During World War II, President Franklin Roosevelt urged baseball club owners to keep America's favorite pastime going to help boost morale, per the Baseball Almanac. While Major League Baseball was still there for fans to enjoy, nearly 500 baseball players enlisted in the military, according to Slate. Among those who joined was "The Yankee Clipper" Joe DiMaggio, enlisting on February 17, 1943, per JoeDiMaggio.com.
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DiMaggio never asked for any special treatment and wanted duties where the Army felt he'd "do the most good." And, as one would imagine, the Army felt The Yankee Clipper could best use his talents by playing baseball with the troops. While Joe DiMaggio worked as a physical instructor, he was assigned to military baseball teams such as the Seventh Army Air Force team, writes JoeDiMaggio.com.
However, according to military records retrieved from the Freedom of Information Act, Joe DiMaggio wasn't happy about playing ball for the Army. He felt "exploited" and displayed an "aversion to the use of his special skill," according to the New York Post report.
DiMaggio wanted to help the war effort by serving the country. However, he felt that his personal troubles had been causing an interference, saying: "This desire to join the Army isn't anything recently born. I seriously entertained the thought immediately after the World Series last fall, but private and domestic troubles curved my mind a little away from the Army."
The Yankee Clipper ended up becoming the American League MVP