The Wartime Flight of a Cardinal: Sgt. Enos Slaughter

An interesting personality from the Golden Age of the game, Enos Bradsher Slaughter, better known as “Country,” despite his zeal and energy in how he played the game, is forever linked to a controversial August 20, 1947 spiking incident that occurred during Jackie Robinson’s breakout year with the Brooklyn Dodgers. “Country” Slaughter, a North Carolina farm boy, played the game with vigor and had a reputation for playing the game as though it could be his last. He seemingly never held back on any play on the field, including running full speed to first base during a routine infield out. Regardless of his on-field play and the sportswriters’ arguments surrounding his encounter with Robinson, our research uncovered other interesting and potentially controversial aspects of the Hall of Fame Cardinal rightfielder’s wartime service.

Elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1985, Enos Slaughter was a gracious and very popular participant during autograph signing sessions at collectors’ card shows. Slaughter’s signed items are quite plentiful and readily available within the collector market. For many years after his August, 2002 passing, prices for Slaughter’s signature were relatively stable. In the last half-decade, collector demand has driven prices of his autograph upward, elevating values of other Slaughter memorabilia as a result. Until the Chevrons and Diamonds Collection received a group of personal photographs from the estate of former St. Louis Browns first baseman and WWII USAAF veteran Chuck Stevens that featured several major leaguers who were serving in the Army Air Forces during World War II, including Enos Slaughter, we had not paid significant attention to the former Cardinal player and his wartime service.

The arrival of Stevens’ photos provided us with a unique perspective into World War II Army Air Forces baseball that has not been seen publicly, specifically a glimpse of the USAAF’s August 1945 Marianas tournament. By the time of his participation with George “Birdie” Tebbetts’ 58^th Bombardment Wing “Wingmen,” Slaughter had been serving for nearly three years in the Army Air Forces. He had departed just days after helping the Cardinals capture the World Series crown from the Yankees in early October, 1942.

On a day in which a combined sortie of British and U.S. 8^th Air Force heavy bombers conducted a raid on Nazi-held Rotterdam, Netherlands, Enos Slaughter’s Cardinals, in the midst of chipping away Brooklyn’s 4.5-game lead in the National League, were about to close out a four-game series with the Dodgers at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis after having taken the first three games. Slaughter, who had been notified of his impending September selective service call-up, paid a visit to a St. Louis Army recruiter’s office to volunteer as an aviation cadet with the condition that he would report at the conclusion of the 1942 season. More than 18,600 fans were on hand for the early Thursday afternoon (August 27, 1942) start that saw Brooklyn’s Curt Davis take the mound against Max Lanier. The heart of the Cardinals’ lineup accounted for the bulk of St. Louis’ offense, including “Country’s” one-for-four performance, driving in Jimmy Brown for their only run of the game. Perhaps the news of Slaughter’s enlistment gave the Cardinal batsmen a dose of reality concerning the war’s impact on the game, or it was simply Brooklyn’s day in their 4-1 win.

As the Yankees faced stiff competition from the Cardinals during the Fall Classic in early October, Marines on Guadalcanal were in the midst of a series of engagements with Japanese forces along the Matanikau River. The Cardinals dispatched the Yankees in five games, with the deciding game being played at Yankee Stadium on October 5. Two days later, Slaughter, who had hit .263 with a home run, scored three runs and drove in two runs in the Series, awaited his call to report for duty.

Enos Slaughter would not report for aviation cadet training until March 13, 1943, following his marriage to the former Josephine Begonia of Chicago, Illinois in February. Slaughter’s arrival in San Antonio was met with nominal fanfare and was carried in the nation’s newspapers. “I’ve never done much flying, except on a few trips to All-Star games,” the Red Bird outfielder told the St. Louis Star in mid-March, “but I know I am going to like flying. They tell me the studies are hard, but I am going to do the best job I can – and hope I make it, for I’d like to be in there flying, along with young Captain Billy Southworth (the son of his Cardinals manager).” Enos reported to the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center (SAACC) carrying 10 extra pounds. “I am sure that the Army will see that gets trimmed off,” the Raleigh News and Observer reported on March 28, “If this war stretches out so long I’ll be too old to get back in uniform, I will feel that I have done something for baseball in preserving it so other mill hands, farm boys, coal miners or fellow from any other walk of life may know the thrill of stepping up to the plate in a World Series,” Slaughter said.

In researching Slaughter’s military service, we found that the issue of the former outfielder’s color blindness is often reported and discussed regarding the reason for the his disqualification from Army flight training. While most biography readers would accept Enos’ condition and subsequent change in his military service as a simple fact, it raised concerns about factual reporting either at that time or in subsequent commentaries. Perhaps decades of elapsed time diminished the details, along with any measure of exception taken with the facts. It wasn’t until we discovered a Friday, April 9, 1943 column in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (“Down the Middle” by Dick Williamson) that our concerns were validated.

When Slaughter was accepted into the Army’s flight training program at the time of his enlistment on August 27, 1942, he most certainly would have been subjected to a physical examination by an Army medical officer to ensure that he was fit for Army duty and that he met the basic health requirements to be accepted as an aviation cadet. If that did not happen in August of 1942, surely it had to have taken place when he reported for duty on March 13, 1943. How could Slaughter’s color blindness have gone undiscovered until he was in flight training? The question was one that we couldn’t get past.

In the Richmond Times-Dispatch piece, Williamson wrote that Slaughter had been “grounded” at the San Antonio Army Air Force Preflight School (Group IV). The piece reminded readers that “in August last year, Slaughter was being called by his Roxboro, North Carolina draft board for immediate induction. But meanwhile he applied for aviation cadet training and took a screening mental and physical examination in St. Louis.” Columnist Williamson wrote, “At this [August, 1942] test, Slaughter was found to be color blind, a defect that ordinarily eliminates an aviation cadet applicant.” The three-paragraph article seemed to prove that our instincts were correct.

Questions surrounding Slaughter’s enlistment lingered. If he failed to qualify for aviation cadet training, how was he permitted to proceed with the program and stave off his immediate induction? The second paragraph in the Times-Dispatch posed a more specific question along with a supposition. “For some reason, the St. Louis examining board waived Slaughter’s color blindness and accepted him as a future aviation cadet (could it have been because the Cards were in a neck-and-neck race with the Dodgers for the pennant?).” In calling attention to the St. Louis draft board’s decision, the article also illuminated another important fact; the actions of Slaughter and his St. Louis board helped the ballplayer avoid his hometown board (in Roxboro, North Carolina) and their potentially less-than baseball-friendly posture. Whatever arrangement was made between the draft board and Slaughter, the end result was that Enos was allowed to continue playing baseball through the end of the 1942 season and then await his call-up to aviation training.

Unfortunately, Enos Slaughter is not alive today to provide context or to dispute the details published by Dick Williamson. Providing a measure of perspective, in the countless newspaper articles that we found that discussed Slaughter’s color blindness disqualification, Williamson’s piece is the only one to mention the alleged waiver. A modicum of doubt arises in the last paragraph of Williamson’s segment about Slaughter. “Slaughter knew he was color blind and realized all the time he would be eliminated from further cadet training,” Williamson wrote.“When he did take the exam and was found color blind he was given “GDO” (Ground Duty Only).” Williamson qualified his statement: “This information comes to me from a serviceman who talked with Slaughter at the San Antonio school before the baseball star underwent the tough physical exam there.” While hearsay doesn’t typically hold up in the legal realm, the information provided by Williamson’s unnamed source should be considered only with a few grains of salt.

