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Al Brancato: A Homegrown Athletic Infielder
Note: This is the first in a multi-part series documenting the wartime service of Philadelphia Athletics infielder, Al Brancato.
Nicknamed “the Termite Palace,” the wooden Honolulu Stadium, opened in 1926, hosted the “All Americans” in 1934 for an exhibition game as the squad of major leaguers, featuring the recently retired and soon-to-be Hall of Famer Babe Ruth, were on Oahu for a stopover before heading on to Japan for a month-long promotional tour. In addition to the “Bambino,” the All-Stars that descended upon the Hawaiian ballpark included Lou Gehrig, Earl Averill, Charlie Gehringer, Lefty Gomez, and Jimmie “Double-X” Foxx. They were led by “The Grand Old Man,” Connie Mack, manager of the Philadelphia Athletics. The major league stars defeated a team of Hawaiian All-Stars, 8-0, as the fans enjoyed a six-inning scoreless pitcher’s duel that was broken up in the seventh-inning by a Gehrig bomb into the right field stands.[1]
A decade after the All-Stars tour, another collection of major league stars took to the Termite Palace’s diamond against a collection of local talent in an exhibition game that had substantial meaning. This time around, the major league stars were presently serving in the armed forces and were led by former Dodger Tom Winsett. Before a crowd of nearly 20,000, the local club held their own against brilliant pitching by Navy hurler and former Brooklynite Hugh Casey. Reminiscent of the 1934 game, the local club kept pace with the major leaguers as both teams were prevented from plating baserunners through the first four frames.
April 29, 1944 War Bond Game: Major League Stars Line-up:
| Name | Former | Position | AB | R | H | PO | A | E |
| Harold “Pee Wee” Reese | Dodgers | SS | 6 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Joseph “Joe” Grace | Browns | RF | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Barney McCosky | Tigers | CF | 5 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnny Mize | Giants | 1B | 5 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 1 | 0 |
| Albert (Al) Brancato | Athletics | 3B | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Johnny Lucadello | Browns | 2B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| Tom Winsett | Dodgers | LF | 6 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Marvin Felderman | Cubs | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Hugh Casey | Dodgers | P | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jack Hallett | Pirates | P (6th) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Vern Olsen | Cubs | P (8) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Ferrick | Indians | P (9) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Walt Masterson | Senators | P (12) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| George “Skeets” Dickey | White Sox | C | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| 46 | 4 | 13 | 36 | 16 | 0 |
The major leaguers broke the tie in the top of the fifth inning when former Philadelphia Athletic Al Brancato drew a walk from Honolulu pitcher Joe Wells. Johnny Lucadello followed up with a walk of his own to put Brancato into scoring position at second. Tom Winsett drove a fly deep to right field which allowed Brancato to move up 90 feet. Catcher Marv Felderman matched Winsett with a sacrifice fly of his own to allow Brancato to tally the game’s first run without the benefit of a hit.[2]
After the locals tied the game in the bottom of the sixth, the game remained tied deep into extra frames. In the top of the 12th, facing Len Kasparovitch, Joe Grace knocked his first single of the game on a line drive to center field. Barney McCosky pushed Grace to second with a bunt. Johnny Mize drew a walk. With runners on first and second, Al Brancato drove a single to straightaway centerfield that was misplayed by outfielder Ed Jaab, allowing three baserunners to score. However, a fan jumped onto the field to grab the horsehide for a souvenir, thus putting Mize at third and Brancato at second. Johnny Lucadello drove a line shot to right center allowing Mize to score and putting runners at the corners with Brancato now at third. With Winsett at bat, Brancato and Lucadello executed a double steal that allowed Brancato to tally the third run of the inning and put the major leaguers ahead 4-1. The locals mustered up a 1-run rally in the bottom half of the frame but the major leaguers sealed the 4-2 victory. The real winners were the troops as the game raised over $1,000,000 in War Bond sales.[3]
The former Athletics infielder, 5-9, 188 lb. Al Brancato, the Philadelphia-boy who broke into the big leagues with his hometown American League club in 1939, was the difference in the War Bond game with his 1-5 performance at the plate with two runs scored. Brancato drove in a run, stole two bases and walked. The second-generation Italian-American infielder was gifted with massive hands with power in his throwing arm that required him to adjust his throws to first base. Oahu was a long way from Philadelphia and Brancato was more than 2 and 1/2 years removed from his last game at Shibe Park.
The year 2022 marks the Athletics’ 54th season in Oakland, California, which is its third and current home city. The Oakland version of the American League’s Athletics was established with the arrival of the franchise from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by way of Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1901, former Pittsburgh Pirates catcher and manager Cornelius McGillicuddy, known as “Connie Mack,” was awarded the Philadelphia franchise in the newly established American League (AL). During Mack’s ownership and management of the club, the Athletics captured seven pennants and four World Series titles and built one of the storied baseball clubs of the first half-century of the AL. The “Mackmen” who delivered those championships included Eddie Collins, Frank “Home Run” Baker, Charles “Chief” Bender, Mickey Cochrane, Lefty Grove, Eddie Plank, Rube Waddell, Al Simmons, and Jimmie Foxx, all of whom are enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
Since the Athletics have spent as many seasons in their third “hometown” as within the city of their founding, it is doubtful that contemporary baseball fans possess knowledge of the Philadelphia Athletics’ cavalcade of legendary players, stars, and journeymen. Names that should be known are seemingly lost to time including Stuffy McInnis, Jack Coombs, Bing Miller, Bob Johnson, Eddie Joost, Sam Chapman, Ferris Fain, Jimmy Dykes, and George Earnshaw. With 53 years of baseball and four championships, there are hundreds of men who donned flannels bearing the iconic “A” or white elephant emblems.
Following the Athletics’ loss in the 1931 World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals, Connie Mack began to sell off his star players to address the club’s financial needs. Not only did he part ways with some of the game’s greatest players, the lack of talent in players that he filled the vacancies with created a considerable vacuum that sent the team deep into the second division of the standings for 14 seasons.
The exodus from the Athletics began when twelve-game winner Bill Shores was sold on June 30, 1931 to the Portland Beavers (PCL). On September 29, 1932, Connie Mack sold Jimmy Dykes, Mule Haas, and Al Simmons to the Chicago White Sox for $100,000. Relief pitcher Eddie Rommel hurled his last major league game in 1932 and transitioned into a career as an umpire. Following the 1933 season, Connie Mack executed a fire sale on December 12, 1933 during the winter meetings: Mickey Cochrane was sold to Detroit for $100,000 and backup catcher Johnny Pasek. Lefty Grove, Rube Walberg, and Max Bishop went to the Red Sox for Bob Kline, Rabbit Warstler and $125,000. George Earnshaw and a catcher were sent to the White Sox for catcher Charlie Berry and $20,000 as the Great Depression continued for the foreseeable future.
By the late 1930s, Mack was years into rebuilding as scouts scoured sandlot, high school, collegiate and minor league diamonds for youthful talent to create a long-running nucleus of infielders, outfielders, catchers and hurlers. Mack conducted trades with other clubs, hopeful that a youth movement would stunt the succession of seasons with 97-100 losses since 1936.
- Dario Lodigiani – Traded by Oakland (PCL) on October 19, 1937
- Sam Chapman – Before the 1938 season, signed by the Philadelphia Athletics as an amateur free agent.
- Chubby Dean – In February, 1936, signed by the Philadelphia Athletics as an amateur free agent.
