Great Bambino … Sultan of Swat … steelworker?
Yes, Babe Ruth, the man who would hit 714 home runs in Major League Baseball had a stint as a steelworker early in his career. Why the move to working for Bethlehem Steel in Lebanon, Pennsylvania? The career change was a result of a US government directive during the first world war called the Work-or-Fight Order: Eligible men had to either register for the draft or find essential work – such as at a steel mill. But there was a loophole for Major Leaguers like Ruth. Bethlehem Steel had its own baseball league and was all too happy to hire professional athletes, ostensibly for war-related jobs but actually to enhance its league’s competitiveness. This story rises from obscurity in a book published earlier this year – Work, Fight, or Play Ball, by Pennsylvania-based journalist William Ecenbarger.
“We didn’t know how long the war was going to last,” Ecenbarger says. “There were concerns about being drafted. The obvious way out was to play ball for one of the shipyards or steel mills.”
Ballplayers who did so included not only Ruth but fellow greats such as Shoeless Joe Jackson and Rogers Hornsby. The list featured around 45 active Major Leaguers, as well as about 30 retired players.
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Bethlehem Steel had the money and motivation. Business was booming due to wartime orders to build ships that would transport troops to Europe. Owner Charles Schwab – no, not the financial-services guru – created the Bethlehem Steel League in 1917 to entertain his burgeoning workforce. Its six teams were originally composed entirely of steelworkers, but the Work-or-Fight Order sparked an exodus from the majors when it was issued in May 1918.
Most players went to the Bethlehem Steel League, with some joining the rival Delaware River Shipbuilding League, which was also linked to Schwab.
“It’s hard to generalize what the motivations of the players were,” Ecenbarger says. “I think some players genuinely wanted to participate in the war effort.”
Count Shoeless Joe in that category. Although the Chicago White Sox star would go on to infamy in the Black Sox scandal the following year, the Ecenbarger credits Jackson with…