According to Slaughter’s Baseball Hall of Fame profile, the former Cardinal was offered the opportunity to train as a bombardier when his color blindness “discovery” resulted in his dismissal from flight training. “I said if I couldn’t be the one flying the plane, I’d just as soon not be flying. So I became physical education instructor in charge of about 200 troops,” Slaughter told Frederick Turner, author of When the Boys Came Back: Baseball and 1946. Slaughter remained at the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center and was assigned to the 509th Base Headquarters Squadron. The Cardinals slugger was also tapped by the manager, 2^nd Lt. Del Wilber ( a former Cardinals minor leaguer), to play on the base’s ball club and compete against local Texas service and semi-professional teams.

“Five former professional baseball players are included on the starting lineup of the San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center. Pictured with Lieutenant Colonel Chester Hill, special service officer, they are (from left) Dave Coble, catcher, formerly of the Philadelphia Phillies and the Boston Red Sox; Fred Scheske, outfielder, Little Rock, Southern Association; Bill Smith, pitcher, New York Giants and Jersey City Giants; Del Wilber, infielder, St. Louis Cardinals and Columbus, Ohio, and Enos “Country” Slaughter, outfielder and batting star of the 1942 St. Louis Cardinals.” – June 7, 1943 (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

With the 1943 San Antonio Service League’s 63-game season underway, Slaughter was on an offensive tear. By the end of May, he was hitting .535 as he faced opponents such as the Randolph Field “Ramblers” (including David “Boo” Ferriss, Bibb Falk and a handful of minor leaguers), the “War Workers,” the Brooks Field “Ganders” and teams from Camp Normoyle Ordnance Depot, Stinson Army Air Field, Kelly Field and Hondo Navigation School.

In mid-June, Slaughter was granted a furlough to participate in the 1942 World Series champion’s ring ceremonies in St. Louis. Joined on the field at Sportsman’s Park to collect their rings were fellow service members Frank Crespi and Johnny Beazley. Terry Moore, serving in the Army Air Forces and stationed in the Panama Canal Zone, was represented at the ceremony by his mother. Immediately following the festivities in St. Louis, Slaughter was flown back to San Antonio in time for his service team’s game against Brooks Field.

The accompanying original caption reads, “Enos Slaughter, clutch hitter with San Antonio Air Cadet Center of Service Men’s League – San Antonio, Texas. Ex-Card star in slump, but drives in runs in the clutch…will also hit in clutch when he goes after Japs, Wops and Hitler’s HEELS.” (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection)

In early July, the SAACC team participated in the annual Houston semipro baseball, 14-team tournament that included squads from several Houston-area military bases. The tournament favorite was the Waco Army Flying School, piloted by former Detroit Tigers backstop George “Birdie” Tebbetts. The club included former major leaguers Sid Hudson, “Hoot” Evers, “Buster” Mills and Bruce Campbell. The Waco squad dominated the tournament as the SAACC Warhawks failed to secure a spot in the finals. Waco defeated the Bayton Oilers to claim the tournament victory. In August, Private Slaughter was promoted to Private First Class.

1943 San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center Warhawks:

Player	Position
Dave Coble	C
Steve Colosky	P
Ed Cooper
Jim Cox
John Ducos
Don Finfrock	2B
Dave Garland
Siegel Grove
Tex Hendrix	Bat boy
Chester Hill	Spc. Svcs. Officer
Eddie Houser
Leo Johnson
Woody Johnson	P
Marty Lackowitz	Trainer
Frank O’Neil
Dave Pluss	RF
Fred Scheske	OF
Enos “Country” Slaughter	OF
Bill Smith	P
Del Wilber	IF/Mgr

Always on the hunt for baseball militaria, we were quite surprised when we sourced two vintage photos, from two different sellers, of the San Antonio Army Aviation Cadet Center team featuring Enos Slaughter in his team flannels. Both type-1 images originated from the SAACC public relations office and were so stamped on the backs. These photos appeared to be taken around the same time (June, 1943). The first SAACC Warhawk photo showed a group of players flanking an Army Air Forces officer (Lt. Col. Chester Hill, the Special Services Officer) and called attention to the group of men as being former professional baseball players. The second photo from Slaughter’s 1943 season showed him posed while holding his bat. In addition to capturing Slaughter during his time in San Antonio, both photos provided fantastic details of the SAACC uniform.

As the 1943 season progressed, one of the most significant war bond fundraising events was taking shape. Raising funds in support of the war effort was an effort that involved all Americans. Not only were citizens called upon to ration resources (food, clothing and fuel), but recycling was an all-hands effort that some folks suggest has not yet been replicated despite modern-day municipal and commercial programs. Investing in the future of the nation involved financial investment in the purchase of bonds (very similar to contemporary U.S. Treasury savings bonds) that provided the purchaser with a return on his/her investment when the bond reached maturity. The August 26, 1943 War Bond Jubilee was a significant effort. Its goal was to sell millions of dollars of war bonds that people would purchase at an event held at the Polo Grounds in New York.

Aside from the more than two hours of musical and comedic performances from orchestras, dance bands and radio, stage and film stars (such as Cab Calloway, Ethel Merman, James Cagney and Milton Berle), the main attraction was a game that pitted stars from the three New York major league clubs (Dodgers, Giants and Yankees) against the U.S. Army’s New Cumberland (Pennsylvania) Reception team, which was augmented with service all-stars that included (future Hall of Fame enshrinees in bold) Captains Hank Greenberg (1B) and Sid Hudson (P), Lieutenants Johnny Beazley (P), Billy Hitchcock (SS) and Birdie Tebbetts (C) and Private First Class Enos Slaughter (RF). Also filling out the Cumberland roster were Elmer Valo (RF), Ducky Detweiler (1B), Danny Murtaugh (2B), Hal Marnie (2B), Pat Mullin (CF), Bill Peterman (C), Lynn Myers (SS), Bobby Rhawn (3B), Chuck Harig (LF) and Shargey (PH).

Before the All-Star game, fans were treated to perhaps the most memorable old-timers game in the history of baseball, dubbed the “Tableau of Yesterday.” Present at the game (three of which are noted in bold) were 12 living members of the Baseball Hall of Fame, including the 1936 inaugural induction class. The exhibition showcased Babe Ruth‘s last-ever at bat, when he faced off against 55-year-old Washington Senators Hall of Fame pitcher Walter “Big Train” Johnson, for a batting display, with the other legends fielding their traditional positions and Bill Klem calling balls and strikes.

“With Ruth (48 years old) at bat, George Sisler (50) was at first base, Eddie Collins (59) at second, bow-legged Honus Wagner (69) at short, Tris Speaker (55) in centerfield and Connie Mack (83) waving a scoreboard. Their ranks were filled out by other famous players of a bygone era – Roger Bresnahan (64) catching, Frank Frisch (44) at third base, Duffy Lewis (53) in left field and Jack “Red” Murray (59) in right.” – Associated Press, Friday August 27, 1943

Walter Johnson took the mound one final time to pitch to Babe Ruth in the August 26, 1943 War Bond Game at the Polo Grounds. The 58-year-old Hall of Fame pitcher would succumb to a brain tumor on December 10, 1946, just 40 months later (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

The event raised more than 800 million dollars (in purchased War Bonds) and the nearly 40,000 fans were treated to Babe Ruth’s last ever home run blast. “It didn’t matter that in fielding some of the Babe’s ‘practice shots’ Murray fell down, Speaker was practically decapitated and Collins was all but carried into right field by a line drive,” wrote the Associated Press’ Sid Feder. “The folks had a look at ‘em, and the Babe finally parked one. That was the icing on the cake.”

Never mind that there was still a ballgame to be played following the old timers’ exhibition. Filling out the New York All-Stars’ roster were: Dick Bartell and Frankie Crosetti at short, Billy Jurges, Joe Gordon, Billy Herman and Mickey Witek at second base, Billy Johnson at third, Arky Vaughan, Charlie Keller, and Joe “Ducky” Medwick in left field, Buster Maynard and Augie Galan in center, Dixie Walker and Paul Waner in right, Nick Etten and Galan at first and Ernie Lombardi, Bill Dickey and Mickey Owen behind the plate. Manager Casey Stengel‘s pitching staff consisted of Curt Davis, Van Lingle Mungo, Ace Adams, Spud Chandler, Carl Hubbell, Tiny Bonham, Tommy Byrne and Ed Head (the nine future Hall of Fame enshrines shown in bold).

