1942 U.S. Service All-Stars Treasured Ink

On February 2, 2023, in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, the prognosticating ground hog known to the people of Young Township, Jefferson County, as Phil, was said to have predicted six more weeks of winter. However, just two weeks later, spring arrived as was scheduled by Major League Baseball as pitchers and catchers reported to their respective teams’ training locations in Arizona and Florida. Despite wintry weather pounding many parts of the country in the weeks that followed, the long wait that began following the last out of Game 6 of the 2022 World Series on November 5 is finally over. The 2023 baseball season is about to commence.

While the game takes a three-month break, there truly is no offseason for it. For curators of the game’s history, the season ebbs and flows from one end of the calendar to the other as prospective candidates for the collection become available at any moment. While major league clubs were seeking their prized free agent acquisitions, we too were busy landing significant artifacts for the Chevrons and Diamonds Collection.

In the last few years, our collection of team-signed baseballs has grown at a snail’s pace, though the emphasis has been focused on quality rather than quantity. However, over a three-week span from February into March, we managed to land three significant team balls. Rather than spill the beans on all three pieces in one article, our current focus will be on the anchor of the group.

It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words and while there seems to be a fair amount of truth in that expression, grouping together related artifacts can better serve in telling a complete story. In our January 2022 article, Historic Game Program Discovery: July 7, 1942 Service All-Stars, we introduced readers to the fund-raising game played between the American League All-Stars and the Service All-Stars at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium. By bringing together a few of our press photos and a game scorecard, the game was elevated to an event rather than just a box score. While the group of photos and the game program are historic artifacts, the group of 1942 Service All-Star artifacts was further enhanced with a Reach Official American League, William Harridge baseball signed by the team.

The program for the 1942 Service All-Stars vs AL All-Stars.

Before 1942 began, serious doubts swirled throughout the game as to whether baseball would be played that season as players began volunteering for service in the armed forces. Cleveland Indians phenom pitcher Bob Feller enlisted into the Navy on December 9 as the first major leaguer to answer his nation’s call. Twenty days later, Philadelphia Athletics outfielder Sam Chapman followed suit, trading his flannels for Navy dress blues. Many ballplayers were already in uniform due to the enacted peacetime Selective Service Act, including Ernie Andres, Frank Baumholtz, Mickey Harris, and Fred Hutchinson. At the age of 41, George Earnshaw, former Philadelphia Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals pitcher, was commissioned a Lieutenant junior grade in the U.S. Navy in early December 1941.

With service baseball taking flight in the spring of 1942, teams at many domestic bases were competing in games to boost morale and to raise funds for Army and Navy Relief organizations and for recreation equipment funds for troops. As plans were drawn to field a team of military all-stars from across the country, Great Lakes Naval Training Station manager Lieutenant Gordon “Mickey” Cochrane began assembling his preferred list of players from the Army and Navy who would face the winners of the major league all-star game.

Chevrons and Diamonds Collection

Courtesy Gary Bedingfield Collection

Dual photos showing the 1942 Service All-Stars in their service uniforms and team flannels: left to right are:
Front Row: Vincent Smith, Pittsburgh Pirates; Don Padgett, Brooklyn Dodgers; Ernest Andres, Louisville Colonels; Herman Fishman; Frank Pytlak, Boston Red Sox; Fred Shaffer, Louisville Colonels; Russell Meers, Milwaukee Brewers.
Center: LCDR J. Russell Cook, Athletic Office – Great Lakes; Don Dunker; O.V. Mulkey (trainer); Cecil Travis, Washington Senators; Fred Hutchinson, Detroit Tigers; Sam Chapman, Philadelphia Athletics; Bob Feller, Clevaland Indians; George Earnshaw; Mickey Cochrane; Hank Gowdy, Cincinnati Reds (coach); Joe Grace, St. Louis Browns; Mickey Harris, Boston Red Sox; John Rigney, Chicago White Sox.
Back: Ken Silvestri, New York Yankees; Pat Mullin, Detroit Tigers; Chester Hadjuk, Chicago White Sox; Johnny Sturm, New York Yankees; Sam Harshany, Toldeo Mud Hens; Johnny Lacadello, St. Louis Browns; John Grodzicki, St. Louis Cardinals; Benny McCoy, Philadelphia Athletics; Emmett Mueller, Philadelphia Phillies, Morris Arnovich, New York Giants.

By late June as the majority of the service all-stars reported to Cochrane, coaches LT(jg) Earnshaw and WWI Army veteran Hank Gowdy began putting the club through workouts to build team cohesiveness. In preparation for the July 7 game, Cochrane took the team on the road for a handful of exhibition games.

