The war caused teams to look at black players seriously for the first time due to the shortage of white players because they were leaving the game to go to war.

Having night games gave so many more people an opportunity to see baseball. Once the war started, you saw a lot more night games being scheduled. In Washington, D.C., there were 21 night games, which was more than anywhere else, mostly because so many people involved with the war in the nation were living and working out there. Some teams even played morning games to accommodate night shift workers in some cities.

Branch Rickey signed Jackie Robinson in 1945 and he went to the minor leagues and then to Montreal in 1946 before being called up to the majors with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. That one move still has a huge impact on baseball almost 60 years later.

In 1942, Ted Williams' draft status was 1A, meaning he was going to be among the first people to go to war. Williams stated that he would enlist after the 1942 season was completed and he ended up missing five seasons between (his combined service in) World War II and (later in) the Korean War. If he hadn't missed that much time away from the game, who knows how many home runs he could have hit?

Stadiums started to paint seats red, white and blue. And instead of advertisements on the outfield walls, there were now recruitment signs for the service. You couldn't help but notice all of the patriotism around the country at baseball games.

Before Pearl Harbor, 84 percent of those surveyed said that baseball should continue to be played. Afterward, that number dropped to 66 percent. The majority of the people wanted the sport to be played, but it was obvious that many people had their minds changed by just that one single event.