Chevrons and Diamonds

In looking at my article writing and publishing patterns of the last twelve months, I can see that I have been merely sporadic and entirely lacking consistency. Since the beginning of April, 2017 until my latest article (at the time of writing this), Seals at War, I have only managed to create 20 articles (a 1.67/month average). A simple scan of the titles reminds me of the reason for such inconsistency: this genre of the baseball or militaria hobby is very sparse in terms of the availability of artifacts. I also suspect that with the steady increase of readership of my articles, I am potentially my own worst enemy as my stories are fueling others’ interest in this area of collecting.

Adding only a handful of artifacts to my collection had a direct correlative impact on providing me with my preferred inspirational subject-matter. In the last several weeks, my bank account of inspiration has received some fantastic credits that are changing the year-long, stagnant trend. In addition to landing the 1944 Seals scorebook, the Waldron NAAF Jersey, a magnificent 1920s baseball medal, and my very first military-related baseball which is getting (my) 2018 off to a very bright start…and there is much more to come!

As with baseball, we can’t win every game and that was the case with the auction of the circa-1944 photograph of the U.S. Navy baseball team on Tinian on which my meager bid was summarily beaten, a few short weeks ago. Missed opportunities are a part of life, the game and so go hand-in-hand with collecting. Whiffing on an artifact that would be an absolutely perfect fit for my collection can be frustrating and yet these occurrences are positive in that I gain understanding on those pieces that are in greater demand and thus have more competitors to land them.

In the article I wrote about the 1944 Seals score book, I made reference to the two WWII service teams pieces that I previously purchased. The first one that I acquired, a Program and score card from the Third Army Championship games, hosted in early August of 1945 at Nuremberg Stadium in Germany opened my eyes to how invaluable these pieces are as records of men who played as they served. The second piece that came home was a battered Scorecard from Game 7 of the 1944 Army vs Navy Championship Series played at Furlong Field on Hickam Army Air Force Base. Both of these game are have been well-documented. There is one additional scorecard (article forthcoming) for a USAAF all-star game that I have in my collection.

A few weeks ago, I was watching a few listings from a person who was selling some fantastic pieces of military baseball memorabilia (purportedly acquired from a hobbyist). In seeing how the bidding was proceeding on the three pieces that I was very interested in (two scorecards and a score book) were from World War II and related to specific games that were played between all-star service teams whose teams consisted primarily of professional baseball players.

1. Navy versus Major League All-Stars: Weaver Field, Submarine Base, April 19, 1944
2. Army All-stars versus Navy All-stars: Hoolulu Park, Hilo, Hi
   Friday October 6, 1944
3. Navy vs Army All-Stars| Fourth game in the Central Pacific Championship Series

Each piece already has numerous bids on them when I first saw them and I realized within a short period of time that each one was going to exceed not only what I was willing to pay for any of them but also their market value. The italicized text is intentional as what a particular piece is worth can be highly subjective. With these items having been produced in small numbers (that is my speculation due to the audiences that are believed to have attended the games), there are so few of them and transaction histories are difficult to obtain (I manually track them) which further complicates the discussion surrounding valuation. In the end, the price that one person is willing to pay essentially establishes the value of an item.  For each of these pieces of military baseball ephemera, the excitement of the bidding and the desire to win an auction resulted, in my opinion, inflated final bid prices.

As an aside, less attention was given to a signed team baseball (one of the Navy teams on the rosters contained withing the scorecards) resulting in a very low price and facilitating my ability to land my second military baseball in less than two weeks.

The three items are considerable pieces that shine more light on these little-known games by providing rosters with the names of players, positions, their former teams, branches and, on one roster, the ranks of  the ball players.

1. Navy versus Major League All-Stars: Weaver Field, Submarine Base, April 19, 1944

Though my research has yielded no information regarding this specific game, I am confident that in time, I will be able to locate a Stars and Stripes article, at the very least.  Some facts that stand out to me in viewing this artifact lie within the rosters themselves. While the major league all-stars team consisted of mostly major leaguers who were serving in the Navy, one player, Tom Winsett, was serving in the Army.  I am didn’t quite conclude my research to determine which of the Dickey brothers (Bill or George) was suited up for the Major League team however I do know that both served in and played on the Navy teams.  Considering this roster, one would suspect that the odds of a team of naval personnel could pose any sort of a challenge to be rather slim.

