Uncle Sam Is Talking to Kaiser Bill

When America entered the World War in April 1917, baseball went to war, too. American League teams drilled under U.S. Army sergeants. Newspapers called amateur and professional ballplayers who played the game while in military service Uncle Sam’s League. Nearly every unit of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps had at least one good baseball team.

By late 1917, well-known major league players were entering the armed forces, where many continued to play ball. American doughboys played baseball in France, often with equipment supplied by the YMCA, Knights of Columbus, Jewish Welfare Board and other war charities. The Canadian Army had already been playing baseball overseas since soon after the start of the war in 1914.