1941 – a memorable year!
FDR was Prez, Hollywood in high gear.
Joe Louis was champ, Satchmo played horn,
M and Ms introduced, Bob Dylan born.
Miller and Dorsey, their Big Bands held sway.
Cross-country letters – three cents all you pay.
Our nation emerging from the Great Depression,
But on the horizon loomed Axis aggression.
That summer, in baseball, most of the talk
Was of Williams in Boston, DiMag’ in New Yawk.
Each in the midst of a hot hitting streak,
Not seen since – that’s what made them unique.
From Spring to September, a true fan’s delight,
Both players knocking the sphere out of sight.
Williams for average, .400 his goal.
Joe, game to game, with his team on a roll.
On 15 May, the Yankee Clipper
Banged out a “bingle”. (No! Not a roundtripper!)
And kept right on hitting until mid-July
When Bagby and Keltner combined to deny,
Thus ending his streak, 56 in a row.
Named League MVP! You earned it, Joe!
Meantime, in Beantown, the Splinter was hot—
Won the All Star Game with a 9th inning shot.
With two games left his manager said:
“You’re at .400 now – sit these out, Ted.”
“Not me, Skip! I want my licks…”
Went six for eight….to Four – O– Six.
Great Hall of Famers, one nostalgic season
That helped us forget – all the more reason.
Two months later strife stormed ashore,
With the attack on Pearl Harbor we were at war.