By then the Americans had overcome whatever reservations they had about watching baseball while others were fighting and dying. Fans and players were closer then, physically and financially. Megamillion-dollar contracts and thousand-dollar game tickets were unknown. A player was lucky to earn $12,000 for a season. Bill Nicholson had delayed joining the team because he made more in the defense plant where he worked than he would have earned for spring training.
Beseball's "reserve clause" made it difficult for players to move from team to team as they now. Cub fans heard pretty much the same names from one year to the next, when Pat Pieper, the Wrigley Field announcer intoned his famous mantra: "Have your pencil and score cards ready, and I'll give you the correct lineup for today's ballgame. Batting first and playing third base, Stan Hack...."
--GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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