The Boys Who Were Left Behind: The 1944 World Series Between the Hapless St. Louis Browns And the Legendary St. Louis Cardinals

When the New York Times sportswriter Arthur Daley called the 1944 St. Louis Browns “the most astonishing ball club ever to reach the World Series,” he wasn’t handing out bouquets. An ill-assorted collection of castoffs, 4-Fs, no-accounts, farm boys, and brawlers with not much more than a few minor league games under their belts, the team was playing professional ball for only one reason: the best players had been drafted or had enlisted. Adding to the drama, these misfits were facing the fabled St. Louis Cardinals and their mvp, Stan Musial, one of the greatest hitters in baseball history. The story of this unlikely meeting between crosstown rivals—dubbed the “Streetcar Series” because so many fans took the trolley to Sportsman’s Park—is told here for the first time.

Mining a treasure trove of coverage, including on-the-spot commentary by the Hall of Fame sportswriter Bob Broeg, the authors bring this contest between baseball’s David and Goliath vividly to life, giving readers a sense of what this suspenseful six-day series must have meant both to those on the homefront and U.S. servicemen around the world. A marvel of American sportsmanship, patriotism, and boyish innocence, the Streetcar Series will forever be remembered as the best and the “worst” of an era long past.