Jim Leeke

@jimleeke.bsky.social

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Writer, researcher, SABR member — sports, aviation and military history. Current book: The Gas and Flame Men (Potomac Books).
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Ugliest unis in baseball history.

Hey, #avgeeks, Potomac Books is offering my last book for half off! “THE TURTLE AND THE DREAMBOAT is the first detailed account of the race for long-distance flight records between the US Army and US Navy less than fourteen months after World War II. Save 50% with our Summer Sale.” bit.ly/4b4cYEi

Orel and Mookie delivering a seminar from the booth during a blowout game. Great stuff. ⚾️⚾️

Love the front view of the Northrop Gamma “Sky Chief,” owned by the Texas Co. (Texaco) and flown by speed king Frank Hawks in the 1930s. #avgeeks

I'm writing today about "Shoeless" Joe Jackson and whether he was unpatriotic for jumping the White Sox for a shipyard job before the army could draft him during WWI. A complicated question for the 4th of July. (Library of Congress photo)

Lovely bit of baseball art from the Chicago Examiner after the White Sox saw five rainouts during their first eight home games in 1918. (Artist unknown.)

Ernst Janning: “Those people, those millions of people. ... I never knew it would come to that. You must believe it. You must believe it!” Dan Haywood: “Herr Janning, it came to that the first time you sentenced a man to death you knew to be innocent.” — Judgment at Nuremburg, 1961

News from Potomac Books: THE GAS AND FLAME MEN by Jim Leeke is the first full account of Major League ballplayers who served in the Chemical Warfare Service during World War I. Save 50% during our Summer Reading Sale! bit.ly/4b4cYEi

Lesson from my youth.

Frank Hawks' sleek, all-metal speed plane "Sky Chief," owned by the Texaco Company (Texaco). Have a model of it in my den. — Popular Science Monthly, February 1933 #avgeeks

This was the start 11 years ago. I’m now writing my sixth book on WWI baseball. It’s probably my last on this topic — but I’ve thought that every time.

“An enjoyable and distinctive blend of war story and sports chronicle.” — Publishers Weekly

Yes, I am writing about WWI-era baseball. But I occasionally dip into the life of speed pilot Frank Hawks, whose bio I hope to write someday. (Los Angeles Herald, 1921.)

Ryan YPT-16 — military version of Ryan STA, first monoplane acquired by US Army Air Corps as a primary trainer. (National Museum of the U.S. Air Force)

The Old Man as a young man, by longtime pal Jane Willson .... Happy Father’s Day to everyone.

B-47 Stratojet — One of the aircraft Jimmy Stewart flies in “Strategic Air Command” — looms over visitors like a dinosaur at the National Museum of the US Air Force, Dayton OH

Here’s the cover of my current book — will soon review initial edits of my coming bio of baseball umpire and author Ron Luciano — meanwhile I’m working on a book about the Chicago White Sox during WWI — writing nonfiction is a constant process!

P-47 — “Thunderbolt Fighter Pilots Served Their Country with Courage, Distinction, and Devotion to Duty in Every Combat Theater of Operations during World War II.” — Memorial Garden, National Museum of the US Air Force, Dayton OH. #avgeeks

P-6E Hawk — Last biplane fighter built in quantity for US Army Air Corps, never used in combat. National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, Dayton OH. #avgeeks

Although well above draft age, famed sportswriter Grantland Rice enlisted in the army and served as a lieutenant in France during WWI. I've collected over 75 poems he wrote about the war. They were personal and moving. (US National Archives photo)

"That's All, Brother," lead C-47 on D-Day, 80 years ago today. (National Museum of the U.S. Air Force, 2022) #ww2 #avgeeks

Flying Old Glory right side up, over the Civil War 8th Corps flag of Ohio troops who fought to keep insurrectionists out of the capitol.

Writing about #WWI-era #baseball but also dip into 1930s #aviation occasionally. Came across this fabulous 1931 newspaper portrait of speed flier Capt. Frank Hawks, aka America's Meteor Man. — Springfield (MA) Union, 17 August 1931 — #avgeeks

Basket catch, artist unknown. Mattoon (IL) Morning Star, 1907.

Never forget.

Capt. Edward L. Grant, “Harvard Eddie,” former Giants, Phillies, Reds and Indians ballplayer, killed in action Oct. 5, 1918, during WWI. #MemorialDay 2024. #EddieGrantLives (Artist: Sidney Smith, 1908)

Maybe my favorite cover, from Potomac Books, 2022. Writing about baseball again now, but hope to return to aviation one of these days. #avgeeks #superfort #neptune

I’m writing about the Chicago White Sox during WWI. Here’s bullpen catcher Joe Jenkins, commissioned in the field in France while fighting with the 132nd Infantry, 33rd Division. He returned to America in 1919 on the same transport as fellow combat veteran Grover Cleveland Alexander of the Cubs.

The perfect houseguest. And he doesn’t ask to borrow your car.

Aurora Borealis in Central Ohio — amazing!