As the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers face off in this year’s World Series, some recall the first time the two teams met in the Fall Classic, in 1941—a contest remembered for one of baseball’s most famous plays. But that World Series was also connected to a little-known episode in the debate over whether the United States should confront Nazi Germany.
In 1941, the Dodgers were still the Brooklyn Dodgers, managed by the fiery Leo Durocher, who won a World Series as captain of the St. Louis Cardinals’ “Gashouse Gang” in 1934. The Yankees had won two of the first three games of that year’s World Series, but in Game 4, the Dodgers were on the brink of tying the series, holding a 4-3 lead in the ninth inning.
With two outs, no runners on base, and the Ebbets Field crowd on the edge of celebration, Dodgers pitcher Hugh Casey threw what should have been the game-ending third strike. But catcher Mickey Owen mishandled the pitch, and batter Tommy Henrich reached first base safely. The Yankees mounted a rally, won the game, and eventually claimed the series.
One might imagine that after such a crushing loss, manager Durocher would have spent the evening strategizing for the next game. Instead, he and Dodgers owner Larry MacPhail left the stadium and headed to Manhattan to attend a major event at Madison Square Garden. Along with Hollywood stars and other celebrities, Durocher and MacPhail joined “Fun to Be Free,” a political rally supporting U.S. military action against Adolf Hitler.
This was not a popular stance in early October 1941, two months before Pearl Harbor. Polls showed that only about 10% of Americans were willing to go to war for any reason other than to defend against an invasion of the United States.
Most Americans believed domestic concerns required the nation’s full attention and opposed involvement overseas. Isolationist groups, including the America First movement, were flourishing.
However, a minority of Americans actively opposed isolationism. They founded the Fight for Freedom movement, which advocated for pre-emptive war against Hitler as the only way to ensure world peace.
The “Fun to Be Free” event took place before a packed audience of 17,000 at Madison Square Garden on Oct. 5, 1941. It featured patriotic songs, skits mocking Hitler and Mussolini, and dramatic readings promoting the need for pre-emptive American military action.
The pageant was written by prominent Hollywood screenwriters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur and produced by Oscar Hammerstein, Moss Hart, and George Kaufman, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and Kurt Weill, among others.
The show’s opening act featured Bill “Bojangles” Robinson tap-dancing on a coffin labeled “Hitler.” Carmen Miranda then sang “in her well-known South American style,” according to The New York Times. Next, Eddie Cantor, in a hoopskirt, and Jack Benny put on an Easter Parade act. Other participants included stage and screen stars Tallulah Bankhead, Melvyn Douglas, George Jessel, Ethel Merman, Helen Hayes, and Burgess Meredith.
Durocher and MacPhail not only attended “Fun to Be Free” but participated in it. After Ella Logan sang “Tipperary,” MacPhail walked onstage and kissed her, and Durocher delivered a brief speech, saying: “We don’t want Hitlerism; we want Americanism. And the Yankees are a great ball club. Even if we lose, we’ll be losing in a free country.”
In the midst of a World Series that could have commanded his full attention, the Brooklyn Dodgers’ manager reminded the public, in his own unique way, that some things are more important than even a championship. That was true then, and it’s true today.
Beyond the bleachers is a real world where genocidal Iranian leaders aspire to follow in Hitler’s footsteps. If the United States and its allies had taken pre-emptive action against Hitler—as the Fight for Freedom movement urged—millions of lives might have been spared. Instead, appeasing Hitler led to catastrophe. Will the international community’s attempts to appease Iran lead to similar consequences?
Dr. Medoff is the founding director of the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies and the author of more than 20 books on Jewish history and the Holocaust. His latest work, Cartoonists Against Racism: The Secret Jewish War on Bigotry, was coauthored with Craig Yoe.