Though billed as the featured event, the game between the All-Stars and the Army team was overshadowed despite the star power on both rosters. The Camp Cumberland squad, managed by Captain Hank Gowdy, eked out 14 hits against the New York stars; however, they managed to plate only two runners. The Cumberland pitchers limited the Stars to nine hits, but the Gotham batsmen tallied five runs to claim the victory. Private Slaughter batted 1-for-3 and scored one of the Cumberland runs in the loss. The fans and the nation were the real winners in this hallmark event because of the money raised for the war effort and the historically entertaining day. In retrospect, those in attendance witnessed an unprecedented Hall of Fame event, with 21 members participating in the game and seven being part of the festivities but not playing.

Returning to San Antonio following the War Bond game, Enos Slaughter, promoted to the rank of sergeant, was “apologetic” for hitting just .498 (in 75 games) in his first season with the SAACC Warhawks. The team secured the Texas Army League championship. As Sgt. Slaughter continued his work at the air base leading physical fitness instruction, he was part of the U.S. Army Air Forces training film, Survival of the Fittest.

Slaughter’s enlistment controversy resurfaced a year after he reported for duty with a brief two-paragraph article (published on Thursday, March 2, 1944) discussing the details surrounding his induction and subsequent exit from the aviation cadet program. “He (Slaughter) washed out,” Stan Anderson of the Logan, Utah paper Student Life wrote, “because he answered a psychologist’s question as to why he joined the Air Corps with a remark to the effect that getting into the Air Corps Reserve was his only means of staving off the Army long enough to play in that year’s World Series.” Anderson’s piece continued, “Very candid boy, apparently. But poor attitude, the offended Army Air Corps representative decided at once.”

In 1944 Slaughter’s San Antonio Aviation Cadet Center Warhawk club again claimed both the best record in the Texas service league’s 55 –game jaunt and the championship in the season-ending playoffs. Sergeant Slaughter slipped from his 1943 batting average, dropping to a miniscule .414 and finishing behind Randolph Field’s David “Boo” Ferriss’ .417. Enos captured the league crown for hits (82), doubles (22), total bases (153) and runs (64) and tied his manager, Del Wilber, for the league lead in home runs (13). Slaughter was no slouch on the base paths as he swiped 16 and finished tied for second.

As his former teammates were preparing for the first game of the all-St. Louis World Series between the Cardinals and the Browns, Sgt. Slaughter was not only in town but joined the “Redbirds” on the field during pre-game warm-ups. Slaughter’s presence must have aided the Cardinals as they set down the Browns to claim the championship in six games.

By February of 1945, U.S. forces were pushing the Imperial Japanese forces from their island strongholds in the Western Pacific. On February 16, the bloodiest battle of the Pacific on Iwo Jima commenced with a pre-invasion shore bombardment from the naval forces. Three days later, Marines began landing on the black, volcanic, sandy shores of the island. Fighting would last until nearly the end of the following month. Despite the victory in wresting control of the island from the Japanese, U.S. forces suffered extensive casualties, numbering more than 26,000, 6,821 of them killed.

As was happening with Birdie Tebbetts’ Waco squad, Army brass detached two key players from the Cadet Center team months before the start of the 1945 season. Sgt. Enos Slaughter and Private Howie Pollet were granted a furlough as they transferred to Kearns Army Air Field near Salt Lake City, Utah. Joining Slaughter and Pollet at Kearns were Tex Hughson, Sid Hudson, Clarence “Hooks” Iott, “Chubby” Dean, George Gill, Sam West, Johnny Sturm, Lew Riggs, Stan Rojek, Nanny Fernandez, Chuck Stevens, Taft Wright and Bobby Adams. They all awaited further transfer.

Staff Sergeant Bruce Bohle wrote his employer, the St. Louis Star and Times, to tell them of his encounter with the ballplayers soon after their arrival at Kearns. “Imagine my surprise on entering the dining hall,” Bohle opened his letter, “to find the dishwashing chores handled by two former members of the Cardinals. They were Enos Slaughter and Howard Pollet.” Bohle continued, “These ball players rate ace-high with the boys at Kearns. They receive the same training and handle the same duties as all of us,” Bohle commented, “Slaughter and Pollet were in fine form while working with the dishwashing brigade. That’ll give you a laugh!”

As reported in the (Thursday, March 8) Salt Lake Telegram, the gathering of players was “a manager’s dream,” wrote the unnamed author. “That’s the AAF overseas replacement depot, Kearns, these days.” The article boasted Kearns as having a “who’s on first and what’s the pitcher’s name” situation at the air base with the drawback being that the players wouldn’t be playing nor would they be around when baseball season opened.

All of the Kearns Air Base assemblage of ballplayers (except for Lott and West) were soon transferred to Oahu and distributed among Bellows Field, Wheeler Field and Hickam Field, with each assigned to the corresponding baseball teams. Slaughter, Pollet and Rojek ended up with the Hickam Air Field “Bombers” at Pearl Harbor.

The Monday, April 23 edition of the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported the arrival of Slaughter at Hickam Field along with Howie Pollet and Captain Birdie Tebbetts, “to perform military duties with the army air forces.” The Star-Bulletin continued, “Seven major and minor league ball players in all have come in to date, including three pitchers, two outfielders, two infielders and a catcher,” calling the additions to the Hickam baseball team, a “septuple shot in the arm.” Joining the trio were John Jensen (San Diego Padres), Roy Pitter (Yankees) and George Gill (Tigers and Browns). With the Honolulu League season underway since late January, Hickam had already seen the additions of Ferris Fain (San Francisco Seals) and Dario Lodigiani (White Sox), both of whom had played for the 7^th AAF team in 1944 in Hawaii, and Bill Hitchcock (Tigers), who had played on the McClellan Field (Sacramento) team.

1945 Hickam Field Bombers:

Rank	Player	Position	Former Team (Pre-War)
	John J.”Moe” Ambrosia	Bat Boy/2B	Unknown
	John (Murphy) Bialowarczuk	3B/P/MGR	Semi-Pro
	Leonard Burton	P	Tallahassee (GAFL)
	Glenn Dobbs		Tulsa U./Chicago Cardinals (NFL)
S/Sgt.	Ferris Fain	1B	San Francisco (PCL)
	Eddie Funk	P	San Diego (PCL)
Cpl.	George Gill	P	Browns/Tigers
Capt.	Billy Hitchcock	3B	Tigers
Cpl.	Johnny Jensen	LF/CF	San Diego (PCL)
	George Colonel “Kearnie” Kohlmyer	2B	Tyler (EXTL)
Sgt.	Dario Lodigiani	2B	White Sox
	Johnny Mazur	C	Semi-Pro
	Roy Pitter	P	NYY Property
Pfc.	Howie Pollet	P	Cardinals
Sgt.	Stan Rojek	SS	Dodgers
	Bill Salveson	P	Semi-Pro
	Frank Saul	P	Semi-Pro
	Don Schmidt	P	Semi-Pro
Sgt.	Enos “Country” Slaughter	CF/LF	Cardinals
	George Sprys	RF	Appleton (WISL)
	Tom Tatum	RF	Dodgers
Capt.	George “Birdie” Tebbetts	C	Tigers

Slaughter’s impact on the Hickam “Bombers” squad was immediate as he batted in the clean-up spot. During an April 24 matchup against the Fort Shafter Commanders in front of 4,000 at Honolulu Stadium in the Cronin Series, Slaughter walked and scored in the fourth inning and stroked a home run in the seventh to put Hickam ahead, 2-1. Enos used his defensive prowess to rob Earl Kuper of extra bases as he made a brilliant play on a 350-foot line drive in the fifth inning. In his second game, he plated three with a home run to beat the Honolulu All-Stars (a civilian team) in the Cronin Series.

