3 notable MLB players who served during their careers

On Nov. 11 - Veterans Day in the United States and Remembrance Day in Canada - we pause to pay tribute to those who served and fought for freedom and who were lost in the battles.

Baseball is no different. The sport has been intertwined with the military going back to its early days. Seasons were cut short for World War I and World War II as players dropped their gloves and bats to fight for their country, while some teams also lost players to military service in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. Between the two world wars, 10 major leaguers - eight of them in World War I - made the ultimate sacrifice.

The list of baseball players who've answered the call to serve over the sport's history is lengthy, and they can't all be named here. On this day, as we thank and remember every veteran - whether a baseball player or not - for their service, let's look back at three notable MLB players who fought for freedom.

Bob Feller

MLB Career: Indians 1936-41, 1945-56; 62.6 WAR
Military: Chief Petty Officer, United States Navy - USS Alabama: 1941-45

Feller was one of the first players to enlist in World War II, voluntarily suspending his career as a 23-year-old to join the Navy within 48 hours of the Pearl Harbor attacks. As a member of the USS Alabama, he saw combat action at sea in 1943, and was an active participant in 1944's Battle of the Philippine Sea as a gunner. "After that (battle), the dangers of Yankee Stadium seemed trivial," he'd say later, according to his SABR biography. Feller spent the last months of the war pitching for a military team - he even threw a no-hitter - before he was honorably discharged in Aug. 21, 1945 with eight battle stars to his name. He immediately rejoined the Indians and, despite sacrificing four years of his athletic prime to serve his country, went on to complete a Hall of Fame career on the mound.

Ted Williams

MLB Career: Red Sox 1939-42, 1946-60; 130.4 WAR
Military: United States Navy, United States Marine Corps: 1942-45, 1952-53

Imagine what Teddy Ballgame's numbers would look like had he not given six years to his country. Enlisting in the Naval Reserve after winning the AL Triple Crown in 1942, Williams became an ace pilot and was awarded his gold naval aviator wings in 1944; he was released from duty while awaiting deployment in Pearl Harbor in January 1946, after the war ended. When the Korean War broke out, Williams was recalled to duty and he left the Red Sox to fly 39 combat missions with the Marine Corps, where he served with future astronaut and U.S. Senator John Glenn. One of those 39 missions, a raid on Pyongyang, North Korea, nearly cost him his life after his plane was hit, though he made it back to base intact. For his service in Korea, Williams was awarded a multitude of medals, including a Bronze Star and an Air Medal - awards that likely meant a lot more to Williams than any MVPs or batting titles ever could.

Warren Spahn

MLB Career: Braves 1942, 1946-64, Mets/Giants 1965; 74.8 WAR
Military: First Lt., 276th Engineer Combat Battalion, 1159th Engineer Combat Group

Just four games into his eventual Hall of Fame career, Spahn left the Braves to enlist in the United States Army. After spending the first two years of his service at home pitching for a military team, Spahn was sent out with the 1159th Engineer Combat Group to the battlefields of Europe in December 1944, where he participated in the famous Battle of the Bulge. "We were surrounded in the Hurtgen Forrest and had to fight our way out of there," he recalled of the battle, according to Baseballinwartime.com. "Our feet were frozen when we went to sleep and they were frozen when we woke up. We didn't have a bath or change of clothes for weeks." Spahn was wounded by shrapnel while working traffic control on the Ludendorff Bridge during the battle; he was awarded the Purple Heart, and the unit received the Distinguished Service Emblem. Once he got back to the U.S., Spahn resumed his career as one of the most dominant left-handers ever, finishing with 363 wins - still the sixth-most in history.