Once again all 30 MLB teams will wear special camouflage designed caps and uniforms today, as has become customary every Memorial Day in baseball.
Many big league ballplayers have served America in war time, including Bob Feller, Ted Williams, and Hank Greenberg.
I wanted to post this picture of Ted Williams in a Navy baseball uniform because, one, I've never seen it before, and second, well, it's awesome!
Ted Williams was Marine pilot who served in both World War II, and the Korean War.
Many stories are written on Memorial Day about baseball and service, here are a couple I thought you'd like, I know I did...
⚾ 12 Big League ballplayers never made it back home serving during war, and they're remembered today by MLB.com columnist Lindsay Berra.
⚾One of those ballplayers was Eddie Grant.
Eddie played for the Phillies, Reds, and the old New York Giants, and after retiring from baseball, was killed in Word War I.
This picture is from the Facebook page of Lost Ballparks, who have notated with that blue arrow the plaque honoring Eddie Grant in centerfield at the old Polo Grounds.
⚾⚾ Gary at the Infinite Baseball Card Set tells us the story of Bill Niemeyer a young ballplayer in the Chicago Cubs minor leagues, who's dream of playing for the Cubs ended in a German battlefield in 1945.
As a former Navy Petty Officer, I'm happy to see big league baseball celebrate the military each year, and I think it's great that people like Lindsay and Gary remind us that ballplayers have sacrificed in order make American safe, some who've paid the ultimate price with their lives.
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Memorial Day is a traditional milepost for baseball teams and it's fans.
The baseball standings on the last Monday in May is the first eye test to see how your favorite team is doing, and if the summer looks promising.
This year's MLB Division leaders are the Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Royals, and Texas Rangers in the American League, while the Washington Nationals, Chicago Cubs, and San Francisco Giants lead in the National League.
It doesn't guarantee that your team will win the division, it's just a thing that's been handed down generation after generation by fans.
The other milepost baseball fans look for are July 4th, July 31st...the baseball trade deadline, and Labor Day weekend.
To see how your team is in the big league standings, Mlb.com has you covered right here.
I hope your holiday weekend has been a good one, a safe one, and I hope you have taken time to remember that although it's a holiday, Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day, on May 5, 1868, and hope that you always remember the fallen soldiers that this day is celebrated for.
May God Bless all who have given their lives in battle.
Play Ball!
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