Pro Ball Players Still Filled Army Rosters in 1946: “Go Devils” G.I. World Series Champs

Sixty-eight days after his team, the 60th Infantry Regiment “Go Devils” secured the 1946 European Theater of Operations (ETO) World Series championship, Private First Class William R. Kurey was back home in Binghamton, New York to resume civilian life, returning to normalcy after serving from the tail-end of World War II into the occupation duties that ensued following VE-Day. Just 513 days of service (of which, (just 68 days during wartime) was enough for Bill Kurey. However, one of his experiences would have left him with an indelible memory.

The sixth youngest (of seven) children born to John and Kate Kurey of Binghamton in 1926, William was the third of four brothers; all of which served in the armed forces (John in the New York National Guard, Andrew in the Army during WWII and Edward served during the Korean War). Bill was a three-sport athlete at Binghamton’s Central High School, lettering in football (the team’s halfback) and baseball (he was on the junior varsity basketball team).  When Bill graduated high school, his plans were to join and serve in the Navy. However, within days of commencement, the former honor student was wearing the uniform of the United States Army.

After his completion of basic training, PFC Kurey would find himself assigned to the 60th Infantry Regiment replacing the combat-weary veterans who were rotating home. Kurey would be part of the forces that were performing occupation duties and facilitating Germany’s peaceful transition from a vanquished, war-torn aggressor nation to one faced with reconstruction. To break up the monotony, of occupation duty, Army leadership picked up with where things were left off with in the fall of 1945 following the Overseas Invasion Service Expedition (OISE) All Stars ETO World Series victory of the Red Circlers of the 71st Infantry Division.

The 60th Infantry Regiment “GO Devils” team. Pitcher Carl Scheib is standing in the back row, 6th from the right while second baseman, Bill Kurey is third from the left. Outfielder Fay Starr is seated, 5th from the right.

Go Devils’ batter Carl Scheib approaches the plate with the umpire at an unknown field. The bleachers appear to be at capacity leaving many to watch the game in the standing-room-only areas.

Leading up to the May 1946 opening day, the 60th Infantry Regiment (9th Infantry Division) began to pull together a team that included former professional ball players who were seeking every opportunity to maintain their skills (hoping to make a return to the professional game following their separation from the Army) along with pre-war former stars of semi-pro leagues, college and high school rosters.  The Go Devils roster was dotted with four players with minor league baseball experience and a starting pitcher who played for the Philadelphia Athletics from 1943 until he was drafted and inducted into the Army on May 11, 1945. Kurey possessed the skills and natural talent and found a home on the roster. After the war’s end, military baseball teams were plagued by a steady exodus of players rotating home making a difficult task of tracking every player that filled a roster spot during the 1946 season. Accounting for his lack of mention on the Go Devil’s (Baseball in Wartime) narrative, the roster’s revolving door could be an explanation. Though Kurey appears on the 60th Infantry Regiment’s scorecard, he may have been an early-season replacement.

Pitcher Carl Scheib was used sparingly in the 1945 Major League Baseball season, pitching 8-2/3 innings over four games with no decisions while surrendering three earned runs on six hits. That year, Scheib walked four and struck out two batters and posted a 3.12 earned run average (ERA). Over his two previous seasons, Scheib made 21 appearances (55 innings) with an ERA of 4.21 with an average 1.14 strikeout to walk ratio. While Scheib’s first three seasons in the major leagues may seem unremarkable, one would have to consider that he is the (all-time) youngest American League player to make his major league debut (aged 16 and 248 days). He turned 18 in January of 1945 which made him eligible to be drafted into the armed forces.

60th Infantry Regiment, “Go-Devils” 1946 Roster:

Number	Full	Pos	Home
3	John Boehringer	P	Adamastown, PA
16	Frank Eagan	OF	Port Huron, MI
4	Don Frischknecht	OF	Manti, UT
1	Floyd Gurney	1B	Cleveland, OH
28	Joseph Hewitt	Coach	Atlantic City, NJ
24	James Kilbane	OF	Cleveland, OH
12	William Kurey	2B	Binghamton, NY
5	Jack Lance	3B	Scranton, PA
14	William Laughlin	3B	E. St. Louis, IL
26	Richard Menz	C	Rochester, PA
8	Joseph Moresco	P	Wilkes Barre, PA
15	William Putney	SS	Big Island, VA
38	John Sanderson	P	Brooklyn, NY
6	Carl Scheib	P	Gratz, PA
9	Ronald Slaven	2B	Detroit, MI
20	Angelito Soto	OF	Blythe, CA
7	Fay Starr	OF	Fort Worth, TX
42	George Straka	C	Reading, PA
11	William Wasson	P	Lockport, NY
2	Jerry Weston	OF	St. Louis, MO
25	George Zallie	OF	Philadelphia, PA

After 18 months of service in the Army, Scheib returned to the Athletics, joining them at their 1947 Spring Training in West Palm Beach, Florida. The 20-year old pitcher was re-focused on his career after a dominating season for the Go Devils citing his ambition for the future, “to become a great pitcher,” he would write in March. Scheib earned his first win as a starting pitcher on June 11, 1947 at Briggs Stadium as he blanked the Tigers 4-0, allowing seven hits, walking as many and striking out one batter as he went the distance. He would finish the season with a 4-6 record in his 21 appearances (starting 12 games) and a 5.04 ERA.

