World War II Chronicle: June 19, 1941

Unto the Breach ^ | 19 June 2021 | Chris Carter

[fugazi]

While the World War II Chronicle typically focuses on military topics, today's paper (Washington D.C.'s EVENING STAR) mentions two historic events worth discussing -- plus both Joe Louis and Joe DiMaggio will join the Army. The entire newspaper can be read by clicking the links.

At the bottom of today's front page we see Joe DiMaggio on the list of baseball players that hit home runs today. DiMaggio treated the Yankee Stadium fans to a 3-for-3 slugfest off Chicago White Sox hurlers Eddie Smith and Buck Ross. DiMaggio has now reached base in 32 consecutive games, which incidentally began on May 15 against Eddie Smith. The Yankee center fielder had already singled twice and reached base on a walk by the eighth inning, when he took Ross' pitch for a ride into the left field stands.

On this day, DiMaggio is tied for ninth on baseball's all-time hit streak list. Interestingly enough, his brother Dom notches 34 consecutive games with a hit in 1949, making him 12th on today's (2021's) list.

Major League Baseball's Longest Hitting Streaks (as of June 19, 1941)

1. Willie Keeler 45 (1896-97)
2. Bill Dahlen 42 (1894)
3. George Sisler 41 (1922)
4. Ty Cobb 40 (1911)
5. Gene DeMontreville 36 (1896-97)
6. Fred Clarke 35 (1895) Ty Cobb 35 (1917) George Sisler 35 (1924-1925)
7. George McQuinn 34 (1938)
8. George Davis 33 (1893) Hal Chase 33 (1907) Rogers Hornsby 33 (1922)
9. Joe DiMaggio 32 Harry Heilmann 32 (1922-23)

"He can run, but he can't hide."

Across town, the heavyweight title fight between Joe Louis and Billy Conn was very nearly an upset. The Pittsburgh Kid may have weighed 25 pounds less than Louis, but he owned the match for 12 rounds in the biggest boxing match at the Polo Grounds since the Jack Dempsey era.

Conn would joke later about the fight, saying he asked the champ, "'Hey, Joe, why didn't you just let me have the title for six months?' And you know what Joe said back to me? He said, 'I let you have it for twelve rounds, and you couldn't keep it. How could I let you have it for six months?'"

Click here for today's newspaper

[fugazi]

You can watch the Louis-Conn fight over at the original post.

[jmacusa]

I highly recommend Indy Neidell's excellent weekly series called ''World War 2 Week By Week''. You can catch every Saturday night on You Tube.