Major League All-Stars Roster

Last	First	Position	Branch	Former Team
Casey	Hugh	P	Navy	Brooklyn Dodgers
Dickey			Navy
Felderman	Marv	C	Navy	Chicago Cubs
Ferrick	Tom	P	Navy	Cleveland Indians
Grace	Joe	3B	Navy	St. Louis Browns
Harris	Robert A.	P	Navy	Philadelphia Athletics
Lucadello	John	2B	Navy	St. Louis Browns
Masterson	Walter E.	P	Navy	Washington Senators
McCosky	Barney	CF	Navy	Detroit Tigers
Mize	Johnny	1B	Navy	St. Louis Cardinals
Olsen	Vern	RF	Navy	Chicago Cubs
Pellagrini	Eddie	SS	Navy	San Diego Padres
Reese	Pee Wee	SS	Navy	Brooklyn Dodgers
Winsett	Tom	LF	Army	Brooklyn Dodgers

(Major League players in italics)

The Navy All-Stars team wasn’t simply stocked with neophytes and amateur ball players. Present on the roster for the Navy were five veterans hailing from the Athletics and Senators of the American League.  At least two of the amateurs (Mo Mozzali and John Jeandron) went on to play professional baseball and perhaps continued research will yield more confirmations of post-War athletic careers of these men.

Last	First	Position	Rank	Former Team
Anderson	Arne	P	SM	Washington Senators
Atkinson	Norman E. “Gene”	C	TM2/c	Semi-Pro
Bishop	Tom B.	SS	EM2/c	Semi-Pro
Brady	E. J.	2B	SF2/c
Brancato	Al	SS	SK2/c	Philadelphia Athletics
Brass	T. H.	P	C Sp
Brennen	J. D.	P	EM2/c
Clifford	N. E.	C	MM2/c
Durkin	R. E.	LF	MM2/c
Felonk	A. F.	CF	MM3/c
Harris	Bob	P	SP 1/c	Philadelphia Athletics
Hecklinger	E. T.	1B	GM3c
Henry	G.	P	CBM
Jeandron	John Hubert	3B	PhM3/c	Port Arthur Tarpons
Johnson	A. Rankin	P	YN1/c	Philadelphia Athletics
Madigan	N. J.	P	ML1/c
Masterson	Walter E.	P	C Sp	Washington Senators
McCorkle		C	Cox
Merhoff	F. D.	RF	GM1/c
Meyers	A. J.	1B	S2/c
Meyers	D. T.	RF	S2/c
Mozzali	Mo	LF	TM2/c
Powell	J. H.	CF	MS1/c
Roos	N. S.	P	SM
Sessions	Oscar M.	P	CEM	Navy
Simione	P. S.	CF	BM2/c
Snider	F. T.	RF	SM
Stutz	E. F.	P	CM2/c
Ward	R. L.	3B	CMM
White	C. D.	2B	EM2/c

The fact that a few items surfaced as I was watching this scorecard, I didn’t bother to submit a bid as the price seemed to be capable of exceeding (in my experience) the prices that these pieces normally garner. When the bidding closed, the final price was less than $51.00 but I suspect that the winning bidder had significant bid that would preclude prospective buyers from submitting a reasonable price that would be capable of toppling.

