1941: The Greatest Season Ever?

[Glenn Higginbotham]

That's the argument Robert Creamer presented in "Baseball in 41", which is part of my burgeoning baseball library. Apart from DiMaggio's hitting streak and Williams' .406 BA, you had a great pennant race in the NL between the Dodgers and the Cardinals.

In my PureSim version of this season, I manage the Dodgers. Before the season even started, I pulled off a major coup -- I traded a veteran pitcher to the Cardinals for a 21-year-old OF named Stan Musial. He's become an everyday starter, playing alongside Pete Reiser and Joe Medwick.

This isn't as unlikely as it seems. In real life, Musial only appeared in 12 games for the Cards, and spent the majority of the season in the minors, being hidden and developed. In my alternative history, I penetrate the barbed wire Branch Rickey erected around his farm system and snatch up young Musial.

I'm hoping that this one move can tip the balance, IF the Dodgers can win the pennant and advance to the World Series.

As for the season itself, it was the last year of peace. The war in Europe was half a world away. We weren't gonna get directly involved. Two months after the season ended, everything changed...