Life — April 3, 1919 — page 8: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

This Life magazine page satirizes baseball during WWI using two illustrations labeled "MY LEAGUE" and "ME, TOO, WOODROW." The left figure represents professional baseball; the right caricature is labeled to reference President Woodrow Wilson. The accompanying text criticizes Wilson for "usurping all the privileges of the Umpire"—a metaphor for excessive executive power—and jokes that the game cannot proceed due to "Bolshevik darkness" (likely referring to the Russian Revolution and post-war communist fears). The satire suggests Wilson has taken over baseball's authority like an autocratic umpire, preventing normal play. The piece ironically urges readers to "Play Ball, America!" and subscribe to Life magazine despite these wartime disruptions, while noting half a million soldiers overseas want access to the publication.