The Victory Season
| Company type | Book |
|---|---|
| Industry | Publishing |
| Founded | 2013 |
| Founder | Robert Weintraub |
| Products | Non-fiction book on baseball history |
The Victory Season: The End of World War II and the Birth of Baseball's Golden Age is a 2013 publication by Robert Weintraub, who also authored the New York Times best-seller The House That Ruth Built.
Summary
The Victory Season focuses on the 1946 Major League Baseball season, marking the first complete campaign following World War II. Weintraub emphasizes four main business-related themes:
- The shift of players from military duty back to professional baseball. Numerous athletes served in the armed forces during the war. While some, including Joe DiMaggio, participated on military teams without engaging in combat, others like Bob Feller and Jack Lohrke experienced significant wartime action. Feller received multiple military commendations; Lohrke became known as "Lucky" due to surviving several life-threatening incidents.[1]
- Baseball’s racial integration in 1946 remained incomplete until Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, signed Jackie Robinson, breaking the sport’s color barrier. Robinson played for the Dodgers’ minor league team, the Montreal Royals, confronting considerable adversity as detailed by Weintraub.[1]
- Player defections to the Mexican League. Discontent with baseball’s restrictive reserve clause and stagnant pay, a number of leading players accepted high-paying contracts from a Mexican league funded by a wealthy backer. Yet reluctance from stars like Stan Musial combined with financial instability led to the league’s eventual collapse.[1]
- The 1946 World Series clash between the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals. Despite being favorites with talents such as Ted Williams and Boo Ferriss, the Red Sox fell in a seven-game series to a Cardinals team featuring Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter. A crucial moment involving Johnny Pesky is identified as decisive in determining the championship.[1]
Other subjects explored include early efforts toward player unionization, postwar economic challenges like rationing, and profiles of significant baseball personalities including Leo Durocher, Larry MacPhail, and Tom Yawkey. Weintraub also narrates the story of Japanese pitching star Eiji Sawamura, who declined major league offers before losing his life during WWII.[1]
Reviews
Reviewers commended Weintraub for his "thorough research" paired with a "conversational narrative," which enhances the book’s accessibility.[2][3][4]
"Few baseball books this spring will be more supremely entertaining than The Victory Season: The End of World War II and the Birth of Baseball's Golden Age, Robert Weintraub's chronicle of the '46 season."[4]
"In The Victory Season, Weintraub pays tribute to players’ military service, emphasizes veterans’ returns, and highlights key events shaping baseball’s postwar revival."[5]
"Weintraub proves himself a master storyteller in this volume, confirming his expertise in baseball history. Step up to this plate—you’ll see the 2013 season through a fresh lens."[2]
References
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