🇺🇸 Most Badass Ballplayers: Combat Veteran Edition #1 Hank Bauer
Hank Bauer, United States Marine and eight-time World Series champion, was one badass ballplayer.
Born July 31, 1922, in East St. Louis, Illinois.
One month after Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.
He volunteered for the elite Marine Raiders and was sent to the Pacific Theater.
He fought in some of the bloodiest campaigns of the war, including Guadalcanal, Guam, and Okinawa.
On Guam, Bauer went ashore on the very first day.
He earned his first Bronze Star for demonstrating exceptional valor during intense, close-quarters jungle warfare.
He was wounded in the back by enemy shrapnel from an exploding shell. He refused to leave the battlefield.
It was his first Purple Heart.
Years later, pieces of shrapnel from that wound were still embedded in his back. His Yankees teammates would sometimes pick metal fragments out of him in the clubhouse.
The fighting he experienced on Okinawa was even more brutal.
Bauer was a platoon sergeant leading 64 Marines.
Only six of them survived the battle.
On April 15, 1945, under heavy mortar and machine-gun fire, he repeatedly exposed himself to evacuate wounded men.
When stretcher bearers were no longer available, he carried casualties himself to the aid station. For that action he earned a second Bronze Star.
He was also wounded in the thigh by an artillery shell, tearing a massive hole in his left thigh. He received his second Purple Heart.
As he was being carried off, he turned to a buddy and said, “There goes my baseball career.”
Throughout his time in the Pacific, Bauer also battled malaria, contracting it twenty-four separate times (that’s not a typo).
After the war he returned to baseball.
He made the Yankees in 1948 and became a key part of their dynasty, winning seven World Series titles as a player over 14 seasons.
He hit safely in a then record 17 straight World Series games.
He later managed the Yankees to the 1964 pennant and the Orioles to a World Series championship in 1966.
32 months of combat. 11 campaign ribbons. 2 Bronze Stars, 2 Purple Hearts. 8 World Series Championships.
Thank you, Hank! 🫡🇺🇸⚾
🇺🇸 Most Badass Ballplayers: Combat Veteran Edition #2 Ted Williams
Ted Williams, widely regarded as the greatest pure hitter who ever lived, was one badass ballplayer.
Born August 30, 1918, in San Diego, California.
He made his major league debut with the Boston Red Sox in 1939 and quickly became one of the most feared hitters in baseball. In 1941, at just 22 years old, he hit .406, the last time any player has hit over .400 in a season.
He followed that up by winning another batting title in 1942. By the end of the 1942 season, Williams was already a superstar and widely considered the best hitter in the game.
Then, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Williams enlisted in the United States Marine Corps and trained as a pilot.
He missed the 1943, 1944, and 1945 seasons, three full prime years of his career, while serving stateside during World War II.
When he returned in 1946, there were questions about whether he could pick up where he left off.
He answered them immediately, winning the American League MVP award in his first season back.
Over the next several years he continued to dominate, winning the Triple Crown in 1947 and another batting title in 1948.
When the Korean War broke out, Williams was recalled to active duty as a Marine Corps pilot.
In 1952 and 1953 he flew 39 combat missions over North Korea in the F9F Panther jet.
He often flew as wingman for future astronaut John Glenn.
On one mission his plane was hit by the enemy and caught fire. He made a successful belly landing and jumped out and ran off the wingtip to safety.
He was hit by enemy fire at least three times during his tour.
After Korea, Williams returned to baseball in 1953 and continued one of the most remarkable careers in baseball history.
He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1966.
Ted Williams, superstar athlete, answered the call for his country twice.
Thank you, Ted! 🫡🇺🇸⚾