Part 4/10:
By early 1945, while still serving in the Army, Mahi experienced a severe illness that required him to lose weight and impacted his capabilities on the mound. He returned to the Phillies after his military discharge at age 32, but his reentry into baseball was far from smooth. His first game back resulted in a loss—continuing the unfortunate trend of his early career, and he later acknowledged that the physical toll of his absence, compounded by the illness, diminished the sharpness of his once potent fastball.