Remembering Baseball’s Heroes on VE-Day

As we celebrate the 65th anniversary of VE-Day, let’s take a moment to remember the 58 professional baseball players who lost their lives in the fight against Nazi Germany.

As you look through the list of names you will notice Herman Bauer, brother of Hank Bauer; Lefty Brewer, a promising young left-hander who spent some time on the bench with the Senators; Elmer Gedeon, another Senator, who played a handful of games with the big league club; Nay Hernandez, who played for the San Diego Padres and was killed in action after only being in military service for seven months; Art Keller, a promising young catcher in the Browns organization; Hank Nowak, a pitcher the Cardinals had high hopes for; Joe Pinder, a Medal of Honor winner at Normandy; Bill Sarver, a promising outfielder in the Yankees farm system; and Elmer Wright, a Browns pitcher who was among the first killed at Omaha Beach.

At the same time, let’s not forget the other 76 professional ballplayers who lost their lives fighting the Japanese or while in training in the United States.

What will it take for Major League Baseball to finally recognize these heroes of the game? These men who made baseball’s greatest sacrifice.