Chevrons and Diamonds

Central Pacific Area Service League Aiea Hospital vs 7th AAF

VetCollector
3–5 minutes

Aside from the much more documented games between the Navy and Army All-Star teams played around Hawaii during the fall of 1944, there is significantly less information available regarding the league play in the Central Pacific Area Service League season play. Taking a deeper dive into researching these games, will be dependent upon culling data from better sources (which could require expending resources for access to archives – both online and in person).  Sourcing a game summary or a box score from the August 25, 1944 game played between Hickam’s 7th Army Air Forces ball club and the Aiea Naval Hospital team in conjunction with league standings, team records and perhaps a season schedule would help to determine the significance (if any) of this match-up.

Common accompanying caption: “Army Air Force Sergeant Joe DiMaggio and Navy Chief Specialist Harold Pee Wee Reese autograph baseballs for commanding officers before their respective teams play for the Central Pacific Area Service Championship on July 7, 1944.” (image source: National Archives)

The match-up between the Aiea Naval Hospital and Seventh Army Air Forces teams was held (barring any schedule changes subsequent to the printing of the scorecard) was held less than a month prior to the 1944 Army/Navy All-Star Championship Series. According to a game two summary from that series, the 7th AAF team was a recent victor of the regular season league play.

“Played exclusively for servicemen, 20,000 of them crowded into Furlong Stadium for each contest. Lt Tom Winsett, formerly of the Senators and Dodgers, managed the Army team, composed of Seventh AAF players, who had just captured the Hawaii Senior League championship.” – source: baseballinwartime.com

Without the specifics of the league play, it is difficult to determine if this 25 August game was part of that league championship or a subsequent game ahead of the all-star build-up that was taking place in anticipation of the upcoming Army vs Navy series. However, one of the more heavily reproduced and readily available internet photographs that shows Joe DiMaggio and Harold “Pee Wee” Reese signing baseballs for their respective commanding flag officers includes a caption that doesn’t make sense in light of the details of this scorecard.

The full scorecard showing all four pages (including the un-scored inside section) and rosters.

The rosters as printed do contain a few errors and typos which have been corrected in the transcription below. With this line-up of professional ballplayers matched up against the more amateur roster of Aiea (and the rest of the league), it is no wonder that the 7th Army Air Force team locked up the league championship. However, their success was the Army’s undoing as the Navy brass, amid the string of combat victories as the Japanese were being pushed back towards their homeland in a losing effort defending their previously expanded territory, began to pull stars from their ranks throughout both combat theaters (and domestically) to settle the score with the Army.

PlayerFormerPlayerFormer
Aiea Hospital7th AAF
LT. (jg) NeumanCoachJ. Winsett (manager)Brooklyn Dodgers
C. Ph. TempletonManagerJ. DiMaggioNew York Yankees
H. ReeseBrooklyn DodgersC. RuffingNew York Yankees
V. OlsenChicago CubsM. McCormackCincinnati Reds
G. DickeyChicago White SoxW. JudnichSt. Louis Browns
J. CarlinPhiladelphia PhilliesD. LodigianiChicago White Sox
H. FeimsterBoston Red SoxF. FainSan Francisco Seals
E. ShokesSyracuseA. LienSan Francisco Seals
L. MoyersWilliamsportW. LeonardOakland, CA
L. FleagleCedar RapidsW. A. Smith (Schmidt)Sacramento, CA
R. CookusPhoenixR. ArdizoiaKansas City
F. McCallisterSemi-ProC. KohlmeyerTyler, TX
F. DompierSemi-ProGedziusOklahoma City
O. StammermanSemi-ProJ. HillPensacola, FL
J. WhiteSemi-ProC. SilveraWellsville
C. CraigSemi-ProH. HairstonHomestead Grays
C. FabriziSemi-ProE. FunkFederalsburg
W. LockwoodSemi-ProC. DeRoseAmsterdam
C. BurtonSemi-ProDon SmithSeton Hall College
F. BurtonSemi-ProE. JaabMoline
R. FergusonSemi-ProJ. AndreHonolulu League
W. SpearsSemi-ProF. SaulSemi-Pro
A. CerielloSemi-Pro
A. RawlinsonSemi-Pro
R. DillingerToledo
Ruffing was in Hawaii for a very brief tenure and only appeared in a few games. This August 25, 1944 scorecard from the 7th’s game against the Aiea Naval Hospital Hilltoppers. The Navy club featured Chief Petty Officer Harold “Pee Wee” Reese, Vern Olsen, George “Skeets” Dickey and Hank Feimster (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

This scorecard surfaced in early 2018 at (online) auction. The four page layout and design is nearly identical to the scorecard used for Game Seven of the Army vs Navy All Star Championship series that was played the following month.

  Return to Library of Military Baseball Scorecards, Score-books and Game Programs – Hawaiian Islands