2. Army All-stars versus Navy All-stars: Hoolulu Park, Hilo, Hi | Friday, October 6, 1944

The second of the three scorecards that was sold garnered considerably greater interest (16 bids) as it sold for more than double of the preceding card and that was undoubtedly due to the sheer star power contained within both teams’ the rosters. Though the Army team for this game was fully-stocked with veritable stars taken from the ranks of the majors and minor leagues, the Navy team carried far more stars with major league experience. One of the Army’s star hitters, Ferris Fain, was building a name for himself and taking advantage of the opportunity as he demonstrated his abilities with his Army Air Force team, playing on the team at Hickam Air Field on Oahu. Fain had played four seasons of professional baseball with the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League but was making a name for himself prior to enlisting following the 1942 season.  Nine of Fain’s teammates on this Army All-Star team were major leaguers, headlined by seven-time American League All-Star and two-time league MVP, Joe DiMaggio who had also been playing for the Army Air Force team with Fain.

Last	First	Position	Former Team
Ardizoia	Rugger	P	Kansas City Blues
Ashworth	James	C	Helena
Beazley	Johnny	P	St. Louis Cardinals
Clarke	Joe	Coach	Semi-Pro
DeRose	Carl	P	Amsterdam
Dillinger	Bob	3B	Toledo Mud Hens
DiMaggio	Joe	OF	New York Yankees
Edwards	Hank	OF	Cleveland Indians
Erautt	Eddie “Ace”	P	Hollywood Stars
Fain	Ferris	1B	San Francisco Seals
Funk	Eddie	P	Federalsburg, MD
Gautreaux	Sid	C	Brooklyn Dodgers
Gordon	Joe	SS	New York Yankees
Hairston	Hal	P	Homestead Grays
Judnich	Walter	OF	St. Louis Browns
Kohlmeyer	Kearney	SS
Lang	Don	OF	Indianapolis Indians
Leonard	Wilfred	C	Oakland Oaks
Lien	Al	P	San Francisco Seals
Lodigiani	Dario	2B	Chicago White Sox
McCormick	Mike	OF	Cincinnati Reds
Molberg	Dick	P	Semi-Pro
Schmidt	Bill	P	Sacramento Solons
Schmidt	Don	P	Semi-Pro
Shumbree	John	Coach	Semi-Pro
Silvera	Charley	C	Kansas City Blues
Winsett	Tom Winsett	Mgr.	Brooklyn Dodgers

The Navy team, in addition to being considerably larger (37), outnumbered the Army’s major leaugers (9) by more than three-to-one and one could assume that such a talent disparity would result in their dominance in this particular game.

Unlike today’s game in which players routinely migrate from one major league team and league to another, these men were subject to Baseball’s Reserve Clause making them perpetual “property” of their respective teams, indefinitely (until being released or traded). Noting that within these rosters, several major league teammates oppose each other with their respective service teams. It wasn’t until 1947 with Major League Baseball was integrated with the promotion of Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers’ roster (having played the 1946 season at AA Montreal), but in 1944, the Army team featured pitcher Hal Hairston, formerly of the Homestead Grays of the Negro Leagues.

Last	First	Position	Former Team
Adair	Jim	P	Midland Cowboys
Anderson	Arne R.	P	Washington Senators
Atkinson	Norman E.	C	Semi-Pro
Berry	John	OF	University of Oregon
Bishop	Tom B.	SS	Semi-Pro
Brancato	Al	3B	Philadelphia Athletics
Carlin	Jim	OF	Philadelphia Phillies
Casey	Hugh	P	Brooklyn Dodgers
Dickey	Bill	Mgr.	New York Yankees
Dickey	George	C	Chicago White Sox
DiMaggio	Dominick	OF	Boston Red Sox
Evans	Gordon	OF	Charleston Senators
Feimster	Hank	P	Boston Red Sox
Felderman	Marv	C	Chicago Cubs
Ferrick	Tom	P	Cleveland Indians
Grace	Joe	OF	St. Louis Browns
Hallet	Jack	P	Pittsburgh Pirates
Harris	Robert A.	P	Philadelphia Athletics
Jeandron	John Hubert	2B	Port Arthur Tarpons
Johnson	A. Rankin	P	Philadelphia Athletics
Lucadello	John	2B	St. Louis Browns
Masterson	Walter E.	P	Washington Senators
McCosky	Barney	OF	Detroit Tigers
Mize	Johnny	1B	St. Louis Cardinals
Mozzali	Mo Mozzali	OF	Louisville, KY
Olsen	Vern	P	Chicago Cubs
Recca	Sal	3B	Norfolk Tars
Reese	Pee Wee	SS	Brooklyn Dodgers
Rizzuto	Phil	3B	New York Yankees
Rowe	Lynn “Schoolboy”	P	Detroit Tigers
Schulmerich	Wes	Asst. Mgr	Boston Red Sox
Sears	Ken “Ziggy”	C	New York Yankees
Sessions	Oscar M.	P	Navy
Shokes	Eddie	1B	Cincinnati Reds
Smith	Vince	C	Pittsburgh Pirates
Trucks	Virgil	P	Detroit Tigers
Vander Meer	Johnny	P	Cincinnati Reds

