he said bob feller was really rough on me until he found out i had served in combat.236 games and struck out batters. in world war ii, it cost me four seasons. >> 1946 was a special year for baseball in the country. great players were able to come back. >> earn any har well broadcast his first game for the atlanta crackers in 1946. in 1960 he moved to detroit where he announced for 42 seasons. >> i've had a great life and a great part of it was being in the marines for four years. >> i was signed by the new york giants in 1949. >> would you have gotten into major league baseball sooner had you got gone off to war? >> yeah. i had been selected to be the first at that time. i was scouted back in 1936. so they had selected me to be the first. but how can you argue with the job that jackie did. >> monte irvine fields the ball but too late to keep jackie robinson from scoring. ♪ >> in '51 irvine was with the giants are one of baseball's most famous moments. the deciding game of the special playoff between the new york giants and the brooklyn dodgers. at stake a trip to the