In 1943 after 18 months of building up of military strength in equipment and manning, most of the stars of the major leagues who were classified as 1-A (available for military service) were serving in the armed forces either voluntarily or as part of the Selective Service Act (the military draft). Many of these men were assigned to various domestic and campaign-theater bases, serving as physical fitness instructors and playing baseball for their fellow GIs as a morale boost. In the previous months, many service baseball teams were already involved with charity exhibition games that served to raise monies in support of Army or Navy Relief Societies and for the various professional baseball equipment funds. During the summer of 1943, a handful of pivotal fund-raising games were held, culminating with the All-Star War-Bond Game on August 26, 1943 at the Polo Grounds. that featured the greats of the Yankees, Giants and Dodgers.
Leading off that summer’s fund-raising (on July 28, 1943), following the afternoon American League game that saw the Cleveland Indians beat the Yankees by a score of 6-2, at Yankee Stadium. The main event of that day was the exhibition contest that pitted the visiting Navy Pre-Flight Cloudbusters (from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill) against a combined squad from the Yankees and Indians (“Yanklands”) in which Naval Aviation Cadets, Ted Williams, Johnny Pesky, Buddy Gremp, Johnny Sain and Buddy Hassett faced off against the team that was coached by 48-year-old Babe Ruth (see: First, the Yankees Played the Indians. Then World War ll Took the Field).
At the opposite side of the country, another fund-raising game was organized by comedian and actor, Joe E. Brown with the goal of using the monies raised to purchase sporting equipment for soldiers, Marines, airmen and sailors serving in the Pacific theater. The All Pacific Recreation game saw the host Pacific Coast League take on a squad of service all-stars, Instead of a blended roster of players from the two representative teams (the Los Angeles Angels and Hollywood Stars), the two squads split the game with each playing 4-1/2 innings.. The game was played at Gilmore Field in Los Angeles (home of the Angels) and raised more than $25,000 (see: A Passion for the Troops: Joe E. Brown’s All Pacific Recreation Fund).
The Service All-Stars won the game easily. Ruffing pitched the first four innings with Rugger Ardizoia taking innings five through seven and Stan Goletz capping off the final two frames. The trio allowed just two runs on six hits. Conversely, the four pitchers of the Stars-Angels squad allowed eight runs on 15 hits in the 8-2 victory.
It is interesting to note the addition of Johnny Pesky to the lineup. Just days after completing his Navy Pre-Flight School training at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill on August 9, Pesky was home in Portland, Oregon, on 10 days leave between schools when he learned of this game and desired to play. L. H. Gregory, Sports Editor for the Oregonian newspaper, air-mailed a letter to Los Angeles Angels manager Bill Sweeney who handed it to Joe E. Brown. “Sure enough, Joe E. Brown ‘did it brown,’” Gregory wrote in his August 26, 1943 Greg’s Gossip column, “He wired Johnny to hop the plane Saturday morning from Portland to Los Angeles (and got him priority rights, besides), and guaranteed his trip home by plane as well.”
1943 All-Pacific Area Recreation Fund Service All-Stars:
| Player | Pos. | Former |
|---|---|---|
| Rinaldo “Rugger” Ardizoia | P | Kansas City (AA) |
| Harry Danning | C | Giants |
| Joe DiMaggio | OF | Yankees |
| Bud Doleshall | P | |
| A.R. Edwards | C | |
| Aubrey Epps | C | Knoxville (SOUA) |
| Froilan “Nanny” Fernandez | IF | Braves |
| Stanley Goletz | P | White Sox |
| Hal Hirshon | OF | Texarkana (EXTL) |
| Myril Hoag | OF | White Sox |
| Walter “Wally” Judnich | OF | Browns |
| Hubert Kittle | P | Oakland (PCL) |
| Arthur “Art” Lilly | IF | Hollywood (PCL) |
| Dario Lodigiani | IF | White Sox |
| Theodore “Ted” Lyons | P | White Sox |
| Joe Marty | OF | Phillies |
| Myron “Mike” McCormick | OF | Reds |
| Johnny Pesky | IF | Red Sox |
| Jack Price | IF | Daytona Beach (FLOR) |
| Charles “Red” Ruffing | P | Yankees |
| Chuck Stevens | IF | Browns |
| Louis Stringer | IF | Cubs |
| Max West | OF | Braves |
This program is a booklet with multiple page of content with feature articles on General MacArthur, the purpose of the fund and service team players: Joe DiMaggio and Red Ruffing.
Our program was acquired in 2019 from Service All-Star team member, Chuck Stevens, who was formerly of the St. Louis Browns and Toledo Mud Hens prior to joining the U.S. Army Air Force. He was assigned to the Air Transport Command’s 6th Ferrying Group in Long Beach, California.
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