This scorecard is from a game played on the first anniversary of VE-Day that saw the Go Devils hosting a fellow-9th Infantry Division regiment, the 39th.

Kurey’s unscored scorecard.

The Go Devils roster as of May 8, 1946.

Another of Kurey’s Go Devils teammates, Leading up to World War II, Fay Haven Starr was a five-year minor leaguer who lived and breathed baseball as a youth, through high school, American Legion and college baseball. While his baseball path was not unusual, his passion for the game seemed to exceed that of others as he was keenly aware of baseball history as it was being made.  In March of 1947, ahead of the breaking of baseball’s color barrier just a few weeks hence. To Starr, the signing of a black baseball player wasn’t as earth-shattering for him having not only played with colored ballplayers in the same leagues, but on the same team.

Rather than handing out rings, it appears that each member of the championship team was given one of these cards.

The back of Kurey’s G.I. World Series Championship card shows some hand-written notes.

By 1938, the former American Legion champion outfielder (Southern California, 1935, Leonard Wood Post, Los Angeles and 1936 World Series runner-up) was in the midst of his 1st Team Helms Athletic Olympic Foundation while playing for Pasadena Junior College. His teammate that season, the new starting shortstop (supplanting future seven-time American League All-Star, Vern Stephens who was shifted to third base) was playing his way to secure the Helms Foundation’s Most Valuable Player award was none other than Jackie Robinson.

Among PFC William Kurey’s baseball photos, this image appears to depict the American soldiers sharing baseball with local German children at Go-Devils Stadium.

Bill Kurey (left) and another of the Go Devils players take in fielding exercises at what appears to be Schlesierkampfbahn (Hermann Goering Stadium).

Starr’s professional career began in 1938 in class “D” with Fargo-Moorhead in the Northern League, progressing upward to “C” league ball with the Bisbee (Arizona) “Bees” in the Texas-Arizona Leagues in ’39 and ’40. The young outfielder continued his ascent, spending the majority of the 1941 season with the class “B” Tacoma “Tigers” (Western International League), where he saw action in 101 games before the Chicago Cubs took notice, signing a contract and placing him on their Pacific Coast League team in Los Angeles for the last 14 games of their season.  In 1942, Starr split time with the Los Angeles Angels and the Fort Worth Cats (class “A1,” Texas League). It was the last season in professional baseball for the young outfielder. When Starr enlisted at the rank of private on August 21, 1944, he had been working as a foreman in aviation manufacturing ( which prevented him from being draft-eligible. He would receive his commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Ninth Infantry, 60th Infantry Regiment. Commenting about his most memorable time in the Army, in March of 1947, Starr wrote, “managing and playing baseball with the 60th Infantry team, 1946 champions of the European G.I. World Series.” Baseball stood out for him in the early years of his life.

The 60th Infantry Regiment “Go Devils” sporting their “Third Army” uniforms following their clinching of the championship heading into the 1946 ETO World Series.
Identified players – Back row, from left: Colonel Durban, Cliff Ratliff, Bob Morgan, Joe Moresco, Jim Patterson, Bill Sharp, Jerry Weston, Floyd Gurney, Floyd Gurney and George Zallie. Middle row, kneeling: Bill Putney, Bill Kennedy, Fay Starr, Bob Page, Gene Swedler, Carl Scheib. Front row: Walt Penkala, George Straka, Danny Horn, Bob Stevens, Jack Lance

Unlike Scheib, Starr did not resume his baseball career, turning instead towards academia. Fay Starr pursued teaching (at the collegiate level) rather than make any further professional attempts with his baseball passion, leaving the pinnacle of his playing to be the 1946 ETO World Series Championship.

This small, yet invaluable group of photos and ephemera originating from WIlliam Kurey’s estate provides a different glimpse into the Go Devil’s team history. As with most of his teammates, Kurey did not play professionally before of after WWII and his subsequent discharge. He returned home to Binghamton living out the remainder of his life just 80 miles away from the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

Resources:

The Go Devils’ 1946 season is well-documented in Gary Bedingfield’s Baseball in Wartime Newsletter (Volume 2, Issue 16): “Go-Devils – G.I. World Series Champs of 1946.”