Baseball wasn’t the only game for Slaughter at Hickam. The slugger was joined by Tebbetts, Frank Saul, George Gill and Roy Pitter to play in the CPBC softball tournament as part of the Hickam Bombers squad. They took down the AP&SC team, 7-1, on May 2 for their fifth win in the brackets.

The baseball season continued for the Hickam squad as they continued to rack up wins, defeating the Maui All-Stars and Maui Marines. They held each team scoreless while Slaughter drove seven runs (combined) and was awarded a $50 war bond for the most RBIs in the H.C. & S. Co. Athletic Association Series held at New Baldwin Field on the island of Maui.

By May 17, Hickam remained unbeaten in league play and Slaughter continued his offensive and defensive onslaught. The bats of Hickam’s Rojek, Fain, Jensen, Hitchcock, Tebbetts and Kearny Kohlmyer combined with Enos Slaughter’s output earned them the nickname, “Murderous Row” by the Honolulu Advertiser.

Slaughter was tapped by his Hickam manager Birdie Tebbetts, along with 11 other former professional players, to participate in a baseball clinic held for more than 1,000 youths at Honolulu Stadium. It was the first of its kind in Honolulu. The players taught the kids skills for batting, pitching, sliding, base stealing and pickoff plays.

As the season progressed, Hickam faced off against the Pearl Harbor Submarine Base Dolphins on May 25 in what was a pure offensive showdown. One would think that after being staked to a 12-0 lead after the third inning, the game was well in hand for the Bombers, especially after tallying nine runs in the second inning alone. Tebbetts lifted himself and Slaughter, who had suffered an injury, a strained hamstring, while running hard to first base in the second inning. with the large lead, but the Dolphins proceeded to work their way back against the impending rout. Ken Sears’ two home runs in addition to round-trippers by “Schoolboy” Rowe, John Jeandron, Charlie Gilbert, Bob McCorkle and Don Meyers drew the Dolphins to within a run but they ultimately fell short, 18-17.

With Slaughter’s injury and faltering pitching, Hickam suffered their first loss of the season to the Wingmen of Wheeler Air Base, 7-2, on May 26. Hickam’s offense came roaring back to life against the Honolulu Tigers in an 11-4 attack with Kohlmyer subbing for Slaughter in right field.

As May turned to June, the Hickam Bombers remained atop the Hawaii League standings in a three-way tie for first place with the teams from Wheeler Field and Bellows Field, each with a single loss. On June 9^th, the Bombers received their second loss of the season at the hands of the Aiea Naval Hospital at Ceres Field, home of the “Hilltoppers.” Led by Sal Recca (a double and three singles) and Johnny Berardino (a triple and a double), the Hilltoppers’ bats got to Gill, who surrendered five runs. The Bombers were without the services of Slaughter, Tom Tatum and Dario Lodigiani.

In early June, the former Yankee catcher, Navy Lieutenant Bill Dickey, drafted plans to hold an All-Star game at Furlong Field on June 24 that would resemble the mid-summer classic between the stars of the National and American leagues. This game would feature players stationed throughout Hawaii and assembled in league teams, regardless of their current branches of service.

The American Leaguers were set to be managed by Birdie Tebbetts and feature Tex Hughson, Ted Lyons, Bob Harris, Walt Masterson, Bill Dickey, Rollie Hemsley, Joe Gordon, Johnny Pesky, Walt Judnich and Fred Hutchinson. The roster of the Nationals was to include Ray Lamanno, Gil Brack, Don Lang, Lou Riggs, Stan Rojek, Nanny Fernandez, Stan Musial, Enos Slaughter, Max West, Mike McCormick and Schoolboy Rowe, with Billy Herman managing.

Earlier this year, we located a 1940s Wilson Official League baseball that was covered with signatures from former major and minor-league ballplayers. Each player appeared to sign the ball using the same pen and included the year (“1945”) inscribed beneath one of the autographs. Included with the baseball was a PSA/DNA certificate of authenticity, validating the signatures as genuine. Due to the names of the players who signed the ball, we determined that the group of men were part of the 1945 Hickam Bombers (see: Signature Search: The 1945 Hickam Bombers). Perhaps the most prominent of the signatures is that of Enos Slaughter.

1945 Hickam Bombers ball: Ferris Fain, Enos Slaughter, Kernie Kohlmeyer, Steve Tomko, John J. “Moe” Ambrosia, Bill Mosser, Birdie Tebbetts (source: Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

On June 16, LT. Col Edgar B. Stansbury, chief of AAFPOA Special Services, announced that the Army Air Forces would play their last baseball game in Hawaii on the following day, bringing about an end to the season and the planned All Star game. According to the June 17, 1945 Honolulu Advertiser, there was no reason provided by the colonel who “asserted it would be impossible to hold a major league All-Star Game” due to the mandate. The Navy leadership made a similar announcement regarding their players. Slaughter and the rest of the pro ballplayers appeared in their final Hickam Bombers game that afternoon as they took on the Bellows Field Flyers, claiming their final win, 2-0, on a Dario Lodigiani two-run single in the ninth inning.

Hickam attempted to rebuild the team, refilling the positions vacated by the former professionals with Air Forces personnel in order to salvage their season, with the first game scheduled for June 29. Meanwhile, Slaughter prepared for what lay ahead. On June 25, the Associated Press published an article (Big Name Athletes Move to Outlying Islands) by reporter Murlin Spencer. “Baseball stars who have made Oahu one of the greatest islands for baseball fans are moving to outlying islands so that GIs on the outer fringes can see them, too.” Slaughter was listed among many stars that were departing.

On July 9, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported the arrival of Slaughter and the contingent of USAAF players on the island of Guam. The piece mentioned that decisions had yet to be made regarding how the men would be divided into teams. AAFPOA athletic officer Captain Billy Hitchcock, who was in charge of the contingent of players, spoke of issues surrounding the condition of the ball fields and facilities available to use for games. He also named the managers for the three teams that the group would be divided into. “Birdie Tebbetts of the Hickam Bombers, Buster Mills of the Bellows Flyers and Mike McCormick of the Wheeler Wingmen,” Hitchcock said, “probably will be managing these teams.”

58th Bombardment Wing Wingmen:

Player	Position	Former
Bob “Bobby” Adams	2B	Syracuse (IL)
Al “Chubby” Dean	P	Indians
Tom Gabrielli	C	Pirates
George Gill	P	Tigers/Browns
Joe Gordon	SS	Yankees
Billy Hitchcock	3B	Tigers
Edwin “Ed” Kowalski	P	Appleton (WISL)
Al Lang	LF	Reds
Don Lang	OF	Kansas City (AA)
Pete Layden	OF	collegiate player
Arthur “Art” Lilly	IF	Hollywood (PCL)
Joe Marty	OF	Phillies
Roy Pitter	P	Yankees
Howie Pollet	P	Cardinals
Enos “Country” Slaughter	OF	Cardinals
Chuck Stevens	1B	Browns
Johnny Sturm	1B	Yankees
George “Birdie” Tebbetts	C/Mgr	Tigers
Vic Wertz	CF	Tigers

Hitchcock formed the teams (under the command of the U.S. Army Strategic Air Forces or USASTAF) and created a round-robin format of competition to provide an entertaining tournament that would be played on Guam, Saipan, Tinian and Iwo Jima. The team assignments seemed to correspond with the roster configurations previously seen in Hawaii with Wheeler, Bellows and Hickam; but there were some exceptions. Tebbetts’ roster appeared to have been given a slight advantage by landing two outstanding hitters in Slaughter and former Yankee infielder Joe Gordon (both of whom would end up enshrined in Cooperstown). The tournament commenced with the inaugural game between Tebbetts’ 58^th Bombardment Wing “Wingmen” and Buster Mills’ 73^rd Bombardment Wing “Bombers” on July 27.

