Vaccaro, a sports columnist for the New York Post
, would have readers believe that 1941—the year the U.S. entered WWII—had further significance as the "greatest year in sports," with sporting events taking on an enhanced role as a diversion from imminent war. According to Vaccaro, the four events that made the sports year so great were Whirlaway's Triple Crown run; the first Billy Conn–Joe Louis fight; Joe DiMaggio's assault on baseball's consecutive-game hitting record; and Ted Williams batting over .400. While Vaccaro's thesis—that sports became of particular interest to a nation emerging from the Depression and facing world catastrophe—has merit, his four choices seem fairly arbitrary (pick any year). While a capable researcher, Vaccaro has an unfortunate tendency toward exaggeration (Hank Greenberg did not have a "reasonable chance" of surpassing Ruth's home run record), and sports clichés (Billy Conn's "oversized Gaelic heart") are deployed all too frequently. The effect of moving on the same page from a baseball game to a torpedoed freighter is unintentionally surreal, if not downright macabre. (Apr.)
