in 1942. With no precedent, Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis reached out to President Franklin Roosevelt to help clear the issue. FDR replied to Commissioner Landis with his now famous “Green Light Letter.”
In his letter to the President, Landis expressed his uncertainty, and asked for guidance: “I venture to ask what you have in mind as to whether professional baseball should continue to operate.” The letter was a brief one, as Landis simply wished to ascertain the President’s stance on this issue.
FDR delivered a perfect response in his now famous letter. He expressed his belief that baseball was essential to the war effort and should continue:
"I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going. There will be fewer people unemployed and everybody will work longer hours and harder than ever before.And that means that they ought to have a chance for recreation and for taking their minds off their work even more than before.Baseball provides a recreation which does not last over two hours or two hours and a half, and which can be got for very little cost. And, incidentally, I hope that night games can be extended because it gives an opportunity to the day shift to see a game occasionally."
In short, FDR knew what baseball meant to the bleeding country and he understood that it could act as a temporary band-aid for the workers, who, as he believed, were the lifeblood of the war effort. Later in the letter, Roosevelt explains that he expects the players who are of military age and suitable for service to volunteer themselves to fight for their country. Baseball players all across the league understood their obligation to their country and answered the call in droves.
The “Green Light Letter” was in no way a federal decree by the President. The decision to have a season would ultimately come down to the owners and the President respected that. His letter merely assured the owners that if they did choose to continue on with the season, they would not face any legal difficulties.
The continuation of baseball during World War II solidified the role baseball played in the American culture. It established the idea that sports could offer a release for the people. It could allow them a momentary reprise from the woes of the world. This idea was re-affirmed 60 years later, when in 2001, after another terrorist attack rocked America to the core. Once again, baseball lifted the spirits of Americans across the country. In the days after the attacks, baseball was indefinitely suspended. When baseball was allowed to resume, it provided the same relief that FDR believed it would in World War II.
One cannot speak of baseball and 9/11 and not mention Mike Piazza, especially in light of his his recent election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. One of his most defining moments as a New York Met and as a baseball player was his home run at Shea Stadium in the very first baseball game to be played following the attacks. His legacy will live on forever, if not for his amazing career, but for that home run.
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January 15, 1964
On this day in baseball history, Major League Baseball voted to institute a first-year player draft which would revolutionize the way teams built their minor league talent pools.
Prior to the approval of the mid-season draft, three drafts were held in a given year, one in June, another in January and another at the end of August. The drafts that took place in June and January were the primary drafts for high school seniors and college seniors who graduated in the winter. The August draft was primarily for those players who participated in amateur ball over the summer.
Baseball was the last of the four major sports in America to institute a draft such as this. Until recently, the draft was seen as an event which would produce very little fanfare. It was not until 2008 that it was broadcast to the public, and only in 2011 did it receive the prime time treatment. In recent years, since its move to prime time on MLB Network, the draft has gained a following comparable to those of the other major sports. It serves as a chance for faithful fans to see to whom their team is entrusting its future.
The draft is a crucial part of every team and their development. Through the years, the rules and specifics of the draft have been altered, but the overall meaning and purpose of the draft has remained the same.
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The draft is the event to which all young baseball players look forward. It is the day their hard work and determination come to fruition and they are rewarded. The baseball draft, as is any draft in sports, is a fickle beast and nothing is assured, and perhaps that is the true beauty of it. Nothing is guaranteed. The number-one pick can flop, while the 1,390th pick goes on to become the best offensive catcher to play the game: Mike Piazza.