Playing with the Enemy - Guest appearance, U-505 crew

[Onkel Neal]

Playing with the Enemy
A Baseball Prodigy, a World at War, a Field of Broken Dreams
Gary W. Moore

http://savasbeatie.com/pwte.html

IT WAS TRUE IN THE 1940s, and it is still true today: if you have talent, someone will notice. In Gene Moore’s case, that someone was the Brooklyn Dodgers.


Gene Moore was a farm boy living with his family in Sesser, Illinois, a town so small even map makers ignored it. As a teenager, when he wasn’t in school or helping his Pop on the farm, slopping the hogs and doing other chores with his older brother Ward and five sisters, Gene was playing baseball with the guys on the town team. Some were twice his age. The older fellows didn’t mind having the Moore kid on their team because he could hit the ball farther than anyone else, he was the best catcher anyone had ever seen, he could throw men out from his knees, and not a ball ever got past him. Gene was 15 years old.


Word quickly spread across the United States about the country boy who could hit the ball a country mile. The Dodgers wanted to take a look at this farm kid, barely old enough to shave and still awaiting his first kiss, but brash enough to call the pitches from behind the plate and motion to the infielders and outfielders as to how they should position themselves for certain hitters.


Headed for baseball stardom with the Brooklyn Dodgers, Gene’s destiny was interrupted by Pearl Harbor. After playing ball for the Navy in the Azores and North Africa, Gene and his team were sent to the States for a special—and top secret—mission: guarding German sailors captured from U-505. Unable to field a team, Gene convinced his commander to allow him to teach the enemy how to play baseball while he and his teammates waited for the war to end so they could be called up into the Major Leagues. But Gene’s future changed irrevocably in Louisiana. His life . . . and maybe our national pastime . . . was forever altered.

This book looks like it will be a big deal. I'm halfway expecting Spielberg to direct the film.

Cool! Looks good; as soon as I put together the money I'm getting one.

Thanks, Neal.

[Ducimus]

Intresting. I finished reading Hans Greuber's memior "steel boats, iron hearts" and he doesnt really go into much detail at all while he was a POW. He relates a little of his capitiviy while onboard the aircraft carrier in the HK group that captured them, but very little of his POW experiences after that.

[Sarah]

Hi All,

I was checking out the new forum features and came across Neal's post about our upcoming book Playing with the Enemy. Thanks Neal! We are really looking forward to this book's September release, and think that many of you will be interested in the connection to U-505 detailed in the book. Beside our website link Neal gave above (http://savasbeatie.com/pwte.html), there is also some great information on the author's website here http://playingwiththeenemy.com/

Stay tuned, more details to follow this summer!

Sarah
sarahs@savasbeatie.com

[Onkel Neal]

I'm virtually hopping from foot to foot like a guy in a queue to the men's room waiting for my copy to arrive (I hope Torplexed doesn't read that, he'll skewer me) so I can post a review.

[Sarah]

Hah! We'll hope that mail carrier gets there fast! =) You will enjoy it. It's a fabulous story. By the way, I assume you might have had something to do with my nice avatar, Neal. Thanks! Last year I started as a pig, and last week I was an old sailor with a big nose. This new image is sure a step in the right direction. ~ Sarah