# Work, Fight, or Play Ball: How Bethlehem Steel Helped Baseball's Stars Avoid World War I - Hardcover

by **William Ecenbarger** (Author)

In 1918, Bethlehem Steel started the world's greatest industrial baseball league. Appealing to Major League Baseball players looking to avoid service in the Great War, teams employed "ringers" like Babe Ruth, Rogers Hornsby, and Shoeless Joe Jackson in what became scornfully known as "safe shelter" leagues. In _Work, Fight, or Play Ball_, William Ecenbarger fondly recounts this little-known story of how dozens of athletes faced professional conflicts and a difficult choice in light of public perceptions and war propaganda.

Some players used the steel mill and shipyard leagues to avoid wartime military duty, irking Major League owners, who saw their rosters dwindling. Bethlehem Steel President Charles Schwab (no relation to the financier) saw the league as a means to stave off employee and union organizing. Most fans loudly criticized the ballplayers, but nevertheless showed up to watch the action on the diamond.

Ecenbarger traces the 1918 Steel League's season and compares the fates of the players who defected to industry or continued to play stateside with the travails of the Major Leaguers, such as Christy Mathewson, Ty Cobb, and Grover Cleveland Alexander, who served during the war.

_Work, Fight, or Play Ball_ reveals the home field advantage brought on by the war, which allowed companies to profit from Major League players.

### Author Biography

**William Ecenbarger**, a freelance writer, is the author of _Pennsylvania Stories--Well Told_ (Temple), _Walkin' the Line, Glory by the Wayside: The Old Churches of Hawaii_, and _Kids for Cash: Two Judges, Thousands of Children, and a $2.6 Million Kickback Scheme_. He is the coauthor of _Catching Lightning in a Bottle: How Merrill Lynch Revolutionized the Financial World_ (with Winthrop H. Smith) and _Making Ideas Matter: My Life as a Policy Entrepreneur_ (with Dwight Evans).

**Number of Pages:** 212

**Dimensions:** 0.68 x 8.47 x 5.85 IN

**Publication Date:** February 02, 2024

## Details

- **Price:** 25.0 USD
- **Vendor:** Books by splitShops
- **Type:** Books
- **Tags:** Books by splitShops, Shopify Collective

## Variants

| Variant | Price | Available |
|---------|-------|-----------|
| Default Title | 25.00 USD | In stock |

## Images

- Work, Fight, or Play Ball: How Bethlehem Steel Helped Baseball's Stars Avoid World War I - Hardcover

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> Updated: 2026-07-23