- Elmer Valo – Before the 1938 season, signed by the Philadelphia Athletics as an amateur free agent.
- Benny McCoy – On December 9, 1939, traded by the Detroit Tigers to the Philadelphia Athletics for Wally Moses. The trade was voided and players returned to their original clubs on January 14, 1940. McCoy was subsequently granted free agency. On January 29, 1940, signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Athletics.
- Crash Davis – On May 29, 1940, signed by the Philadelphia Athletics as an amateur free agent.
- Pete Suder – On October 1, 1940, drafted by the Philadelphia Athletics from the New York Yankees in the 1940 rule 5 draft.
- Tom Ferrick – Before the 1941 season, signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Athletics.
Amid the depression and the Athletics’ futility, the eyes of Connie Mack’s scouts were fixed upon a hometown athlete. “I started in 1938 with Mr. Mack” Al Brancato said. “He took me right out of high school and to spring training before I finished high school.”[4] The four-sport South Philadelphia High School letterman excelled in football, basketball, gymnastics, and baseball.
Brancato’s first spring training experience was abbreviated after an encounter with the ground lime marking the foul line. “I didn’t even have much of a spring training,” he said. “In those days, the white lines were made out of powder with lye [sic]. I got some powder in my eyes after diving for a ball, so I was out for a few weeks.”
After splitting 1938 between Williamsport and Class “B” Greenville (South Atlantic League) and a successful 1939 season with Williamsport in which he captured the Eastern League’s RBI crown with 98 runs batted in[5], the young Philadelphian was called up to the Athletics and made his major league debut on September 7 against the Washington Senators, going hitless in three plate appearances. In consecutive games against the Red Sox on September 10 and 11, Brancato made two pinch-hit appearances without reaching base. On September 12 against the visiting St. Louis Browns, he went 2-6 with a single and double, an RBI and a run scored. The kid from Philadelphia, despite his .206 average in 21 games to close out the season, showed promise and was in the major leagues to stay for the near future.
In 1940, his first full season with Philadelphia, Brancato spent 80% of his time at shortstop, managing a fielding percentage of .949. At third base, where he appeared in 25 games, his percentage was a few points lower at .926. At the plate, Brancato struggled, hitting just .191. Brancato’s 1941 season was a marked improvement over 1940 at the plate. The 22-year-old infielder raised his average 42 points, though at .234 he still had room for improvement. Playing the bulk of his games at short, “Bronk’s” .915 fielding percentage was a decrease over the previous year.
Despite the influx of talented youth, Connie Mack’s Athletics did not fare any better in the standings. In 1939 the club finished in seventh place and in 1940 and 1941 they were eighth. In 1941, the club cracked the 60-win threshold with a 64-90 record, indicating that the ship was headed on the right course. The Yankees captured the 1941 World Series championship in a season that saw Joe DiMaggio set a consecutive-game hitting-streak record (56 games) and Boston’s Ted Williams bat .406 and become the last player to break the .400 batting average threshold. Sixty-two days after Brooklyn’s Jimmy Wasdell, pinch-hitting for Pee Wee Reese, drove the last pitch from the Yankees’ Tiny Bonham to Joe DiMaggio deep in centerfield to close out Game Five of the 1941 World Series, everything changed for baseball and for Al Brancato.
Like all eligible American males, Al Brancato registered for the peacetime draft on October 16, 1940 at his local draft board at 15th and Snyder in Philadelphia.[6] The day following Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Bronk reported for his induction physical, receiving a 1-A classification and expecting an early call into the service.[7] A month later on January 13, he was inducted into the United States Navy as a storekeeper second-class and was initially assigned duty at the Philadelphia Customs House, serving in recruiting before being transferred to the receiving ship at League Island[8] for a more permanent assignment with the Naval Reserve station. Speculation by sports writer Stan Baumgartner was that Brancato might be permitted to play baseball with the A’s while serving, “It is possible under Brancato’s present setup, storekeeper, that the shortstop might find time to keep in splendid shape and even play a few games with the Mackmen on Saturday and Sunday (the usual off time of the storekeepers).” However, this was seemingly an impossibility.
New York Daily News sports columnist Hy Turkin, in his Ted’s Still Batty! column of February 4, 1943, similarly speculated on the possibility of former Brooklyn Dodger’s infielder Pee Wee Reese, who was assigned to the Naval shipyard in Brooklyn, joining fellow teammates Hugh Casey and Larry French. “This brings up the question in some minds,” Turkin wrote, “whether they couldn’t drop in on nearby Ebbets Field, Sunday afternoons, to spend their days off performing in Dodger livery.” Prior to this time, French had petitioned Navy leadership for the opportunity to pitch for Brooklyn in the hopes of claiming the three wins he needed to reach the 200-victory career milestone. Despite his keeping in shape by pitching for the local semi-professional club, the Brooklyn Bushwicks, during his off time, French’s request was denied by Rear Admiral W. B. Young, who was seeking to avoid setting a precedent with professional ballplayers on active duty. Further codification occurred when major league baseball commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis established criteria that aligned with Admiral Young’s decision regarding the National Defense List (NDL). “Any player accepted into any branch of the armed services shall be automatically placed onto the NDL and shall not count in the player limits of his club until removed from such national defense service list.” Landis’ ruling insured that LT French and any other player in the service would not be allowed to play for any professional team during the war.[9]
Capitalizing on his athletic abilities, the Philadelphia Naval Reserve station added SK2/c Brancato to their basketball squad and he was named team captain. On April 3, Brancato’s squad faced a local team of Army officers in the Quartermaster’s Inter-Department Basketball League Championships. Despite leading the Army 19-10 in the first half, Brancato’s Reserves were downed 25-24. Brancato made one field goal and two free throws for four of his team’s 24 points.[10]
Nearly 10 Athletics were serving in the armed forces, forcing Connie Mack to get creative with his roster. For opening day on April 14 against the Red Sox, Brancato joined his club as they warmed up for the game. Instead of his blue-trimmed white wool flannel baseball uniform, Brancato was bedecked in his Navy dress blues. Pete Suder took over at shortstop, having earned the position in Brancato’s absence. “Among those looking very wistful before game time was Al Brancato,” the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Hank Simmons wrote. “He told our Cy Peterman he had not thrown a ball all spring.”[11]
As the 1942 baseball season commenced, the player landscape had significantly changed, with many of the game’s top talent already serving in the armed forces. Major league officials and team owners were already engaged in efforts to raise funds in support of service personnel in making the game more available to those in the ranks by providing them with the required equipment including bats, gloves, catcher’s protective gear, bases and baseballs.[12] Recognizing the need to provide support to troops and their families encountering financial hardships, major league baseball participated in fund-raising efforts to bolster the Army and Navy Relief organizations, commencing with a May 8 game at Ebbets Field with the visiting New York Giants.[13]
As plans were being crafted for a fund-raising game in conjunction with the major league All-Star Game, the idea was put forth to have the winner of the mid-summer classic face a team of all-stars who were serving in the armed forces. Great Lakes Naval Training Station Bluejacket manager Lieutenant Gordon “Mickey” Cochrane” was tasked with assembling a team of former ballplayers who were serving in the armed forces. Cochrane was given latitude by military leaders and drew players from both coasts and even from the Panama Canal Zone.[14] Unavailable to Cochrane due to military duties and assignments were 12 solid players including Hank Greenberg, Hugh Mulcahy, Buddy Lewis, Johnny Berardino, Cookie Lavagetto, Joe Marty, and Zeke Bonura. “The unavailable players would probably rival in strength the club Lieutenant Cochrane will field,” the Mount Carmel (Pennsylvania) Item reported.[15] Among the names of the unavailable players, SK2/c Brancato would have been an obvious selection for the team; however, he was unavailable due to wedding and honeymoon plans and associated furlough coinciding with the date of the game and festivities.[16]
By September, SK2/c Class Brancato was transferred to Receiving Station Boston as the Navy began assembling the prospective crew for the newly christened heavy cruiser USS Boston (CA-69) as she was undergoing fitting out at Bethlehem Shipbuilding’s Fore River Shipyard, located at Quincy, Massachusetts. The second ship in the eventual 13-vessel Baltimore class, USS Boston was the sixth U.S. Navy warship named in honor of the Massachusetts city. Boston and her sisters were the first ships planned under the restrictive London Naval Treaty that limited sizes and armament of ships in the years following World War I. With the limitations removed, the Baltimore class ships were the largest and most powerfully armed heavy cruisers in the U.S. Navy by 1943 as the first ships entered service. With his pending assignment to the ship and her war-fighting capabilities, the course of Petty Officer Brancato’s naval service seemed to be taking him into harm’s way.
