The Cloudbuster Nine: The Untold Story of Ted Williams and the Baseball Team That Helped Win World War II - Paperback

by Anne R. Keene (Author), Claudia Williams (Foreword by)

In 1943, while the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals battled for the World Series title, another legendary team was taking the field on a scrappy diamond in North Carolina. The Cloudbuster Nine wasn't just any baseball team. They were big-league pros turned Navy fighter-pilot cadets, including Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, and Johnny Sain, training to become America's heroes.

At the heart of it all was Jim Raugh, the team's batboy. From cramped buses to war-bond exhibitions--even a game at Yankee Stadium against a Babe Ruth-led squad--Jim witnessed baseball history firsthand. He chased his own dreams as a college All-American, but life threw him a curveball: a career-ending injury that dashed his major-league dreams.

Now, Jim's daughter, Anne R. Keene, uncovers an untold story from his long-lost scrapbook, revealing memories from a sports-based training program that shaped some of America's greatest leaders: George H. W. Bush, John Glenn, Bear Bryant, and John Wooden among them.

The Cloudbuster Nine tells, for the first time, the thrilling story of this patriotic baseball team with legends like Ted Williams who played for pride, country and the war-effort--and helped win World War II.

Author Biography

Anne R. Keene has published work in TheNew York Times, the Dallas Morning News, the Raleigh News & Observer, and magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post. A finalist for the prestigious Casey Award, TheCloudbuster Nine was recognized by Newsday magazine as a "Top 12 Baseball Read for the Season." Keene began her career as a speechwriter on Capitol Hill. She is a graduate of the School of Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who resides in Austin, Texas.

Claudia Williams is the last surviving child of Ted Williams. She penned a loving and forthright memoir, Ted Williams, My Father. As the daughter of a Marine combat pilot in World War II and Korea, and one of the greatest athletes who ever lived, Claudia strives to inspire future generations with examples of the courage and principles that her father exhibited his entire life.