1945 St. Louis Cardinals vs Naval Training Center, Bainbridge Commodores

June 26, 1945 St. Louis Cardinals vs NTC Bainbridge, Maryland “Commodores.” The Cardinals team photo shows the 1944 iteration of the club (Courtesy of the Jeffrey Lazarus Collection).

The Cardinals’ rookie pitcher, Jack Creel, was slammed by Commodores batters for five runs in the bottom of the first inning putting St. Louis in arrears from the start of the game. The lead proved to be insurmountable as Bainbridge rode the advantage to the end of the game despite the Red Birds’ clawing five runs against the sailors hurlers.

Bainbridge tars manager Ray Lucas sent Ken Raffensberger to the hill against the club with home he ascended to the major leagues in 1939. Bainbridge batters touched the Cards for nine runs on 16 hits with Dick Sisler accounting for four including a pair of doubles. Sisler also drove in two of Bainbridge’s nine runs and scored one of his own. Commodores’ third baseman, Howie Moss was 3-5 with two RBIs and a run scored as the two accounted for the offensive barrage that carried Bainbridge to victory over the National League club from St. Louis.

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(Courtesy of the Jeffrey Lazarus Collection).

Raffensberger went the distance while Cards manager Billy Southworth sent Eldred “Bud” Byerly and Al Jurisch to the hill following Creel who surrendered 11 of Bainbridge’s 16 hits.

This scorecard is a single sheet, monochrome red ink with a bi-fold. The inside pages feature the lineups and scoring grinds and the back page includes the team rosters and season stats. Conditionally, this scarce piece is excellent with slightly dog-eared corners and minimal creases.