Sunday, July 29: The 58th Wingmen’s first game on the island of Tinian. The Wingmen’s 1st baseman Chuck Stevens is at bat (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

This well-weathered scorecard from the USASTAF (United States Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific) game played by Major League Baseball Stars has seen better days (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

The USASTAF tournament games were not the only baseball competition that the men faced. In some instances, the players would see action with pick-up games that would often include highly-skilled regular GIs filling in some of the roster positions. Staff Sergeant Ed Ruder, a war correspondent stationed in the Marianas, wrote of a pickup game that featured several former Cardinals and Browns players. His piece, “Cardinal and Brown Players Hold St. Louis Day in Pacific,” spotlighted a game between Army and Marine Corps clubs, each augmented by former players from the two St. Louis teams. The Marines squad featured Bill Barnes, Vernal “Nippy” Jones, and Ray Yochim of the Cardinals and Harry Hatch, former Browns farmhand. The Army team included (from the 58^th Wingmen) former Cardinals Slaughter, Pollet and former Browns Gill and Kearny Kohlmyer. Also representing the St. Louis area was batboy John. J. “Moe” Ambrosia, formerly of the Hickam Bombers. The Marines got the better of the Army that day on the back of Yochim’s pitching as he outdueled Pollet, 7-6.

Looking down the right field line towards the outfield, this photo from Chuck Steven’s personal collection shows the visitors’ dugout and the massive crowds that ringed the diamond to watch the men play, August 1945 (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

Slaughter’s .351 batting average was among the leaders in the USASTAF tournament, trailing Stan Rojek (.358), Bill Leonard (.355) and Johnny Jensen (.353) when the competition wound to a close. In total, 27 games were played just within the USASTAF round robin league before more than 180,000 GI fans.

This photo from former St. Louis Browns 1st baseman, Chuck Stevens’ collection was inscribed on the reverse, “Isn’t this a great picture? It was taken here in the tent – that’s George Gill and Tom Gabrielli in the back – Enos Slaughter and Ed Kowalski with me – it was taken kinda early in the morning so that so that might have something to do with the way we look. Sad bunch of sacks – Great bunch of Soldiers.” This was captured during the August-September USASTAF Marianas baseball tournament (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

Sergeant Slaughter’s overseas service came to an abrupt close when he, along with Captain George R. Tebbetts, Corporal Max West, Corporal Joe Gordon, and 1st Lt. Colonel “Buster” Mills, 1st Lt. Stanley Goletz, Corporals Bobby Adams, Edward Chandler, Froilan Fernandez, John Jensen, Don Lang, Arthur Lilly, Albert Olsen, Herman Reich, Charles Stevens, Rinaldo Ardizoia, Carl De Rose, Wilfred Leonard, Alfred W. Lien, Roy Pitter, Charles Silvera and John Mazur; S/SGT Ferris Fain, Sgts. Walter Judnich, Dario Lodigiani, Joseph Marty, William Schmidt, Sam Rojek and Sid Hudson; Pfc. Robert Dillinger, Chester Kehn, Edwin Kowalski, Nick Popovich, Thomas Cabrielli, Sid Hudson, Howard Pollet and Alfred Dean arrived in Long Beach, California as they disembarked from the USS Cecil (APA-96).

Days later, controversy surrounding Slaughter brewed once again when the news reached troops still stationed overseas and awaiting their orders to return home. “It now seems that the function of some big name baseball, football and other athletic stars is, perhaps unwittingly,” a Stars and Stripes editorial conveyed, “to help lower the morale of overseas servicemen.” Letters to the paper from GIs caused a dustup over the accelerated return and subsequent discharges for the baseball players, and Slaughter’s name was one of ten specifically called out.

Sgt. Slaughter transferred from Camp Anza (Riverside, California) to Fort Sheridan, Illinois and was granted a 58-day furlough following his arrival; but he was ordered to report to San Antonio on January 1, 1946. “I am hoping to get out in time for spring training,” Slaughter told W. Vernon Tietjen of the St. Louis Star and Times, “but I don’t know. Latest is that you need 55 points, and I am still in the 40s.” Nearly four weeks later, on January 25, Slaughter was discharged from the Army Air Forces 24 days before reporting to St. Petersburg, Florida for the Cardinals’ spring training.

Despite the questions and controversy surrounding Slaughter’s entrance into the air cadet program and his color blindness disqualification, his positive impact and morale boosting while playing baseball for his comrades in arms was felt for more than two years. The artifacts in the Chevrons and Diamonds collection that reflect Sergeant Enos Slaughter’s service were fantastic additions over the last few years and will always be treasured. We are delighted to share them with our audiences.

See also:

• The ‘Strike’ Against Jackie Robinson: Truth or Myth? – by Warren Corbett, Society for American Baseball Research, Spring 2017 Baseball Research Journal
• The Jackie Robinson spiking incident, paragraph 23 of Enos Slaughter – by Joseph Wancho, Society for American Baseball Research,

Familiar (Navy) Flannel

As challenging as 2020 has been for nearly everyone around the globe, the year has brought to the surface and thus provided us with opportunities to acquire some of the most incredible artifacts for the Chevrons and Diamonds Collection. As much as we enjoy sourcing treasures such as original scorecards, programs, type-1 vintage photographs and equipment, the most sought-after items that are truly cause for excitement are service team flannels.

As the temperatures cool and the leaves begin to change now that autumn is upon us, we are still surprised by the slew of jerseys and uniforms that we were able to add to our collection. In what we would consider a “good year” of treasure hunting, we might be able to acquire more than one baseball jersey or uniform. However, amid the viral, economic and political difficulties, we managed to acquire a quartet of vintage flannel baseball jerseys, one of which includes trousers. Before this year, our collection had been dominated by the presence of jerseys made for and used by the U.S. Marine Corps.

With the arrival of Fire Controlman 2/c Gunderson’s USS Phoenix uniform group (see: Remembering Pearl Harbor and the Game) along with the unnamed USS Timbalier jersey (see: Striking the Drum: a Mid-1940s Jersey from the USS Timbalier), our Navy baseball uniform collection doubled. However, 2020 appears to be the year for Navy jerseys as we were able to locate a third flannel.

The 1943 Pearl Harbor Submarine Base team secured the Hawaiian Leagues title wearing the navy blue ballcap (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

This Navy publicity photo was taken in 1944 and used in promotional materials and game programs in the Hawaii Leagues. Mize is shown in his pinstriped Navy home uniform (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

In this photo from the estate of Yankees Hall of Fame catcher, Bill Dickey, Mize poses at Furlong Field with other Navy stars from the Major Leagues. Shown, left to right are: George “Skeets” Dickey, Johnny Vander Meer, Pee Wee Reese, Joe Rose, Johnny Mize and Bill Dickey (Mark Southerland Collection).

During World War II, perhaps the most common uniform design aspect for Navy baseball flannels (at least for shore-based teams) was an unembellished flannel (in white, gray or pinstripes) with simple, athletic felt, block letters that simply spelled out “N A V Y” in an arc across the upper chest area. For most of those uniforms, the font used for the athletic felt lettering was slender and lacked serifs or flourish, thus providing a simplistic appearance.

The simple Navy baseball uniform jerseys were used nearly from the beginning of the war, as we have seen with the Navy Pre-Flight schools at the Universities of North Carolina, Iowa, Georgia and St. Mary’s College (in Moraga, California), with serif lettering that included a three-dimensional” appearance with multiple layers of stitched athletic felt. Throughout domestic naval training bases, the lettering on the jerseys often differed. In some instances, script lettering or block lettering with serifs could be seen. On Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands, the uniforms, while maintaining the block letters, deviated from the traditional home-white and away-gray combinations, opting instead for complete pinstriped flannels or with navy blue raglan sleeves with the slender and simple (non-serif) lettering in an arc across the chest.