Part 2: From Storekeeper to Middle Infielder: the Dolphins’ Al Brancato
[1] Costello, Rory, “Honolulu Stadium,” Society of American Baseball
[2] Honolulu Star-Bulletin, May 1, 1944: p10.
[3] Macado, Carl, Majors Need Extra Innings to Win, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, May 1, 1944: p10.
[4] N. Diunte, “Brancato, 93, One of the Last Links to the Major Leagues in the 1930s,” Baseball Happenings. Accessed July 19, 2022 (http://bit.ly/2ka8zY5).
[5] Brancato Joins U.S. Navy, unknown newspaper clipping
[6] Brancato, Albert, Draft Card, Ancestry.com, Accessed July 20, 2022
[7] “Brancato Earns 1-A Army Rating,” Shamokin News-Dispatch, December 9, 1941: p6.
[8] “Brancato Joins Navy,” The Wilkes-Barre Record, January 14, 1942; P15.
[9] “Surplus Middle Infielder: Pee Wee Reese Flies High in the Navy,” Chevrons and Diamonds, July 5, 2021, https://bit.ly/3OmEz8z. Accessed July 20, 2022
[10] “Tigers Win Title in Court League,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 4, 1942:p22.
[11] Simmons, Hank, “Greetings Fail to Help Phils’ Debut,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 15, 1942: p33.
[12] “Bat and Ball Fund Bat: A Very Rare Babe Ruth Model Bat,” Chevrons and Diamonds, April 26, 2022: https://bit.ly/3znKzcV, Accessed July 19, 2022
[13] “Historic Game Program Discovery: July 7, 1942 Service All-Stars,” Chevrons and Diamonds, January 17, 2022: https://bit.ly/3IXtcTf, Accessed July 21, 2022
[14] Ibid.
[15] “Dozen Unavailable For All-Star Team,: Mount Carmel Item, July 3, 1942: p7.
[16] “Al Brancato Joins Ranks of Benedicts,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, July 12, 1942: p33.
High-Flying WWII Big Island Navy Baseball
During World War II, Oahu was the epicenter for baseball in the Hawaiian Islands. While a handful of former professional baseball players were present on the island in the months following the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, more began to arrive in the spring of 1943. One of them was Chief Athletic Specialist Walter Masterson, who had previously pitched major league ball for the Washington Senators. By 1944, Oahu was a hotbed of talent, with dozens of former major leaguers and players who were previously in the high minors filling rosters of Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Army Air Forces teams throughout the island. While some of the military installations on outlying islands also fielded teams with professional-caliber talent, the level of play was not at the same level as was seen on Oahu.
Despite the lack of major leaguers, the 10-team AAA League on the big island of Hawaii commenced play on Sunday, April 30, to considerable fanfare from combined crowds or more than 3,000 spectators at Truck and Hoolulu Parks. Aside from the civilian Hawaiis, the balance of the league largely consisted of service clubs from the Army, Marines and Navy.
Big Island Baseball
In the last half of April, 1944, the big island’s premier diamond circuit, the AAA Baseball League, announced the participating teams and their managers.
- Sea Bees – Lt. K. G. MacLeod
- Air Corps Natives – Lt. John Gordon (first half only)
- Templeers – Pfc. M. Brustad
- Rens – Sgt. John Hand (combined with Powderbugs 4 games into the season)
- Powderbugs – Sgt. Major White (combined with Rens 4 games into the season)
- Renords – (combined Powderbugs/Rens team)
- Scrap Irons – Capt. Carl Merrill
- Hawaiis – Sonny Henderson
- Banyon Marines – Louis Sillars
- Navy Flyers – Chief Bill Fowler
- Navy “Little Varsity” – Chief Daugherty
- Tank Busters – Georgie Jordan (second half, only)
Of the ten clubs in the league, only one roster lacked active duty military personnel on its roster. The Hawaiis, like their same-name counterparts in Oahu’s Honolulu League, consisted of local baseball stars and were perennial league contenders. In addition to their high level of talent, the Hawaiis held an edge over the league due to the years of developing cohesiveness, stemming from maintaining roster consistency. While the Hawaiis’ advantage made them an obvious pre-season favorite, another well-stocked team, the Navy Flyers, would contest the prognosticators. Drawing from naval units based at the Naval Air Station (NAS), the Flyers assembled their club with players with prior sandlot, high school, collegiate, semipro, and professional baseball experience.
Fly Navy
The Flyers of Naval Air Station Hilo assembled a formidable roster of athletes, including one former minor leaguer, Bob Cummins, a centerfielder who split the 1943 season between the Class “D” Kingsport Cherokees (Appalachian League) and the Roanoke Red Sox of the Class “B” Piedmont League. A few months after the end of the baseball season, Oakland, California native Cummins enlisted on December 27, 1943, and after his boot camp training was stationed on the island of Hawaii. The Flyers’ manager, Chief Athletic Specialist Bill Fowler, took note of Seaman first class Cummins’ baseball credentials and tapped him for duty both in the outfield and on the mound.
Chief Fowler had an eye for talent as he constructed the Flyers’ roster, drawing from NAS Hilo commands. A former Bethesda, Maryland area high school three-sport star and University of Maryland basketball and baseball player, Leon Vannais was another catch for the Flyers. He played semipro baseball in 1941 in Hackensack, New Jersey, for the O’Shea’s Glenwoods as a first baseman, outfielder, and pitcher. In the days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Vannais joined the Navy, entering the naval aviation cadet program. Ensign Vannais earned his wings in October, 1942, and completed advanced training at Fort Lauderdale, Florida in 1943 ahead of his assignment to Hilo. Vannais, an aircraft carrier-qualified torpedo dive bomber pilot, was assigned to the Naval Air Station, though his days on land were likely short due to the fleet’s demand for his expertise.
San Leandro, California native Francis Guisto was working as a shipfitter, building Liberty ships at the Richmond Shipyard, Richmond, California. A graduate of Manteca Union High School’s class of 1940, Guisto was one of 50 attendees at a major league tryout camp held in Marysville, California in late July, 1941. The camp was led by C. F. “Al” Chapman, a scout for the Cincinnati Reds organization. During a July 27 exhibition game between the camp squad and the local semipro Orinda Reds, Guisto accounted for the campers’ lone score in the 3-1 loss with a line shot to left centerfield, driving in a base runner. Guisto had another tryout at the end of September, but unfortunately he was not one of the three players, all pitchers, signed to minor league contracts. Guisto entered the Navy in early 1943 and following completion of boot camp, he boarded the USS Republic (AP-33) on July 21, bound for Pearl Harbor. The future Flyers first baseman was transferred to Hilo soon after arriving on Oahu. He was added to the Navy Flyers’ basketball roster as a forward and was touted by the Hawaii Tribune-Herald as a ringer would “give opponents a real headache” (Navy Cagers Look Strong, by Jim Moore, November 29, 1943).
