Pedro Guerrero's Health Scare

It was reported a few days ago that former slugger Pedro Guerrero of the Dominican Republic had been hospitalized with cranial bleeding at el Centro de Diagnóstico y Medicina Avanzada (Cedimat) in the city of Santo Domingo, DR. Guerrero, who played 15 major league seasons for the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals during the 1980's through the mid 1990's was one of the pre-eminent sluggers to come out of the Dominican Republic.

At a time when many Dominican players came from the "no-hit good glove" school of middle infielders, sluggers like Guerrero and George Bell paved the way for later Dominican Sluggers such as Vladimir Guerrero, Raul Mondesi, Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, Adrian Beltre, Sammy Sosa and Albert Pujols.

In his 15 year career, Guerrero was a model of consistency both at the plate and in the field. Guerrero hit for .300 or more seven times finishing with a career .300 average. Guerrero was a five time All-Star, a Silver Slugger in 1982 and four top five MVP voting results, finishing in the top three in 1982, 1985 and 1989. In his earlier years, Guerrero played at practically every position that Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda plugged him into except shortstop and pitcher. In his time with the Cardinals, Guerrero was primarily a first baseman while playing a number of games in the outfield.

His crowning moment came on October 28 1981 during Game Six of the 1981 World Series against the New York Yankees. Guerrero unloaded against the Yankees by going 3-for-5 with a solo home run, a triple and a bases loaded single for a total of five RBIs. Guerrero batted .333 (7-for-21) with two homers and seven RBIs earning co-World Series Most Valuable Player honors with teammates Ron Cey and Steve Yeager.

Guerrero was always a family favorite growing up. El "Orgullo Dominicano" was always exemplified with his effort on the field not only in MLB but also in the Dominican League.

The Dominican newspaper El Listin Diario states that Guerrero "has recovered more than 80 percent mobility in his left arm". Hopefully Guerrero can make a full recovery from his injuries.

For Further Reading:

• Pedro Guerrero se recupera de ataque al cerebro by Freddy Tapia from El Listin Diario dated February 17, 2015
• Pedro Guerrero's Career Statistics from Baseball Reference
• Biography of Pedro Guerrero by Frank Morris from the SABR Baseball Biography Project

The World War II Era and MLB

I've recently felt the nostalgia pang for the sport of Baseball with the imminent arrival of the 2015 season. I'm almost finished reading New York City Baseball: The Golden Age 1947–1957 by Harvey Frommer and started re-watching HBO's When It Was a Game when I realized that the best team of the World War II era was the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Cardinals finished second to the National League Champion Brooklyn Dodgers in 1941 with a 97-56 record and the arrival of 20-year old rookie and future Hall of Famer Stan Musial a few months before the United States would be attacked by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Before I go into the 1942 Cardinals, I wanted to take a quick look at the dilemma that World War II caused in reference to MLB and the 1942 baseball season.

The landscape of Major League Baseball would be altered with the departure of many a star player such as Bob Feller and Hank Greenberg to name of few in service to their country. It was believed that as time went on during World War II, the talent pool in Major League Baseball would be continue to be depleted to the point that it was debated by many including Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis whether or not play should be suspended in light of the war. Not only was the lack of major league caliber talent an issue, but more importantly it was wondered whether it would be appropriate for the Major Leagues to continue in operation while the war was going on. In came President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to end the debate.

Commissioner Landis wrote the following letter to President Roosevelt on January 14, 1942 voicing his concerns about the upcoming 1942 season. Here is a copy of both the handwritten and typed letters from the OPA - Online Public Access page of the National Archives website:

Responding to the concerns of a letter from Commissioner Landis, President Roosevelt penned what is known as the "Greenlight Letter" dated January 15, 1942. Here is a copy of the letter by President Roosevelt to Commissioner Landis from the article When FDR Said "Play Ball" from Prologue Magazine Spring 2002, Vol. 34, No. 1 located at the National Archives website:

For an in-depth website that covers Baseball in Wartime check out Gary Bedingfield's Baseball in Wartime which has been online since 2001. 

It was in this scenario that the 1942 season would be played and where the National League team from St. Louis would make their mark on the history books of Major League Baseball. I'll cover the 1942-1946 St. Louis Cardinals in my next post. 

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
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