World War II Chronicle: February 24, 1941
Click here for TODAY’S NEWSPAPER
Sid Hudson, the Washington Nationals’ “boy wonder” on page 14, is about to enter his second season on the mound. He played two seasons with the Class D Sanford (Fla.) Lookouts before suddenly jumping to the big show in 1940. That’s a significant leap considering that Class D is the equivalent to today’s rookie league. While Hudson’s feat was certainly impressive, Bob Feller jumped straight into the Major Leagues without having played a minor league game, as did a few other World War II-era players: Carl Scheib (who debuted in 1943 at just 16 years old), Danny MacFayden, Eddie Yost, Ted Lyons, and the great Mel Ott.
Hudson drops from 17 wins in 1940 to 13 in 1941, he lowers his earned run average a whole point (from 4.57 to 3.56) and loses two fewer games in 1941, arguably his best season (Washington finished in seventh place in all three of Hudson’s pre-war seasons). After three years in an Army Air Force uniform he had arm fatigue and bone spurs, and doctors told him he either learned a new delivery or undergo surgery that might end his career. Hudson learned to throw sidearm and revived his career, winning 14 of the Nats’ 67 games in 1950.
Michael Borislavsky, former Soviet colonel and torpedo designer, is the second Russian shot under mysterious circumstances in the past two weeks. Defecting Soviet spy Walter Krivitsky was also found with a fatal gunshot to the head on Feb. 10.
Evening star. (Washington, D.C.), 24 Feb. 1941. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045462/1941-02-24/ed-1/