Chevrons and Diamonds

Most of the players on the Great Lakes Naval Training Station (GLNTS) “Bluejackets” club had enlisted voluntarily in the early months of World War II. As they landed at the GLNTS for training, Lieutenant Gordon “Mickey” Cochrane managed to pull several of them onto the Bluejackets roster to participate in the club’s mission to boost morale at the installation and to raise money for several service member-related charities and funds.

On May 25, 1942, Mickey Cochrane led his Bluejackets to St. Louis to face the Army’s Jefferson Barracks Reception Center “Missions” in a matinee exhibition prior to the Browns contest against the visiting Detroit Tigers at Sportsman’s Park. Mission’s manager, former New York Yankee Johnny Sturm, led a team that consisted mainly of former minor leaguers and collegiate players with Emmett Mueller (Philadelphia Phillies) and George Archie (Washington Senators) headlining the squad.

Bluejackets:

Rank	No.	Player	Position	Former
Sp(A)1/c	19	Ernie Andres	3B	Louisville (AA)
S1/c	15	Jim Basso	OF	Union City (KITL)
BM2/c	12	Frank Baumholtz	CF	Riverside (CALL)
S1/c	22	Earl Bolyard	CF	Dallas (TL)
	23	Paul Christman	1B	University of Missouri
AS	20	Cliff Clay	P	Cassville (ARMO)
LT	3	Mickey Cochrane	MGR/C	Tigers
COX	24	Hugh Dickie	C	Amateur
COX	14	Don Dunker	P	Amateur
		Myron “Mush” Esler	Trainer
COX	26	Herm Fishman	P	Winston-Salem (PIED)
COX	27	Don Godfredson	P	Winnipeg (NORL)
SK3/c	9	Joseph “Joe” Grace	RF	Browns
COX	10	Chester Hajduk	1B	White Sox
COX	7	Sam Harshaney	C	Toledo (AA)
LT	17	Paul D. “Tony” Hinkle	Coach
BM2/c	16	Dick Klein	P	Flint (MICH)
COX	11	Johnny Lucadello	SS	Browns
CSp(A)	7	Mike Lurel	IF	Amateur
S1/c		Frank Marino	P	Tulsa (TL)
COX	2	Benny McCoy	2B	Athletics
S1/c	17	Russ Meers	P	Milwaukee (AA)
CSp(A)	22	O. V. Mulkey	Coach
COX	8	Don Padgett	LF	Cardinals
S1/c	12	Eddie Pellagrini	SS	Louisville (AA)
F3/c	18	Frankie Pytlak	C	Red Sox
COX	25	Jim Reninger	P	Toronto (IL)
S1/c	23	Johnny Rigney	P	White Sox
S1/c	21	Fred Shaffer	P	Louisville (AA)
LT		E. A. Thompson	Pub. Rel.
CSp(A)	21	Lee Williams	P	Batavia (PONY)

Great Lakes jumped out to an early in the top of the first inning touching Charlie Holtmeyer for four runs. In the bottom of the second, Missions batters cut the lead in half scoring two runs off GLTNS pitcher Jim Reninger. Bluejackets batters extended their lead, scoring a lone run making the score 5-2 in the top of the third. Reception Center tacked on a pair in the bottom of the inning to draw within one; 5-4.

Trading zeros in fourth and fifth frames, pitching a defense kept the game close until Navy batters broke through for three in the top of the sixth. The Missions were held scoreless for the for the last four innings of the abbreviated seven-inning contest as Great Lakes claimed an 8-4 victory.

Missions:

Player	Position	Former
George Archie	3B	Senators
Lloyd Fisher	P	Freemont (OHSL)
Thomas Franey	RF	Paducah (KTTL)
Earl Hahn	LF	Kinston (COPL)
Charles Holtmeyer	P	Mayfield
Norvall M. Hunthausen	P	University of Notre Dame
Justin Keenoy	IF	Trois-Rivieres (MATL)
Harvey Lawson	P	Chicago University
Charles LeRoi	CF	Beaver Falls (PASA)
Emmett Mueller	2B	Phillies
Robert O’Brien	C	Hollywood (FECL)
Joseph Rayne	1B	Youngstown (MATL)
Glen Schaeffer	SS	Springfield (EL)
Walter Serb	P	Amateur
Johnny Sturm	IF/Mgr.	Yankees
William Thurman	RF	University of Missouri
Richard Tichacek	C	Columbus (AA)

Printed on heavy card stock in three-color ink, this bi-folded single sheet features a plethora of advertisements from St. Louis-area businesses, placed on the front and back covers and surrounding the scoring grids. At some point in time, this piece was adhered to what we suspect was a scrapbook page. It was subsequently removed leaving many areas of surface damage to the page.

Download a printable copy of this scorecard.

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