1944 Cloudbusters Coaching Staff (left to right): LT(jg) Tom McConnell, LCDR Glenn Killinger, LT Buddy Hassett, LT Howie Haak. The photo was inscribed and signed by McConnell, Killinger and Hassett for Howie Haak (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

Team mates in Boston and in the Navy, Ted Williams (left) and Johnny Pesky (center) were members of the Cloudbusters (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

The coaches of the 1944 St. Mary’s Pre-flight varsity baseball team, led by Charlie Gehringer (second from right) as shown in the History St. Mary’s Pre-Flight School book (published 1946).

Since our adventure in military baseball research and collecting commenced more than a decade ago, the search for a Navy-specific jersey or uniform has been ongoing. Our acquisition of a 1943 gray and red Marine uniform drew our attention to seeking other vintage service team jerseys. The closest we came to locating a Navy jersey or uniform occurred towards the end of 2018 when a listing for a gray wool flannel item surfaced at auction. In a departure from the aforementioned more common lettering style, the athletic felt appliques were of the blocked variety with serifs (similar to a bold Times Roman font) which resembled that of the Navy Pre-Flight baseball uniforms but featured a single layer of material. After eight years, a World War II-era Navy jersey had finally arrived.

The 1943 team of Naval Air Station at Corpus Christi, Texas is right up in front in the Naval Air Training Center circuit having taken eight of its first ten games. Pictured are Mascot Roy Brown, front; Ensign Dan Menendez, Ensign Don Watts, Lt.-Comdr. Frank Lane, LTjg Boyd B. SoRelle and Ezra Pat Mac McClothin, first row; Ensign Walt Bietila, Ensign Dave Bechtol, W. J. Goodman, J. Roland and J. Penfold, second row, and Jack Pearson, Dam Mamula, Bob Cowsar, Ed Schueren, Jim Picciano and Pat McCarthy, back row (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

Unfortunately, due to financial challenges, there was no possibility of acquiring this jersey. We watched the auction all the way to the end. The jersey sold the week before Thanksgiving for well above what we would normally value an unnamed, unidentified one. Rather than to allow this jersey to change hands and be forgotten, we captured the details and added a page to the Chevrons and Diamonds Archive of Military Baseball Uniforms for historical reference. In the near 21 months since this jersey sold, we had yet to find a similar piece.

In a year filled with incredible finds, it is unfathomable that another WWII naval jersey would not only appear in the marketplace but would fall into our hands.

Fresh from the seller, the 1943-44 NAVY jersey is in need of a cleaning, similar to what we did for our USS Timbalier and USS Phoenix flannels (Chevrons and Diamonds Photo).

The front of the jersey shows a lot of pilling that is most-likely due to excessive machine-wash laundering. The athletic felt lettering is arched between the second and third buttons. The upper left extension of the “V” overlays the left soutache on the button placket (Chevrons and Diamonds Photo).

A new listing appeared in an online auction (that included the option to submit an offer) for a WWII-era Navy jersey. This artifact, a gray flannel (away) jersey with blocked serif lettering affixed to the chest, was trimmed in a single, thin line of blue soutache surrounding the sleeve cuff and around the collar, extending down the button placket. What was unique about this jersey was that the soutache on the placket extended down to just above the third button (from the top), stopping well short of what is seen on many jerseys of the period. Another feature that helped in dating the jersey to the early 1940s was the sun collar surrounding the neck. Inside the collar was a simple manufacturer’s label (Lowe & Campbell Athletic Goods) that included the size (42) incorporated into the same tag. Aside from typical staining befitting a used, 75+ year-old textile, the only blemish was a missing button at the bottom of the placket.

(Chevrons and Diamonds Photo).

(Chevrons and Diamonds Photo).

The sleeve soutache encircles the sleeve approximately 1-inch above the edge, corresponding to the hem on the inside edge (Chevrons and Diamonds Photo).

Sun collars were being phases out of uniforms by the late 1930s and into the early 1940s which helps to date this jersey (Chevrons and Diamonds Photo).

After our submitted offer was accepted and the package arrived a few days later, the familiarity of this particular jersey began to settle in. In 2019, a WWII vintage photo of a Navy baseball team surfaced. The players were seen dressed in their flannel uniforms with a lettering style similar to our recent arrival. Unlike the layered lettering of the Pre-Flight uniforms, the jerseys in the photograph were very similar to that of our new acquisition. Further examination of the photograph revealed subtle differences, such as the soutache around the collar (two lines versus our single line), on the placket (extending down below the belt-line) and the positioning on the sleeve cuffs (at the sleeve’s edge instead of 1” back from the edge).

The team in the aforementioned photo was that of Corpus Christi Naval Air Station in 1943, the roster of which consisted of naval aviation cadets who were predominantly former professional ballplayers. Though it is similar to the Corpus Christi uniform, our jersey did not originate from this team (at least not from 1943), judging by the photograph; but the ambiguous familiarity remained within our memory. This jersey was strangely more familiar to us than we could comprehend.

Showing the single-layer athletic felt lettering, the end of the button placket soutache and the recessed, four-hole button (Chevrons and Diamonds Photo).

The back numerals are heavily worn on the edges (Chevrons and Diamonds Photo).

The rear of the neck opening reveals the 1-inch height of the the sun collar. Note the stain to the lower right (Chevrons and Diamonds Photo).

This 3/4-perspective offers a view of the jersey’s cut, tail, armpit vent and sleeve length (Chevrons and Diamonds Photo).

As our research continued (including scouring our extensive vintage photograph library), we paused to  made a quick check of our military baseball uniform archive only to discover that we had just acquired the very jersey that we were not in position to obtain nearly two years earlier. It seems that when collectors are persistent and patient in their endeavors and interests, missed or lost opportunities sometimes return and artifacts become available once again. While we have yet to uncover a specific unit or team to connect this jersey to, we are confident that with both patience and perseverance we will be able to identify which Navy team used this jersey design.

 

See Also:

• A Lifetime Collection of Images: Star Baseball Player, Sam Chapman, the Tiburon Terror and Wartime Naval Aviator, part I and part II
• A Diamond for a Midway Hero

 

Yankees, Cardinals and…Blacksheep: The 1943 World Series and the Unusual Trade

The Chevrons and Diamonds vintage photo archive has been steadily growing since we acquired our initial piece showing Hugh Casey and Harold “Pee Wee” Reese changing from their Navy service dress white uniforms into their Norfolk Naval Air Station flannels. We have managed to locate incredible imagery depicting armed forces and baseball history, some of which is so scarce that it is likely we hold the only copies. Despite the diverse and expansive nature of our archive, there are a handful of iconic images that have eluded our pursuit.

Traditionally, our objective with Chevrons and Diamonds has been to spotlight the convergence of baseball and military history through artifacts that we have located, added to our collection and thoroughly researched. While this article holds true to our goal and utilizes many pieces from the Chevrons and Diamonds Collection, the principal theme focuses on artifacts (in this case, photographs) that we have yet to source. In the interest of telling this story, we made the decision to draw upon the National Archives for digital copies of the desired images to assist in bringing this story to our readers. All of the photos are properly credited and thus allow readers to distinguish between those obtained from the National Archives and the images within our collection.

Baseball’s “Golden Age” (roughly 1920-1960) might not be thought of as golden to fans outside of New York City or St. Louis, with the post season being dominated by teams from those two cities for many of those years. Between 1926, when the Cardinals made their first October appearance, and 1943 (a span of 17 years), the New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals made a combined 18 trips to the World Series. In the 11 Yankee World Series appearances in that span, the “Bombers” captured nine crowns while the Cardinals captured four titles in their seven trips. Amazingly, the two teams faced off against each other in only three of those Series.