Hilo’s 1944 Baseball Season
Pre-season prognostications pointed toward an end-of-season showdown between the two well-stocked clubs: Hilo’s civilian club, the Hawaiis, and the Naval Air Station Hilo club, the Navy Flyers. By the end of the season’s first half of play, the civilian club held a one-game advantage over the Flyers heading into the break. At the AAA League’s mid-season break, five of the Flyers, first baseman Francis Guisto, pitcher George Babich and second baseman Gunnar Hagstrom, were selected as league All-Stars.
At a mere 145 pounds, the diminutive second baseman, Ensign Gunnar Hagstrom, stared down some of baseball’s giant hitters in pair of games on July 3 and 5, 1944, at Truck Park in Hilo. Arguably the game’s greatest hitter of the 1940s, the “Yankee Clipper,” Joe DiMaggio, was three years removed from his 56-game hitting streak when he stood in the batter’s box against Hagstrom and his Defenders, a squad of the island’s AAA League All-Stars. While many of Hagstrom’s teammates may have been intimidated by the visiting juggernaut 7th Army Air Force team, sharing the diamond with such talent was nothing new to him.
Hagstrom’s Navy Flyers club finished the season’s first half of play one game behind the Hawaiis. Though Leon “Lefty” Vannais would have been a shoo-in selection for the AAA All-Stars, the Hawaii Tribune-Herald’s sports columnist, Jimmie Page, reported on June 19 that the Navy Flyers had lost him, their best pitcher. Though his departure to the fleet left a hole in the NAS Hilo’s pitching rotation, Page wrote on July 8, “the Navy Flyers should have about the same kind of club.”
The two-game series with the 7th AAF was scheduled by AAA League officials in early June to coincide with the mid-season break.
| All-Star Player | Position | Hometown | AAA Club |
| Carl Allen | UIF | Denver, CO | Templeers |
| George Michael Babich | P | Bayonne, NJ | Navy Flyers |
| John Berutich | OF | San Francisco, CA | Navy Little Varsity |
| Harry Brooks | OF | St. Louis, MO | Marines |
| Tom Cancelli | SS | Patterson, NJ | Scrap Irons |
| Wardell Clyburn | UIF | Englewood, NJ | Renords |
| James Corbett | C | N. Tonawanda, NY | Navy Flyers |
| Bill Fowler | Mgr. | Yakima, WA | Navy Flyers |
| John Fox | OF | Marian, IN | Sea Bees |
| Francis Guisto | 1B | Stockton, CA | Navy Flyers |
| Gunnar Hagstrom | 2B | Pittsfield, Mass. | Navy Flyers |
| Frank Kendall | P | Canby, OR | Sea Bees |
| Sam Mamula | 3B | Martins Ferry, OH | Marines |
| Martin Moharsky | P | Kingston, PA | Marines |
| Tom Peacock | OF | Fort Worth, TX | Navy Flyers |
| Bob Peterson | UIF | Denver, CO | Sea Bees |
| Roe Sarsuelo | P | Territory of Hawaii | Hawaiis |
| Edward Schnelling | C | St. Louis, MO | Templeers |
| Julius Siegel | OF | Detroit, MI | Templeers |
The Defenders roster, led by Chief Athletic Specialist Bill Fowler, featured the league’s best pitcher (in the absence of the departed Vannais) in Babich, who, in addition to Hagstrom and Guisto, was accompanied by fellow Flyers Tom Peacock (OF) and Jim Corbett (P) on the All-Star roster.
The 7th AAF swept the series with a 5-2 victory in the first game and a 5-0 shutout in the second. The Defenders’ pitching and defense held the great DiMaggio hitless until game two, when he hit a sizzling shot down the left foul line past Hagstrom, who was then stationed at the hot corner. In seven total at-bats, DiMaggio reached base on a single, an error and a walk and scored a run. Facing Frank Saul, former Seton Hall standout, Hagstrom was hitless in four appearances in the first game. Starting at third base in game two, Hagstrom was blanked twice by pitcher Bill Schmidt before he was lifted in favor of the Marines’ Sam Mamula. The 7th AAF’s pitchers had their way with their hosts, stymieing batters and limiting them to just nine hits in 18 innings.
Cloudbuster Gunnar Hagstrom
Though he had never set foot on a professional baseball diamond, the DiMaggio name on an opponent’s roster was not an unfamiliar sight for Gunnar Hagstrom. The year before, while attending Navy Pre-Flight training at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Naval Aviation Cadet Hagstrom had played for the school’s “Cloudbusters,” joining forces with former major leaguers Joe Coleman, Johnny Pesky, Buddy Gremp, Buddy Hassett, Johnny Sain, and Ted Williams on one of the most dominant service teams of World War II, a team which had a 30-9 won-lost record for 1943. Born on January 10, 1920, in Enviken, Sweden, and having immigrated to the U.S. in 1923, Pittsfield (Massachusetts) High School’s Gunnar Hagstrom, class of 1938, lettered in football, basketball and baseball, and captained the school’s cage and diamond squads. He took his athleticism to Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts, where he lettered again in basketball and baseball and served as the captain of the latter team, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history in 1942. Hagstrom returned home and was signed to the semi-pro Mohawk Beverage club of Shire City Twilight League, playing throughout the summer. Hagstrom volunteered for the Navy V-5 Naval Aviation program and was sworn in on August 1. A month later, on September 1, Hagstrom departed Pittsfield to commence his training.
Following his July 6, 1943, completion of the 11-week Navy Pre-Flight course at Chapel Hill, Hagstrom was assigned to primary flight training at Naval Air Station Glenview, Illinois. Upon graduation, Ensign Hagstrom was assigned to Carrier Aircraft Servicing Unit (CASU) Thirty-One at Hilo, Hawaii and added to the unit’s baseball team ahead of the 1944 AAA Baseball League’s season opener.
Fordham’s Captain Babich
Born and raised in Bayonne, New Jersey, George Michael Babich was four-letter high school athlete before heading to Brooklyn to attend college and play on Fordham’s football, basketball, and baseball teams. Starting center for the Fordham University basketball team, George Babich was a powerhouse in the Rams’ starting five and served as the team’s captain. With seven games remaining in the regular season, Babich graduated on January 21, 1943, and entered the U.S. Navy. In addition to his caging duties, Babich saw action on Fordham’s gridiron from 1940-1943 and was the starting left end. On November 28, 1942, the University of North Carolina Navy Pre-Flight Cloudbusters football team visited the Polo Grounds to face the Fordham Rams. Though he did not factor in the 6-0 victory over the aviation cadets, Babich was the starting left end for Fordham, which relied heavily on a ground game. With just two completed passes for 72 total yards, the Rams’ only score occurred in the opening quarter. Babich also played in Fordham’s 1942 New Year’s Day Sugar Bowl victory over the University of Missouri. Following several days of heavy rains, the saturated Tulane Stadium field surface stripped Fordham of their dominant passing game that relied heavily upon Babich at left end, resulting in a sloppy ground game and a 2-0 Rams victory. Babich was ranked fifth in the AP Features’ Poll in all-round college athlete voting (Paul Governali Best in East – News-Pilot San Pedro, March 9, 1943)
Babich’s skills were refined on a Rams diamond club that also produced several pro ballplayers, including Steve Filipowicz, Al Litwa, George Cheverko, and John Szajna. Six weeks after graduating from Fordham, Chief Babich enlisted into the U.S. Navy on March 9, 1943, and arrived on the big island of Hawaii in the spring of 1944 after completing basic training and the Gene Tunney Athletic Specialist School.