Chevrons and Diamonds Collection

Chevrons and Diamonds Collection

Left: July 1, 1942- Great Lakes, Illinois: Emmett Mueller (of the Phillies) left, and John Sturm (Yankees) right, members of the All-Service team training at Great Lakes (Illinois) Naval Training Station, take orders from Lieutenant George Earnshaw, center, former big league pitcher, who is assisting Mickey Cochrane train the service team for coming game with major league stars at Cleveland.

Right: July 3, 1942 – Service All-Stars – Left to right: Emmett Mueller, Morrie Arnovich, Mickey Harris, John Sturm, John Grodzicki, Cecil Travis, Ken Silvestri, Pat Mullin, Lieutenant George Earnshaw, Fred Hutchinson, Vincent Smith, Bob Feller, Sam Chapman.

Player	Position	Service Team	Former
Ernie Andres	3B	Great Lakes Naval Training Station	Louisville (AA)
Morrie Arnovich	LF	Fort Lewis	Giants
Frank Baumholtz	CF	Great Lakes Naval Training Station	Riverside (CALL)
Sam Chapman	OF	Norfolk Naval Training Station	Athletics
Mickey Cochrane	Mgr.	Great Lakes Naval Training Station	Tigers
George Earnshaw	Coach	Jacksonville Naval Air Station	Cardinals
Bob Feller	P	Norfolk Naval Training Station	Indians
Hank Gowdy	Coach		Reds Coach
Joe Grace	RF	Great Lakes Naval Training Station	Browns
Johnny Grodzicki	P	Armed Forces Replacement Training Center – Fort Knox	Cardinals
Chet Hajduk	2B	Great Lakes Naval Training Station	White Sox
Mickey Harris	P	83rd Coast Artillery/Fort Kobbe	Red Sox
Sam Harshaney	C	Great Lakes Naval Training Station	Toledo (AA)
Fred Hutchinson	P	Norfolk Naval Training Station	Tigers
Johnny Lucadello	SS	Great Lakes Naval Training Station	Browns
Benny McCoy	2B	Great Lakes Naval Training Station	Athletics
Emmett “Heinie” Mueller	2B	Jefferson Barracks	Phillies
Pat Mullin	CF	New Cumberland Army Reception Center	Tigers
Don Padgett	LF	Great Lakes Naval Training Station	Cardinals
Frankie Pytlak	C	Great Lakes Naval Training Station	Red Sox
Johnny Rigney	P	Great Lakes Naval Training Station	White Sox
Kenneth J. “Ken” Silvestri	C	Fort Custer	Yankees
Vincent Smith	C	Norfolk Naval Training Station	Pirates
Johnny Sturm	1B	Jefferson Barracks	Yankees
Cecil Travis	SS	Camp Wheeler	Senators

The roster of the 1942 Service All-Stars. Names in bold indicate the players’ autographs that are present on our team-signed baseball.

Preparing for the game (left to right) 1. Catcher Vinnie Smith practices fielding infield pop-flies. 2.Bob Feller and Frank Pytlak plot against the American Leaguers. 3. Frank Pytlak, Cleveland Indians; Benny McCoy, Philadelphia Athletics; Cecil Travis, Washington Senators; Gordon “Mickey” Cochrane, former manager of Detroit Tigers and now manager of the service team; the great Bobby Feller, Cleveland Indians and Sam Chapman of the Philadelphia Athletics await the start of the game (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

Manager Cochrane built the Service All-Stars around a core of 10 Great Lakes Naval Training Station players. Adding four players from the Norfolk Naval Training Station Bluejackets, Mickey had fifteen total naval players (including coach Earnshaw from Jacksonville Naval Air Station). The Army’s representation on the team included a pair from Jefferson Barracks (Missouri), and individuals from Fort Knox (Kentucky), Camp Wheeler (Georgia), New Cumberland (Pennsylvania), Fort Custer (Michigan), and Fort Lewis (Washington). Mickey Harris traveled the greatest distance, arriving from the Panama Canal Zone. Coach Hank Gowdy would receive his commission into the Army on February 6, 1943, and serve at Fort Benning, Georgia.

This stamp indicates that the ball was made for use during the 1940-1942 American League seasons. The manufacturer is Reach and bears the signature of the American League president, William Harridge.

In the realm of collecting autographs, authenticity is the key. With the fraudulent memorabilia that permeates the collector hobby, exercising caution and performing due diligence are paramount for curating in this arena. Many collectors forgo the research steps and defer to third-party authentication (TPA) prior to making a purchase. While this may seem to be the safest approach, TPAs certainly are not infallible. With a combination of research, attention to detail and wisdom, some autographed memorabilia can be safely acquired.

