Memorial Day is the traditional
“quarter pole” in the Major League Baseball season. It marks the
point where the sorting out of contenders from pretenders truly
begins.
For teams having seasons like the Twins
are, it's a time to start evaluating the roster for trade
possibilities with which they can begin to restock with young talent.
For teams having seasons like the Tigers, it's a time to figure out
why they've underachieved and what pieces need to be added in order
to reach the lofty goals they'd set coming out of spring training.
But as we all know, Memorial Day is
about a lot more than just baseball. Tracing it's origins to the
“Decoration Day” of the post-Civil War era, Memorial Day was
established to honor the men and women who've lost their lives in the
service of their country's military. For many of us, it's grown to
become a holiday on which we honor the memory of all those who
served, whether they died in service or not.
Baseball has a long tradition of
honoring the men and women of the armed forces, including some of the
men who've played the grand old game.
There are the famous names: Ted
Williams served as a naval aviator in both WWII & the Korean War;
Joe DiMaggio served in the Army Air Force during WWII; Johnny Pesky
was an Ensign in the Navy; and Bob Feller enlisted in the Navy on
December 12, 1941, the day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Here in Minnesota, Ron Gardenhire was
born to First Sergeant Clyde Gardenhire as he served on an Army base
in Germany, and Hall of Famer Rod Carew - thankfully still with us -
served in the Marine reserves for six years.
But go back a little further and you
can find even more compelling stories with ties to the Washington
Senators, who would go on to become the Minnesota Twins.
Elmer Gedeon was born in Cleveland in
1917. He went to the University of Michigan where he excelled at
several sports, especially track. But baseball was his passion, and
he signed with the Senators as an outfielder after graduating in
1939.
He joined the big club in September of
that season, appearing in five games, collecting three hits, and
knocking in one run. Little did he know that would be his only taste
of the Major Leagues.
Gedeon spent the 1940 season knocking
around the minors, and was expected to do so again in 1941, but was
instead summoned to serve in the Army Air Corps.
In April of 1944, Elmer was the pilot
of a B-26 Marauder which was one of 30 planes to leave Boreham
Airfield in England to bomb German construction works at Bois
d'Esquerdes. Gedeon's plane never returned. As it reached the
target, it was lit up by search lights and pummeled by enemy flak,
including a fateful burst which struck just under the cockpit.
Elmer, along with all but one member of his crew, was killed in the
resulting crash.
Elmer Gedeon's remains now reside
amongst the heroes in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
Pitcher James Trimble never made it to
the big leagues.
Born in Bethesda, Maryland, in 1926, he
was a star athlete in high school. Trimble caught the eye of
Senators owner Clark Griffith who invited him to a try out during his
senior year in 1943. Griffith would have signed the right-handed
hurler on the spot, but Trimble's mother insisted that he finish high
school first. So instead, Griffith gave him a $5000 signing bonus
and the promise of a roster spot after he finished college at Duke
University.
In early 1944, however, Trimble heard
the call to serve and enlisted in the Marines. In July of that year,
he joined the Third Marine Division in their action on Guam. In
February of 1945, the Third Division left Guam for action on a small
island 750 miles south of Tokyo, known as Iwo Jima.
As the Third Division landed, they came
under heavy rocket fire from Japanese forces. Trimble was one of
eight Marines who volunteered to search out and destroy the Japanese
troops firing those rockets. As they rested in their foxholes, those
Marines came under attack. A Japanese soldier with a mine strapped
to his body, jumped into Trimble's foxhole, detonating his ordinance
and killing the private instantly.
Trimble now rests in Rock Creek
cemetery in Washington, D.C.
Those are the stories of just two of 40
Senators major- and minor-leaguers who served in the armed forces in
WWII. The annals of baseball history are filled with hundreds more
stories of heroism and valor.
So it's only appropriate that baseball,
the Minnesota Twins, and all of us pause on this special holiday to
tip our caps in remembrance of those who gave the “last full
measure of devotion” so that we might be able to enjoy our freedom,
the beginning of summer and the wonderful sport of baseball!
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