Chevrons and Diamonds

1944 6th Ferrying Group vs Hollywood Stars

VetCollector
3 minutes
During the war years, major and minor league scorecards were replete with patriotic themes as no American went untouched by the personal costs of the global conflict (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

This program is one of two pieces from different games between the Long Beach based Air Transport Command’s 6th Ferrying Group and hosted the Pacific Coast League’s Hollywood Stars, during the 1944 season. Research has revealed three pre-season and one of the regular season exhibition games so, far. None of the pre-season games were played at Gilmore Field.

Box score (Los Angeles Times)

On Monday evening, June 19, 1944, actor and comedian Joe E. Brown hosted festivities at Gilmore Field that included the game between the Hollywood Stars and the Sixth Ferrying Group along with an appearance by the popular comedy duo of Abbot and Costello, performing their Who’s on First act. The event was organized as part of a War Bond campaign. Admission to the game was free with the purchase of a War Bond. A $100 bond purchase guaranteed a box seat while a $50 bond brought the purchaser a place in the grandstand and $25 was good for a bleacher spot. The objective of the event was to inspire fans to purchase $1.5M in bonds that night, as part of the nation’s Fifth War Bond Loan Drive. In addition to Abbott and Costello, fans were entertained by actress Eugenia Lincoln “Jinx” Falkenburg and an Army band that featured trombonist Tommy Dorsey.

June 20, 1944, Gilmore Field, Los Angeles, California: Left to right are Jinx Falkenburg, Lou Costello, Charlie Root, Charles “Red” Ruffing and Bud Abbot (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

The event met the bond-purchase goal as 2500 fans witnessed Red Ruffing’s club down the Stars, 7-1.

Cover-to-cover, the booklet consists of twenty pages. All of the interior pages are printed in monochrome blue on white paper. The cover is a coated paper stock and printed in three colors (red, blue and black) with the front featuring a batting Uncle Sam and an inset of Stars manager, Charlie Root. There is some noticeable wear on the corner and spine but the overall condition is excellent.

This scorebook, along with a nearly identical piece, came from the personal collection of former St. Louis Browns and 6th Ferrying Group first baseman Chuck Stevens making the piece truly treasured among the many vintage programs and scorecards in the Chevrons and Diamonds collection.

Download and view the full program/scorecard (some pages of advertisements omitted).

The Stars roster, heavily impacted by the war, included many who were classified as 4F (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).
Pre-printed scorecards with the game’s anticipated line-up were quite common into the 1950s. For this game, manager Corporal Charles Ruffing sent nine Californians to face the Stars at Gilmore Stadium (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).
The untouched scorecards are pre-printed with the game’s line-ups and include local Hollywood advertisements including one from the famous Brown Derby restaurant.

1944 6th Ferrying Group Roster:

PlayerPositionFormer Team
Harry BeardoUT
Woodrow M. “Woody” BellCFSan Antonio (TXL)
Andrew CannonRFUSAAF
Harry DanningCGiants
Froilan “Nanny” FernandezSSBraves
 FoutsUT
Johnny “Swede” JensenLFSan Diego (PCL)
Art Lilly2BHollywood (PCL)
Harry “Peanuts” LowryCF/SSCubs
Ed NultyRFMontreal (IL)
Al “Ollie” OlsenPSan Diego (PCL)
Roy PitterP/RFBinghamton (EL)
Charles “Red” RuffingPYankees
Chuck Stevens1BBrowns
Willie WerbowskiPSemi-Pro
Max WestCFBraves
Ike Wise3BSemi-Pro

The over-sized Air Transportation Command patch located on Red Ruffing’s jersey is unique and indicates that this is the team’s home uniform (as shown on the scorecard’s back cover).

Commonly seen in scorecards during the war, “Honor Roll” sections called attention to the men from the organization who were giving their all to fight against tyranny (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).
From 1938 to 1944, Babe Herman was a fan favorite of Hollywood Stars fans as the aging veteran sustained his professional career in the Coast League before returning to Brooklyn after 14 seasons away from Dodger blue (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).
These two pages are the insides of the cover and are printed on a semi-gloss, heavy paper stock.

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