Second Half Flyers
Kicking off the second half of the AAA season, a double feature was scheduled for Sunday, July 9, at Hoolulu Park with the early game, a harbinger of the season outcome, featuring the Hawaiis hosting the Navy Flyers.
George Babich struggled early in the game, allowing four Hawaii runs on three hits in the top of the first inning, but settled down when he returned to the mound in the second inning after his teammates cut the lead in half. The Hawaiis’ Roe Sarsuelo traded goose eggs with Babich for the next six innings, transforming what started off looking to be a high-scoring affair into a pitchers’ duel. In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Flyer bats broke through when shortstop John Kennedy dropped a bloop single to drive in the tying run.
The Hawaiis failed to counter the Flyers in the top of the ninth as Babich’s dominance continued. In the bottom of the ninth, first sacker Francis Guisto, who was 2-4 heading to the plate, crushed a two-run bomb and sealed the 6-4 victory for the Flyers.
The nightcap game saw the Navy “Little Varsity” capitalizing on eight Renords miscues. The “Little Varsity” batters tallied three runs in the second inning and another one in the eighth. None of the Navy’s three hits scored runs as all four of their tallies were unearned. The Renord batters plated their two runs against Navy’s Johnny Mize, who went the distance. Mize’s bat also accounted for one of the three Navy hits in the 4-2 victory.
| Rank | # | Name | Position | Former/Hometown |
| CSp (A) | 4 | George Michael Babich | P | Fordham University |
| LTjg | Anso Belardinelli | RF/P | Norwalk, CT | |
| 3 | Danny Brosman | SS | ||
| Leo Connors | 3B | |||
| 15 | James Corbett | C | ||
| 1 | Robert Cummins | CF | Roanoke (PIED) | |
| Melvin Fletcher | Asst. Equip. Mgr. | |||
| CSp (A) | Bill Fowler | Mgr. | Yakima, WA | |
| S1/c | 12 | Francis Guisto | 1B | Stockton, CA |
| Ens. | 8 | Gunnar Hagstrom | 2B | Pittsfield, MA |
| 2 | Harper M. “Bud” Heitmeyer | LF | Oakland, CA | |
| Bert Irish | Scorer | |||
| Art “Fats” Johnson | Equip Mgr. | |||
| 9 | John Kennedy | SS | Pellston, PA | |
| 7 | Thomas Truman Peacock | LF | ||
| Joe Sirgo | OF | Canton, OH | ||
| 17 | Tom “Tommy” Sutton | 3B/OF | ||
| 13 | James “Jimmie” Tiger | 3B/UT/OF | ||
| Ens. | Leon “Lefty” Vannais | P | Hackensack, NJ | |
| 10 | Edward Zielinski | RF |
An Invaluable Game Program
A recent acquisition of a rare eight-page program from the July 9 pair of games provides a wealth of research data with the rosters of all four teams, AAA League staff and officials, rosters with scorecards, two weekend schedules, and the AAA League ground rules. Though the grids are unscored, the printed rosters of the four clubs are a truly invaluable record. The overall condition of the program is quite good despite having been folded. The binding staples are still strong and the paper has not oxidized or degraded. The cover, printed on heavy orange paper stock, has faded only slightly over the course of nearly eight decades but the monochrome black ink is still very dark and crisp. The paper of the inner pages is lightweight and very typical of wartime service game programs and has yellowed with age. Despite the lack of major league names within the lineups, this scorecard is a highly prized piece within the Chevrons and Diamonds collection due to its scarcity (view a downloadable copy of the entire program)
Flying High to the Finish
The second half of AAA League play saw the Flyers and Hawaiis battling for the top spot in the standings. With an August 4 victory over Little Varsity, the Flyers opened a two-game margin over the civilian club. By September 2, the Flyers held a half-game lead over the Hawaiis as the season was drawing to a close. With a game remaining for each club to play, both the Flyers and Hawaiis suffered losses, keeping the ½-game lead intact and securing the second half victory for the Navy squad.
The AAA League championship pit the winners of each half of the season for a scheduled best of three series between the Hawaiis and Flyers. The opening game saw Babich hurl all nine innings in a 7-5 victory on September 15. The second game, planned for September 17, was rained out, forcing the first of several rescheduling actions. Knotted at two runs apiece in the 11th Inning, the umpire called the September 20 game due to darkness. Babich pitched brilliantly for all eleven innings. Another rainout pushed the September 20 game resumption ahead to the 24th.
With the series in the balance, league officials made the decision to start fresh, effectively nullifying the tied game. Babich once again took the mound for the Flyers and he held his opponents to two runs on seven hits as the Navy tallied nine on 12 hits in the rout, locking up the AAA championship in two games.
In the weeks following the end of the 1944 AAA League season, major league ballplayers returned to the big island to showcase the premier talent that resided on Oahu. In what was essentially a continuation of the Servicemen’s World Series, the star players serving in the Army and Navy competed against each other at Hoolulu Park for the 10th game of the Series. With a 7-2 record heading into the game, the Navy played to a 6-6 tie.
Grounded Flyers
Weeks after his teammates locked up the league title, former star pitcher Lefty Vannais was in the thick of the fight across the Pacific. Vannais, a TBF Avenger pilot, participated in the October 24 Battle of Leyte Gulf, scoring a hit on “what was then believed to be the [Yamato-Class battleship] Musashi,” wrote Philip S. Heisler, Musashi Sinking Revives Plane-Battleship Tiff, The Baltimore Sun, January 28, 1945. “All of the returning pilots agreed that the Musashi was hit repeatedly but continued on her course,” the article continued. “The attack continued throughout the morning and afternoon,” and the mighty ship’s deck was awash by 4 p.m… After the war, the Silver Star and Air Medal-decorated pilot returned to New Jersey.
The 9-2 championship-winning game was Babich’s last in Hawaii as the chief athletic specialist was transferred stateside. Discharged from the Navy on March 15, 1946, Babich returned home to Bayonne, accepting the athletic director position at St. Peter’s College in August. George Babich resumed his athletic career, playing for the North Plainfield Saracens of the New Jersey Football League. He also signed with the Jersey City Atoms for the 1946-48 seasons and saw time with the American Basketball League’s Brooklyn Gothams in 1948 and 1949. In keeping with his three-sport pre-war prowess, Babich also played part of 1948 with the St. Louis Browns’ Port Chester Clippers and part of 1949 with the Stamford Pioneers, both of the Class B Colonial League.
Bob Cummins, the lone Flyer with pre-war professional ballplaying experience, resumed his career in the Boston Red Sox organization, where he had previously spent the 1942 season and part of 1943 in the minor leagues. The Willows, California native was assigned to the Class “C” San Jose Red Sox of the California League, spending the 1947 and 1948 seasons with that club. In 1949, Cummins was released and subsequently signed in mid-April with the El Paso Texans of the Arizona-Texas League. He was released and added to the inactive list in September, having appeared in just 72 games. In March 1950, Cummins returned to California and signed with the Class “D” Marysville Peaches of the Far West League. After a full season with the Peaches, Cummins hung up his spikes for good to work the next 34 years for Pacific Bell, raise a family and coach youth baseball.
