The White House
Washington
January 15, 1942.
My dear Judge:
Thank you for yours of January fourteenth. As you will, of course, realize the final decision about the baseball season must rest with you and the Baseball Club owners -- but what I am going to say is official and not a solely a personal point of view.
I honestly feel that it would not be best for the country to keep baseball going. There will be many tasks at hand and everybody must work longer hours and harder than ever before.
And that means sacrificing recreation and taking minds off work; this could be the price of victory.
As to the players themselves I know you agree with me that individual players who are of active military or naval age should go, without question, into the services. If any individual has some particular aptitude in a trade or profession, he ought to serve the Government. That is a matter which I know you can understand with complete justice.
Here is another way of looking at it -- if 300 teams use 5,000 or 6,000 players, are these players an asset to at least 20,000,000 of their fellow citizen? In my judgment, the wants of a single industry are outweighed by the needs of the world.
With every best wish,
Very sincerely yours,
{Signature} Franklin D. Roosevelt {End of signature}
Hon. Kenesaw M. Landis,
333 North Michigan Avenue,
Chicago, Illinois.
actual text of letter by FDR