Following what was perhaps one of the most impressive seasons of baseball in 1941, with Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak and Ted Williams’ .406 season batting average, the Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers (in their first World Series appearance since losing to the Cleveland Indians in 1920) in five games, capturing the  World Series crown (their ninth in twelve trips to the Fall Classic). Just a few weeks later, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States entered World War II and major leaguers began to trickle into the armed forces as the Cleveland Indians’ star pitcher, Bob Feller, became the first notable player to enlist (on December 9).

Following President Roosevelt’s “green light” letter, the 1942 baseball season was given the go ahead to proceed as planned, though there was nothing to stop players from being lost to the selective service, i.e. the draft, or enlisting. The Yankees’ 1942 roster was hardly changed from their 1941 championship squad and again the club finished the year atop the American League. The National League’s fourth place finisher in 1941, the St. Louis Cardinals, retooled following the surprising trade of their star first baseman (and future Hall of Fame slugger) Johnny Mize to the New York Giants during the December winter meetings in Chicago. The “Red Birds” also made room for their rising star outfielder Stan Musial, with other roster moves prior to the start of the 1942 spring training.

Aside from the baseball season’s coverage on the sports pages across the U.S., coverage of the war’s progression in the Pacific was front-page news. Still reeling from losses at Pearl Harbor, Wake Island and Guam, bad news continued to pour in with the loss of the cruiser USS Houston (CA-30) and other allied ships at the Battle of the Java Sea off the Dutch East Indies at the end of February and again in May with the surrender of Corregidor in the Philippines (on the 6^th). However, there was reason for optimism with the Colonel Doolittle’s raid on Tokyo (April 18) and the Battle of the Coral Sea (May 4-8). The Japanese suffered heavy losses at the Battle of Midway (June 4-7), placing them on the defensive for the remainder of the war. Though Midway is considered a turning point, a lot of fighting was still to come.

Just months following the first U.S. naval victory of WWII at Midway, the Navy and Marine Corps moved to an offensive campaign against the Japanese in the Pacific. Defense production was in full swing with ships and aircraft development and construction greatly sped-up from the peacetime pace. Naval tactics saw a shift from ship-to-ship gun battles to the over-the-horizon, carrier-based air strikes that become the standard of warfare. Five days prior to the 1942 All-Star game at New York’s Polo Grounds, Marine Fighter Squadron 214 (VMF-214), the “Swashbucklers,” was commissioned at Marine Corps Air Station, Ewa on Oahu on July 1, 1942. By August, the squadron had been transported to the island of Espiritu Santo in the Coral Sea.

The 1942 Cardinals squad fought hard to overtake the reigning National League Champion Brooklyn Dodgers (who led the league from the seventh game of the season) after being 10 games behind on August 4. In just 41 games from that point, the Cardinals took over first place from the Dodgers and held on, finishing the season with 106-48 record (Brooklyn posted a record of 104-50) and were primed to take on New York, the customary World Series favorites.

Having pitched his Cardinals into a World Series Championship, Johnny Beazley requests entrance into the Navy as a physical fitness instructor. Not winning acceptance into the program, Beazley joined the Army Air Forces (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

Los Angeles, December 29, 1942 – Charles “Red” Ruffing, New York Yankee pitcher, is X-rayed by Pvt. Jack Levey during his physical examination for induction into the Army here today. The 37-year-old ball player has been working for the Vultee Aircraft Company until he was called up by his draft board (Associated Press Wirephoto/Chevrons and Diamonds Collection)

New York’s 37-year-old Red Ruffing led off with pitching duties for the Yanks in St. Louis, holding the Cardinals to four runs on five hits while striking out eight over eight innings in New York’s only victory in the 1942 Series. In the next four games, the Cardinals demonstrated that their 106-win season was no fluke as Johnny Beazley secured two of St. Louis’ victories, allowing 10 hits in a 4-3 win in the second game of the Series and seven hits in a 4-3 win in the fifth and final game, thus emerging as the star of the pitching staff. Centerfielder Terry Moore batted .294, scored twice and drove in  multiple runs for the Cards. Right fielder Enos “Country” Slaughter averaged .263 with a double and a home run (one of only two Cardinal four-baggers) and scored three runs. As it was with the regular season, St. Louis defeated the Yankees with a team effort.

In their Series loss, the Yankees did not fall easily. Shortstop Phil “Scooter” Rizzuto led the Bronx batters with a .381 average, scoring twice with a home run. Joe DiMaggio and Buddy Hassett carried .333 averages (Hassett had the only extra-base hit, a double, between the two) and Charlie “King Kong” Keller led all hitters with two home runs. In the South Pacific two days after the Cardinals defeated the Yankees, the Marines were engaged in battle along the Matanikau River on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Island group. On October 11, the Battle of Cape Esperance saw U.S. Navy cruisers and destroyers successfully defend ground forces on Guadalcanal from Japanese naval bombardment. Weeks later, the Battle for Henderson Field saw the Marines defend the recently acquired (and renamed) Japanese air base, repulsing several attacks by the enemy’s 17^th Army.

LT(jg) John “Buddy” Hassett in New York City, October 5, 1944 (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

As the war progressed, much of the Pacific Theater focus was upon the Solomon Islands. After the hard-fought Guadalcanal campaign by the First Marine Division, the Japanese were putting up a fight on land and sea and in the air. The need for more men in all branches of the service was high and more ballplayers were volunteering as well as being drafted like other service-age Americans in late 1942 and early 1943. While many professional ballplayers were tapped to serve as physical instructors and play the game in morale-boosting capacities (to raise money or entertain troops), the majority of the thousands of former players served in front-line combat or support units. Even the Yankees and Cardinals saw their star players exchanging baseball flannels for the uniforms of their country. After the end of the World Series, the Yankees saw the departure of Tommy Henrich (who had enlisted in the Coast Guard in August but was permitted to continue playing) followed by Buddy Hassett, Phil Rizzuto and George Selkirk (all entered the Navy) and lastly Red Ruffing, drafted at age 39 in January, and Joe DiMaggio in February (both into the USAAF). The Cardinals lost Johnny Beazley (USAAF) and Buddy Blattner (Navy) less than a month after winning the World Series. Terry Moore departed in January (Army) followed by Enos Slaughter (USAAF) in February. Slaughter enlisted in August but delayed his departure until after the Series.

“Enos Slaughter, clutch hitter with San Antonio Air Cadet Center of Service Men’s League – San Antonio, Texas. Ex-Card star in slump, but drives in runs in the clutch…will also hit in clutch when he goes after Japs, Wops and Hitler’s HEELS.” – original 1943 caption (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

Tommy Henrich, New York Yankee outfielder, is greeted by Chief Boatswain’s Mate Hugh M. Brown as he reports for duty at the Buffalo (NY) Coast Guard base. Henrich will be assigned to the service’s physical fitness program, September 2, 1942 (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

Two seasons removed from his last year with the Yankees, Sgt. Joe DiMaggio is pictured at Honolulu Stadium in early June 1944 (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

As was the case for all professional baseball clubs, the war continued to have an impact on personnel. The changes were dramatic for both the Yankees and Cardinals and yet each team managed to work their way back for a World Series rematch in October of 1943. The Yankees led the American League for most of the season’s first half before separating from their competition after Independence Day. The Cardinals trailed the National League leader, bouncing between the second and third place position until grabbing the lead for good in the middle of July and finishing 18 games ahead of Cincinnati with a 105-49 season won-lost record, nearly matching their 1942 record. The Yankees’ 98-win season seemed to indicate that they would be the underdog in the ’43 Series. However, odds makers gave the “Bronx Bombers” a slight edge over the reigning world champions.