After winning the AAA League championship, the Flyers roster was broken up. First baseman Frank Guisto joined Gunnar Hagstrom on the CASU Airdales squad for the 1945 season. Under manager Pat Colgan, a former Boston catching prospect from the Eastern League’s Scranton Red Sox, the Airdales posted a 35-5 won-lost record and captured the AAA League crown. With the Japanese surrender, Guisto was discharged and returned home with a very bright baseball future looming ahead. With contract opportunities with the Sox of Boston and Chicago, he opted to stay closer to home and instead played ball with local semipro clubs, including the Stockton Ports, Senior Pro Stockton Braves, and other organizations. He lent his experience to area youth by coaching Little League and led one of his teams to the World Series in Pennsylvania.
With two AAA League titles under his belt and a discharge from the Navy, former naval aviator LTjg Gunnar Hagstrom returned to Pittsfield and began a career with New England Telephone and Telegraph Company, where he spent his entire post-Navy career until retirement.
Without much fanfare or media coverage beyond the big island’s shores, the small wartime community of Hilo supported and enjoyed baseball that was an equivalent of that of pre-war high minor leagues. The Navy’s diamond dominance in the Hawaiian Islands was furthered by the Naval Air Station Flyers’ title season in 1944.
Playing for Victory: War Bond Baseball in Hawaii
Three quarters of a century after Japanese officials signed the Instrument of Surrender aboard the USS Missouri (BB-63) in Tokyo Bay, animosity towards ballplayers who were tasked with playing baseball in addition to their daily military duties remains, despite being two generations removed. Through ignorance, bitterness or a combination of the two, there is a failure to recognize the importance of the game for the morale of the civilian population and troops and also for the direct support of the drive toward victory.
In an online discussion contrasting the service of Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio, one baseball fan lauded Williams for “never playing baseball” during the war as a response to another fan’s appreciation for the Yankee Clipper’s wartime service. “Joltin’ Joe missed the 1943 Yankees championship season because of it [wartime service in the Army],” the DiMaggio fan contended.
“Because of what?” the Williams fan questioned. “You call that being in the service? He was a pampered ass! Williams lost nearly five years actually serving [and] defending this country!”
Arguments such as these do not typically hold our attention, but this one underscored the lack of knowledge of the reason baseball held considerable importance within the armed forces, both at home and in overseas combat theaters. Aside from the morale boosting benefits, baseball was pivotal in supporting the cause and the fight for victory.
Amid the United States’ Great Depression, the treasury secretary under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Henry Morgenthau, Jr. established the United States Savings Bond Program to encourage citizens to save as well as invest in their country. On March 1, 1935, the treasury department began selling the first U.S. savings bonds, known as the Series A. By the late 1930s, with the threat of war looming in Europe and the Far East, the need for defense spending increased and the bond program transitioned into the Defense Savings Program.
The average annual American household income when the Savings Bond Program was introduced was roughly $1600. By 1940, with declining wages amid the depression and increased defense spending, American households averaged less than $1400 per year. Spending $18.75 on a $25 savings bond was a substantial commitment of financial resources. In 2022-values, a $25 bond cost an individual $362 of his or her $27,020 earnings.
On May 1, 1941, the treasury department began selling its latest product in support of defense financing with the E Series, which, like the earlier series, was targeted toward individuals. “The E Series Bond was closely patterned after its predecessors, the Series A through D. It was priced at 75 percent of face value and returned 2.9-percent interest, compounded semiannually, if held to a 10-year maturity. There were five denominations to start: $25, $50, $100, $500, and $1,000. Two large investor denominations, the $5,000 and $10,000, were added later, as was a “memorial” denomination: the $200, for President Roosevelt (1945).”[1] Following the Pearl Harbor attack, savings bonds quickly became known as war bonds.
Building a military to a wartime level in the first year of World War II cost billions. New ships, aircraft, tanks, uniforms, ammunition, and manpower required a significant financial investment by citizens and a portion of the funds were acquired through the war bond program. “From May 1, 1941, through December 1945, the War Finance Division and its predecessors were responsible for the sale of nearly $186 billion worth of government securities. Of this, more than $54 billion was in the form of war savings bonds. E Bonds alone accounting for $33.7 billion.”[2] By the war’s end, individual citizen investments in war bonds funded a substantial part of the bill and baseball played a key role in promoting the program.
Professional baseball organizations recognized that they bore multiple responsibilities in the effort to win the war. In addition to providing citizens with an outlet for inexpensive entertainment and morale boasting, some leaders within the game understood the importance the game had in supplying tangible support. Author Steven Bullock wrote, “Famed baseball executive Branch Rickey expressed the opinion that baseball had an obligation to do everything within its power to bolster the Allied cause, even operating at a break-even level if necessary.”[3] The interwoven histories of baseball and the armed forces extended well before the American Civil War as did the game’s status within the culture of the United States. “Baseball, he [Rickey] reasoned, was so deeply embedded in the American way of life that the two were inseparable. For Rickey, professional baseball’s fate paralleled the fate of the nation as a whole and thus the national pastime should not hesitate to drain its resources to support the war effort,” Bullock surmised.
The game did extend itself into the war effort as many of the lower minor leagues suspended operations (some folded) because of manpower shortages due to players entering the armed forces or participating in vital defense industry jobs. Men who would have played ball at the lower minor league levels found themselves as mere teenagers at the highest levels of the game in the absence of the veteran talent. Suspended leagues and teams offered their uniforms and equipment to the armed forces to provide recreation equipment in combat theaters and domestic bases.
On May 8, 1942, major league baseball initiated its commitment to financially support the war effort with a fund-raising game in support of Army and Navy relief organizations. It was a Giants versus Dodgers game at Ebbets Field (see: Diamond Score: Major League Baseball’s First Service Relief Game). Additional armed forces relief games were played that season, including a game at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium that pitted the American League All-Stars against an aggregation of professional ballplayers serving in the armed forces (see: Historic Game Program Discovery: July 7, 1942 Service All-Stars). However, it was not until May 24, 1943, when major league baseball made headlines in support of war bonds.
Before a crowd of nearly 30,000, the Washington Senators hosted an event that culminated in an exhibition game against the star-studded Norfolk Naval Training Station Bluejackets. Those in attendance made pledges for or directly purchased war bonds to the tune of $2,000,000. Norfolk manager Boatswain Gary Bodie fielded a lineup that included Dom DiMaggio, Phil Rizzuto, Benny McCoy, Eddie Robinson, Don Padgett, Jim Carlin, Jack Conway, “Hooks” DeVaurs, Vinnie Smith and former Red Sox hurler Charlie Wagner on the mound. Norfolk defeated Washington, 4-3, with DiMaggio leading the offense by scoring two of the Bluejackets’ four runs and Wagner holding the Senators scoreless until the ninth inning. Before the game, fans were treated to entertainment from Al Schacht, Bing Crosby and Babe Ruth. Underscoring the purpose of the event was the slogan “every fan a patriot.” The game was the brainchild of Shirley Povich of the Washington Post. With $2,125,375 raised, the event was a resounding success.[4]
By the spring of 1944, exhibition games with service teams in support of raising funds were normative. The previous year saw the peak in terms of single-event fund amounts and many of the star players who had served domestically were now serving in the Territory of Hawaii. With Honolulu League play nearing its end, promoters in Hawaii announced a war bond game to be played at Honolulu Stadium at the end of April, featuring major league stars against an all-star roster of Honolulu League players. Rather than selling tickets directly to the public, tickets would be given to those who purchased war bonds of a $25 denomination for general admission seating and a $50 denomination for reserved seating. Without any announcements of rosters or which players would comprise the two teams, demand for tickets was immediate. [5] Hawaii baseball fans were fully aware of which major leaguers were already present in Hawaii, but rumors swirled as to the players who would soon be serving in the islands, such as former Brooklyn Dodgers stars Hugh Casey and Pee Wee Reese, who had recently been detached from the Norfolk Naval Air Station (see: A Tropical and Baseball Paradise: Reese Lands at the (Aiea Naval) Hospital).