This scorecard was printed and distributed for on of the games in what was known as the Army-Navy World Series that was held throughout the Hawaiian Islands from September 22 to October 15, 1944. The Navy bested the Army, eight games to two (in this series) with the ninth game concluding in a 10-inning, 6-6 tie. This scorecard is specific to game 9.

3. Navy vs Army All-Stars| Fourth game in the Central Pacific Championship Series

The last of the scorecards also originates from the 1944 Army vs Navy World Series. This particular game (the fourth of 11) was played at Redlander Field, Schofield Barracks, September 25, 1944. According to Baseball in Wartime, the game was filled with excitement but would wind up with a fourth consecutive victory for the Navy All-Stars.

“The Navy took an early lead over the Army in the fourth game, witnessed by 10,000, as it jumped on four hurlers for 11 hits. Johnny Mize, ex-Giant first baseman, poled a 360-foot homer in the first inning after Barney McCosky walked, and the Navy scored one in the third and fourth, four in the fifth and single runs in the sixth and seventh to win, 10 to 5. The Army could not get its sights set up til the sixth frame, when five runs rolled over the plate, during which rally Ferris Fain, from the San Francisco Seals, and Joe Gordon, former New York Yankee second baseman, homered, knocking out Virgil Trucks and bringing Schoolboy Rowe, last with the Phillies, to the rescue.

Johnny Beazley, who was the victim in the first game, was hit freely by the Navy and retired in the fifth inning in favour of Ed Erautt, property of the Hollywood Pacific Coast League club, who, in turn, was succeeded by Carl DeRose, New York Yankee farmhand, in the sixth. Hairston finished up on the mound for the Army.”

This scorebook is, by far, the most desirable of the three that were sold. Complete with player photos of the star players, the book consists of multiple pages and, like the previous two scorecards, is unused.  Topping out in both the number of bids (19) and selling price ($122.68), the most desired piece of the three didn’t fail to draw the most attention among the three auctions.

The Rosters for both of these last championship series games are nearly identical with the same combination of major and minor leaguers along with a few semi-professionals and a collegiate ball player.

Army All-Stars:

Number	Last	First	Position	Former Team
13	Ardozoia	Rugger	P	Kansas City Blues
10	Ashworth	James	C	Helena
16	Beazley	Johnny	P	St. Louis Cardinals
30	Clarke	Joe	Coach	Semi-Pro
17	DeCarlo	A.	C
27	DeRose	Carl	P	Amsterdam
1	Dillinger	Bob	3B	Toledo Mud Hens
4	DiMaggio	Joe	CF	New York Yankees
11	Edwards	Hank	C	Cleveland Indians
19	Erautt	Eddie “Ace”	P	Hollywood Stars
7	Fain	Ferris	1B	San Francisco Seals
18	Funk	Eddie	P	Federalsburg, MD
15	Gautreaux	Sid	C	Brooklyn Dodgers
6	Gordon	Joe	SS	New York Yankees
28	Hairston	Hal	P	Homestead Grays
3	Judnich	Walter	RF	St. Louis Browns
22	Kohlmeyer	Kearney	SS
12	Lang	Don	LF	Indianapolis Indians
9	Leonard	Wilfred	C	Oakland Oaks
25	Lien	Al	P	San Francisco Seals
2	Lodigiani	Dario	2B	Chicago White Sox
5	McCormick	Mike	LF	Cincinnati Reds
23	Molberg	Dick	P	Semi-Pro
24	Schmidt	Bill	P	Sacramento Solons
21	Schmidt	Don	P	Semi-Pro
29	Schumbres	J.	Coach
8	Silvera	Charley	C	Kansas City Blues
20	Winsett	Tom Winsett	Mgr.	Brooklyn Dodgers