The most commonly forged autographs are typically those of Hall of Fame players as well as those whose signatures are difficult to find. While there are team-signed balls that bear forgeries, they are more of a challenge to be fabricated as it takes a substantial investment in time for fraudsters to research rosters and practice the signatures of players who were seldom asked for autographs. Also, locating vintage baseballs requires a significant investment that can be quickly relegated to the scrap heap with a poorly executed fake autograph.

From the top of the north panel are: Pat Mullen, John Lucadello, George Earnshaw, Cecil Travis, Joe Grace, Chet Hajduk, and Benny McCoy (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

The first step in the analysis was to determine the age of the ball. The Official American League manufacturer’s stamp[1] with the facsimile signature of the league president, William Harridge, dates the ball’s era to 1940-1942[2] which is in alignment with the game’s July 7, 1942 date.

Authenticating signatures is a bit more involved process. Two obvious questions that one may seek answers to are:

1. How does one make the determination of which team signers were members of?
2. What indicators are present to determine the age of the signatures? How can we tell if the autographs were placed in context with the ball’s age?

Before one can attempt to answer the first question, determining whose signatures are present on the ball is a must. Autographs from the 1940s are much more legible than those of contemporary ballplayers but without the ability to read cursive writing, it is virtually impossible to decipher what was placed onto the ball. Creating a list of signatures on each panel would help in identifying if a multi-player, signed ball is from a single team or is simply a collection of autographs. With our ball, the team identity became apparent quickly due to our familiarity with the roster.

The east panel signatures are (from top): Johnny Rigney, Frank Pytlak, Bob Feller, Sam Chapman, and, to the side, Morrie Arnovich (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

Aside from the typical oxidation of the horsehide, rendering the original white finish to an even amber color, the absence of impact marks, skids or scuffs shows that the ball was not used in game play. Most of the signatures are dark and legible with a few that show degradation. Only one of the autographs is so faded that it makes it a challenge to read. In analyzing the ink, it is apparent that at least five different pens were employed. Further examination of the signatures reveals each signer’s pressure points and ink-load, revealing steady and confident motions of the pen rather than a person being careful in mimicking someone else’s penmanship.

From the top are: Ernie Andres, Fred Hutchinson, indistinguishable, and John Sturm.

A different angle for a better look at the third signature. From the top are: Ernie Andres, Fred Hutchinson, indistinguishable, and John Sturm.

The south panel bears the signatures (from the top) of: Ken Silvestri, Sam Harshaney, and Mickey Harris.

(Chevrons and Diamonds Collection)

After comparing all the signatures on the ball with known and verified examples, we confirmed that the ball was not only from the July 7, 1942, Service All-Stars team, but that 20 of the 21 signatures were indeed members of the team. Of the players listed on the team’s 25-man roster, the ball appears to lack autographs of Frank Baumholtz, Hank Gowdy, Johnny Grodzicki, Emmett “Heinie” Mueller, and Don Padgett as the one unidentifiable signature is incongruent with known marks from the five men.

 Outpacing the attendance at the Major League All-Star game held at the Polo Grounds the day before by a nearly 2:1 margin, the July 7 game involving the Service All-Stars indicated the interest in seeing them was considerable. It saw 62,094 paid admissions plus an additional 2,000 uniformed service personnel admitted free-of-charge.[3] Conversely, the Major League All-Star Game’s attendance was nearly half, with just 34,178 in attendance at New York’s Polo Grounds. After the 1942 service baseball season drew some opposition from families of service personnel serving in harm’s way, this game appeared to indicate a turning point as armed forces baseball exhibitions served as tremendous vehicles for charitable financial support for the men and women serving in uniform.

Lieutenant Gordon “Mickey” Cochrane’s signature is on the sweet spot with catcher (and future MLB umpire) Vinnie Smith’s signature beneath (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

Despite the service team roster featuring eight players with major league all-star appearances in their careers, the star-studded American Leaguers routed them in a 5-0 shutout. The assemblage of military baseball players so early in the war was truly historic despite their loss on such an enormous stage. Curating a baseball related to the game is truly a high-water mark for the Chevrons and Diamonds Collection.

---

[1] “Official American League Baseball Dating Guide Index,” KeyMan Collectibles (http://keymancollectibles.com/officialamericanleaguebaseball.htm), accessed March 18, 2023.

[2] “1940-1942 William Harridge Reach OAL Baseball,” KeyMan Collectibles (http://keymancollectibles.com/balls/1940Harridgeoalreachbaseball1942.htm), accessed March 18, 2023.

[3] Grosshandler, Stan, “A Forgotten All-Star Game,” SABR Research Journal Archive (http://research.sabr.org/journals/forgotten-all-star-game), Accessed March 19, 2023.