The buildup of excitement for the game was continual throughout the month as the Honolulu League’s championship playoffs, the Cronin Series, were underway. The Cronin Series had commenced on March 5 as the Aiea Naval Barracks faced off against the civilian semi-pro Waikiki club. Just days before the start of the Series, Aiea received a much-needed boost with the arrival of former major leaguers Barney McCosky and Johnny Lucadello, who had played previously with the Great Lakes Naval Training Station Bluejackets. The Aiea club had finished the Honolulu League regular season play in second place, a game behind the Pearl Harbor Marines in the standings. Construction at Honolulu Stadium expanded spectator capacity from just under 20,000 to 25,000 seats. The new configuration accommodated 20,000 general admission and 5,000 reserved seats.
When the USS Ascella (AK-137) arrived at Pearl Harbor, baseball in Hawaii was further enriched as CSP(A) Pee Wee Reese, CSP(A) Hugh Casey, SP(A)2/c Sal Recca, CSP(A) Eddie Shokes and SP(A)2/c Eddie Wodzicki disembarked on April 9.
On April 11, the first day that tickets were available, more than $100,000 in bond sales were reported, with considerable focus on the reserved seating. Promoters anticipated selling out the event. Doing so would result in the biggest crowd in the history of the game in the islands.[6]
Serving as precursor to the war bond game, a game between a Navy ballclub (players from the Pearl Harbor Submarine Base “Dolphins”) and Major League All-Stars was scheduled by Navy officials on April 19 at Weaver Field (at the sub base). The Major League All-Stars’ roster featured several former pro ballplayers who had been on Oahu Island since late 1943; however, Hugh Casey started the game just days after arriving. Pee Wee Reese was ailing from a minor foot injury and thus unavailable for the game. The All-Stars defeated the Navy, 9-3.[7]
| Rank | Player | Position |
| Sp(A) 1/c | George “Skeets” Dickey | C |
| Sp(A) 2/c | Johnny Mize | 1B |
| Sp(A) 1/c | Barney McCosky | CF |
| CSp (A) | Johnny Lucadello | SS |
| Sp(A) 1/c | Marvin Felderman | 3B |
| 1St Lt. | Tom Winsett | LF |
| Sp(A) 1/c | Joe Grace | 3B |
| Sp(A) 1/c | Vern Olsen | RF |
| Sp(A) 1/c | Hugh Casey | P |
| Sp(A) 1/c | Tom Ferrick | P |
| Bill “Dutch” Holland | P |
While the Navy squad was engaged with the Major League All-Stars, it was announced that all 5,000 reserved seats for the war bond game were sold out while plenty of general admission tickets were still available with ten days remaining.[8] On April 23, the Aiea Naval Barracks team clinched the Honolulu League championship with a 3-0 Cronin Series victory over the Hawaiian Air Department club. They dominated the field, posting a 17-1 record and outmatching the Pearl Harbor Marines, who finished second with a 14-4 record. Aiea’s pitcher Joe Wells secured his 8th consecutive win.
| Player | Pos | Former | 1944 Honolulu League Team |
| Tom Mizuno | RF | Waikiki | |
| Cornel George “Kearny” Kohlmeyer | SS | Tyler (ETXL) | 7th AAF |
| Edward Puchleitner | CF | Grand Forks (NORL) | Pearl Harbor Marines |
| Sam Mele | 1B | NYU | Pearl Harbor Marines |
| Bob Usher | LF | Birmingham (SOUA) | Aiea Receiving Barracks |
| Joseph “Joe” Gedzius | 2B | Spokane (WINT) | Aiea Receiving Barracks |
| (Albert Francis?) Joe Duarte | 3B | Pearl Harbor Civilians | |
| Frank Roberts | C | Aiea Receiving Barracks | |
| Joe Wells | P | Aiea Receiving Barracks |
Aiea’s manager, Wilfred “Rhiney” Rhinelander, was named by league officials to take the helm of the Honolulu League All-Stars. He announced Joe Wells and catcher Frank Roberts as his starting battery on April 25. The following day, the major league lineup was announced, with Hugh Casey towing the rubber as the starting pitcher.
| Player | Pos | Former | 1944 Honolulu League Team |
| Harold “Pee Wee” Reese | SS | Dodgers | Aiea Hospital Hilltoppers |
| Joseph “Joe” Grace | OF | Browns | Pearl Harbor Submarine Base |
| Barney McCosky | CF | Tigers | Aiea Naval Receiving Barracks |
| Johnny Mize | 1B | Giants | NAS Kaneohe Klippers |
| Johnny Lucadello | IF | Browns | Aiea Naval Receiving Barracks |
| Tom Winsett | OF | Dodgers | 7th AAF |
| Eddie Pellagrini | SS | Louisville (AA) | Aiea Naval Receiving Barracks |
| Marvin Felderman | C | Cubs | NAS Kaneohe Klippers |
| Hugh Casey | P | Dodgers | NAS Kaneohe Klippers |
In addition to the war bond sales for game admission, officials planned for an additional fundraiser during the pre-game festivities inside the ballpark. According to an article in the 4/27 Honolulu Advertiser, “Autographed bats and balls of the major league stars who will participate in the war bond game Saturday against the Honolulu League all-stars will be auctioned before the tilt gets underway at 2:30 PM. The fray starts at 3 PM. Mickey Kane, veteran auctioneer, will be in charge.” Rather than following incremental dollar amounts, bidding was set in terms of war bond pledges as part of the 5th War Loan Drive (held between June 5 and July 8).[9]
At $18.75 per ticket, the cost to purchase a $25 war bond amounted to 38 percent of an Army or Marine Corps private’s or a Navy apprentice seaman’s monthly salary, making the game cost-prohibitive. During the Cronin Series, spectators paid $0.55 for bleacher or grandstand general admission seats and $0.75 for grandstand reserved seating, showing 3,300 and 4,900 percent increases in ticket prices for the war bond game. Adjusted for inflation by today’s standards, general admission was equivalent to a $302.25 outlay, though it was an investment rather than money spent. Recognizing the morale-boosting impact of the game, some local businessmen sought to make it available to servicemen who were recovering from war wounds in local military hospitals.
“Large war bond buyers are making it possible for convalescent servicemen to attend the major leaguers – local all-stars baseball game Saturday at Honolulu Stadium, the committee in charge revealed today. Leo Leavitt, boxing promoter, led off by buying $5000 in bonds and turning over 200 general admission tickets for distribution among service men in hospitals.”[10] No record was found and the total number of tickets donated to convalescing GIs remains unknown.