 

Navy All-Stars:

Number	Last	First	Position	Former Team
12	Adair	Jim	P	Midland Cowboys
26	Anderson	Arne R.	P	Washington Senators
10	Atkinson	Norman E.	C	Semi-Pro
9	Berry	John	RF	University of Oregon
4	Bishop	Tom B.	SS	Semi-Pro
17	Brancato	Al	3B	Philadelphia Athletics
16	Carlin	Jim	LF	Philadelphia Phillies
27	Casey	Hugh	P	Brooklyn Dodgers
28	Dickey	Bill	Mgr.	New York Yankees
15	Dickey	George	C	Chicago White Sox
11	DiMaggio	Dominick	CF	Boston Red Sox
31	Evans	Gordon	LF	Charleston Senators
	Feimster	Hank	P	Boston Red Sox
18	Felderman	Marv	C	Chicago Cubs
28	Grace	Joe	RF	St. Louis Browns
29	Hallet	Jack	P	Pittsburgh Pirates
24	Harris	Robert A.	P	Philadelphia Athletics
20	Jeandron	John Hubert	2B	Port Arthur Tarpons
23	Johnson	A. Rankin	P	Philadelphia Athletics
6	Leibold	David	Bat Boy
5	Lucadello	John	2B	St. Louis Browns
26	Masterson	Walter E.	P	Washington Senators
3	McCosky	Barney	CF	Detroit Tigers
32	Mize	Johnny	1B	St. Louis Cardinals
13	Mozzali	Mo Mozzali	CF	Louisville, KY
30	Olsen	Vern	P	Chicago Cubs
21	Recca	Sal	3B	Norfolk Tars
34	Reese	Pee Wee	SS	Brooklyn Dodgers
2	Rizzuto	Phil	SS	New York Yankees
26	Rowe	Lynn “Schoolboy”	P	Detroit Tigers
30	Schulmerich	Wes	Asst. Mgr.	Boston Red Sox
14	Sears	Ken “Ziggy”	C	New York Yankees
19	Sessions	Oscar M.	P	Navy
29	Shokes	Eddie	1B	Cincinnati Reds
1	Smith	Vince	C	Pittsburgh Pirates
22	Trucks	Virgil	P	Detroit Tigers
27	Vander Meer	Johnny	P	Cincinnati Reds

Though the series was billed as a best seven of the eleven games, the Navy had the series nailed shut well ahead of completing all eleven. The military brass wanted to ensure that the service members throughout the Islands had full opportunity to see the baseball legends taking the field with some 10,000 spectators in attendance at each game.

The 1944 Army/Navy All-Star Championship Series in Hawaii

1. September 22 – Furlong Field, Hickam (Navy, 5-0)
2. September 23 – Furlong Field (Navy, 8-0)
3. September 25 – Schofield Barracks (Navy, 4-3)
4. September 26 – Kaneohe Bay NAS (Navy, 10-5)
5. September 28 – Furlong Field (Navy, 12-2)
6. September 30 – Furlong Field (Navy, 6-4)
7. October 1 – Furlong Field (Army, 5-3)
8. October 4 – Maui (Navy 11-0)
9. October 5 – Maui (Army 6-5)
10. October 6 – Hoolulu Park, Hilo (Tie, 6-6)
11. October 15 – Kukuiolono Park (Navy, 6-5)

These two scorecards (or scorebooks) from the 1944 Championship Series (also billed as the Army vs Navy World Series) are unique to their respective games. Combining the two (above) with the one scorecard that I possess tells me that there is a good possibility that there is a potential for seven others to be on the lookout for.