The wooden Honolulu Stadium, nicknamed the “Termite Palace” due to its continual attack by the wood-consuming insects, opened in 1926 and played host to various sporting events, including baseball. In 1934, baseball’s overseas barnstorming squad, featuring Jimmie Foxx, Charlie Gehringer, Lefty Gomez, Earl Averill, Lou Gehrig, and Babe Ruth, played during a stopover en route to Japan. It was during this tour that Red Sox backup catcher Moe Berg famously carried his concealed Bell & Howell movie camera to the roof of Saint Luke’s Hospital in the Tsukiji district of Tokyo, capturing footage of area buildings that was allegedly used eight years later in preparation of Colonel Jimmy Doolittle’s carrier-launched air raid. Speculation swirled that the power-hitting first baseman for the major league squad, Johnny Mize, formerly with the New York Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, would accomplish what Babe Ruth could not do in ’34.
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported on April 27 that “baseball fans are speculating on the possibility of Johnny Mize accomplishing what has never been done before – hitting a ball over the right field bleachers of the Honolulu Stadium.” League president Earle K. Vida told reporters that Mize “sized up the stadium and said he believed he could knock one over the right field bleachers.” While the distance from home plate to the bottom of the right field bleachers was only 315 feet, “Theodore “Pump” Searle, stadium manager, estimates it would take another 150 feet to get the ball over. Even the mighty Babe Ruth was unable to do this when he played here,” the Star-Bulletin piece stated.
The day before the game, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported brisk sales for general admission seats as fans were ensuring that they would witness history and be part of the anticipated baseball spectacle. With the early afternoon game time set, the Honolulu Star-Tribune posted the pre-game schedule of events, with batting practice for the home team All-Stars at 1:00 followed by the major leaguers at 1:40. Infield warm-ups ran for 20 minutes, commencing at 2:15 to allow 25 minutes for the auction ahead of the game.
Unlike the April 19 game with the Navy nine, the major league squad had their hands full against the Honolulu League All-Stars. The “locals” pitching staff held their own, inning after inning. Wells held the big leaguers hitless for the first three frames but began to struggle in the top of the fourth. Former Philadelphia Athletics and USS Boston sailor Al Brancato earned a free pass with Johnny Lucadello following suit with another walk. Tom Winsett drove the ball deep for a long-distance out, allowing Brancato and Lucadello to advance. Marv Felderman’s deep fly ball plated Brancato for the first run of the game.[11]
In the home half of the sixth inning, Holland, who had relieved Wells on the mound, led off with a fly-out. Saviori drove a screaming ground ball deep in the hole at second, forcing a normally sure-handed Pee Wee Reese to bobble it, and he reached safely. Frank Powell, spelling starting shortstop Kohlmeyer, singled to right field and advanced the runner to third. Jaab followed with a slow roller to Lucadello, who could not field the ball before Saviori scored to tie the game. [12]
The score remained locked at one run apiece. In the top of the 12th, Joe Grace led off with a single to center. Barney McCosky followed, advancing Grace to second on a fielder’s choice. Len Kasparovitch walked Johnny Mize. Brancato stepped to the plate and laced a rocket to centerfield. Jaab, who had taken over for starter Puchleitner, misplayed the ball, allowing it to roll past. The bases would have been cleared had it not been for fan interference as the ball rolled up to the standing room only crowd beyond the centerfield rope barrier. What would have been an inside-the-park homerun was ruled a ground-rule double as a spectator picked up the live ball. Grace crossed the plate and his run was counted, breaking the 1-1 tie. The major leaguers had runners in scoring position with Mize at third and Brancato at second with one out. Lucadello singled to right, allowing Mize to tally the third run of the game for the major leaguers as Brancato moved 90 feet away from pay dirt. Executing a double steal attempt as Lucadello broke for second, Al Brancato raced for home and scored the third run of the inning.[13]
Trailing 4-1, the All-Stars were not willing to acquiesce to the major leaguers. Starter Hugh Casey had pitched through the first five innings. Jack Hallett had pitched in the sixth and seventh innings (allowing one run), followed by Vern Olsen in the eighth. Tom Ferrick had pitched the next three frames as the bullpen kept the home team from pay dirt. In to close out the game, Walt Masterson toed the rubber for the major leaguers and looked like he was about to close the door after he fanned Garbe. However, Gino Marionetti had other ideas as he drove a ball between Winsett and McCosky and wound up standing on second. Masterson struck out Charles Simmons for the second out of the inning. Backup catcher Ray Fletcher crushed a triple that scored Marionetti and cut the major league lead to two runs. Masterson then got the final out and preserved the 4-2 victory.[14]
Pee Wee Reese led the major league squad with three of his team’s 13 base hits while Al Brancato accounted for 50 percent of the runs. McCosky, Mize, Lucadello and Winsett had two hits each and Brancato and Grace had one. Mize was unsuccessful in clearing the right field stands but did hit a double. The major leaguers swiped five bags as Brancato and Lucadello each stole a pair and McCosky accounted for one. Despite his lone hit, Al Brancato was clearly the player of the game, adding an RBI to his offensive total.[15]
While all 5,000 reserved seats were sold, nearly 5,000 general admission seats were empty; however, the goal of raising $1,000,000 was far exceeded. The pregame auction raised more than $650,000, with the Hawaii Territorial Employees’ Retirement System committing $400,000 in their winning bids for autographed memorabilia. In total, $1,180,000 in war bonds was raised for the event.[16]
With the Hawaii League days away from commencing season play, many of the major leaguers joined the Navy’s 14th Naval District All-Stars for a matchup at Schofield Barracks’ Chickamauga Park the following day. Except for Tom Winsett, who played for the Army nine, the entire roster of major league players was joined by a handful of Pearl Harbor Sub Base sailors as the Navy blanked their counterparts, 9-0. Brancato was once again the offensive star, tallying three of the Navy’s runs and driving in another three in a 2-3 performance at the plate in front of 18,000 servicemen. Unlike the previous day’s game, this contest was played for an audience that consisted entirely of service personnel and served as a morale boost.[17]
[1] A History of the United States Savings Bonds Program, U.S. Savings Bonds Division, Department of the Treasury, 1991.
[2] Ibid
[3] Bullock, Steven R. 2004. Playing for their nation: baseball and the American military during World War II. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
[4] Whittlesey, Merrill W., War Bond Game Glitters Before $2,000,000 Gate, The Sporting News, June 3, 1943: 2.
[5] Keen Interest in War Bond Game Apr. 29, The Honolulu Advertiser, April 1, 1944: 8
[6] Watson, Don, Speaking of Sports Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 12, 1944
[7] A Tropical and Baseball Paradise: Reese Lands at the (Aiea Naval) Hospital, ChevronsandDiamonds.org, July 24, 2021
[8] Reserve Seats Are Sold Out, The Honolulu Advertiser, April 19, 1944
[9] Auction at Bond Game, The Honolulu Advertiser, April 27, 1944: 12
[10] Convalescent Service Men Will Attend Saturday Baseball Game, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, April 27, 1944: 10
[11] Major Leaguers Win in 12 Innings 4-2, The Honolulu Advertiser Sun April 30, 1944: 16
[12] Ibid.
[13] Major Leaguers Win in 12 Innings 4-2, The Honolulu Advertiser Sun April 30, 1944: 18
[14] Ibid.
[15] Major Leaguers Win in 12 Innings 4-2, The Honolulu Advertiser Sun April 30, 1944: 16
[16] Ibid.
[17] 14th Naval District All-Stars who Blanked Army 9-0, The Honolulu Advertiser, May 7, 1944: 14
Chevrons and Diamonds 