Spurgeon “Spud” Chandler, Yankees pitcher from 1937-1947 (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

Out of the gate, the Yankees took a 1-0 edge over the Cardinals on the back of right-handed pitcher Spud Chandler’s 7-hit, 4-2 complete game victory. The Cardinals evened the series as Mort Cooper held the Yankees to three runs on six hits. St. Louis shortstop Marty Marion and first baseman Ray Sanders hit a pair of home runs, driving in three of the Cards’ four runs in the win. On the eve of Game 3, newspapers across the United States began carrying a story* written by an Associated Press war correspondent in the South Pacific, detailing an unusual trade proposal pitched to the eventual winner of the World Series.

Bill Hipple in Tacoma, Washington, 1934. Associated Press war correspondent Hipple began his career as a reporter with the Tacoma Times, (image source: Tacoma Public Library).

The proposal that was pitched by Marine Corps aviator Major Gregory Boyington, commanding officer of VMF-214, was a morale-boost for his squadron as well as an incentive for the Cardinals and Yankees. Motivated by a desire for functional and comfortable headwear (and perhaps a desire for a little exposure for his squadron personnel), Boyington offered to trade the World Series victor an enemy aerial kill in exchange for a ball cap worn during the games. As AP correspondent William Hipple, a native of Tacoma, Washington, where Boyington spent his adolescent years and graduated from high school, mentioned in his article, “Such baseball caps are popular headgear in the tropics because they keep the sun out of the fliers’ eyes,” Hipple explained. “But they are scarce down here.”

At the time the article was penned, Boyington, who had already amassed 15 enemy kills to his credit (including those he collected while serving under Claire Chenault with the American Volunteer Group’s “Flying Tigers”), told Hipple that his squadron was “willing to put up 13 enemy planes.” Hipple wrote that the men of VMF-214 (now named “Blacksheep”) had already shot down these enemy aircraft in the previous two weeks. In effect, the major was presumably offering 13 kill stickers to the winning club before commencing with the efforts for their end of the trade. According to Hipple’s article, the Blacksheep said that they believed caps worn by the world champions would bring the squadron luck. “In return [for the caps], they [VMF-214 personnel] promise to make a clean sweep of the south Pacific aerial series, “Hipple concluded.

“Major Gregory Boyington, commanding officer of a Marine fighter squadron called ‘Boyington’s Blacksheep,’ which in only two tours of duty has knocked down 61 planes. The first six, he downed as a Flying Tiger. The major left Marine Aviation to fly with the American Volunteer Group August 29, 1941. He returned to the Marines in July, 1942, when he shot down the remaining eighteen planes, all Zeros. Twenty-four dead Japanese pilots are credited to him” (Defense Dept. Photo/National Archives, including original caption).

The third game of the series, the final played at Yankee Stadium, saw the hometown team take down the visitors 6-2 with catcher Bill Dickey and third baseman Billy Johnson leading the offense. Hank Borowy  held the Cards to two runs on six hits, striking out four and walking three in eight innings. Johnny Murphy closed the game with a three-up, three-down ninth inning.

Yankees outfielder George “Twinkletoes”Selkirk. Selkirk played for the Yankees from 1934-1942 and served in the Navy from 1942-1945 (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

A Yankees pitcher from 1932-1946, Johnny Murphy spent 1944-45 working on the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

LT. William Dickey (left), Yankees catcher and Ensign William Hulse, whose 4:06 mile was the fastest ever run by an American (at that time), examine a model of a battleship. They are shown at U.S. Naval Training School (indoctrination), Fort Schuyler, The Bronx, NY, July 3, 1944(Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

The final two games of the Series were played at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis with the Yankees taking both games to secure the championship. Spud Chandler pitched his second complete game, a seven-hit, 2-0 shutout to finish the series 2-0 with an impressive .050 earned run average. Billy Johnson (.300), Bill Dickey and Frankie Crosetti (both .278) led New York batters and accounted for eight of the Yankees total of 14 runs in the series.

“October 11, 1943: Phil Rizzuto, left, and Terry Moore, former Card captain and center fielder, are now part of the armed services. They got an opportunity to be present at the World Series and turned up in their uniforms to be given a hearty welcome by their teammates” – original caption (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection)

According to an article published in the Honolulu Advertiser on Wednesday, October 27, 1943, both the Yankees and Cardinals accepted Major Boyington’s and the other Blacksheep’s terms and within a few weeks of the end of the World Series, the Yankees and the Cardinals sent shipments of caps to the men of VMF-214 in the South Pacific.

Ensign Charley Keller as a junior assistant purser-pharmacist’s mate at the U.S. Maritime Service Training Station at Sheepshead Bay, September 9 1944 (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

After the series, the Yankees and Cardinals continued to see their star players exit for the service. Charlie Keller (U.S. Maritime Service, January 1944), Marius Russo (Army, February), Roy Weatherly (Army, April), Bill Dickey (Navy, June) and Billy Johnson (Army, June) were gone from New York. The Cardinals saw both Al Brazle and Harry Walker depart on successive days immediately after the World Series loss. Murry Dickson (Army, November), Lou Klein (Coast Guard, February 1944), Howie Krist (Army, March 1944) all departed for the service before the 1944 season.

Headgear contributed by the St. Louis Cardinals to members of Maj. Gregory Boyington’s Marine Fighter Squadron are handed to the Marine Ace by 1st Lt. Christopher Magee. In October, the squadron, facing a shortage of baseball caps, offered to shoot down a Japanese Zero for every cap sent them by World Series players, traditional wear for Marine pilots when not in the cockpit. Twenty caps were sent by the Cardinals in December. Meatball stickers to complete the exchange are handed to Lt. Magee (Defense Dept. Photo/National Archives)

By early December, a shipment arrived on the island of Vella Lavella where the Blacksheep squadron’s base of operations was located (approximately 250 miles northwest of Henderson Field on Guadalcanal). In the shipment were 20 baseball caps and six Louisville Slugger baseball bats as promised by the Cardinals. St. Louis’ bid for twenty enemy planes was outdone by more than double as Boyington’s fliers accounted for 48 aerial kills by December. The gifts from the Cardinals made for perfect photo and public relations opportunities as nationwide attention was being focused upon the “competition” between Boyington and a fellow Marine Corps aviator, Major Joe Foss, for the aerial kill record. Despite the “trade” appearing to be a boon (if not lucky) for VMF-214, Boyington’s combat flying career ended a month after the Cardinals caps arrived. On January 3, 1944, Major Gregory Boyington was shot down by an enemy fighter aircraft near the island of Rabaul and spent the remainder of the war as a POW after being picked up by a Japanese submarine.

December 4, 1943, Vella Lavella: Downing a Jap Zero for every baseball cap sent them by members of the St. Louis Cars, was an offer made by Major Gregory Boyington’s Marine Fighter Squadron. Here are 20 member of the original squadron wearing them. They have more than kept their part of the bargain; a total of 48 Japanese plane have been downed by the pilots shown here, most of them since they made the offer (USMC Photo/National Archives).

After losing the 1943 series and five more players from their roster, the Cardinals appeared to have benefited from their deal with the Blacksheep in terms of luck. From the 16^th game of the season, an 11-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds, the Cardinals led the National League, finishing with a 14.5-game advantage over the second place Pittsburgh Pirates. St. Louis returned to the World Series for a third consecutive trip after duplicating their 1943 win-loss record. 1944 saw an all-St. Louis World Series as the American League’s Browns made their lone post-season appearance in their entire 52-year existence, losing to the Cardinals in six games.

The last two baseball seasons of the war (1944 and ’45) saw major league rosters that were dominated with players who were either 4F (declared unfit for service in the armed forces), teenagers or men who staved off retirement (or returned from it) while the fighting in Europe and the Pacific was reaching a climax.. The quality of baseball being played in major league parks was diminished as heightened service team play boosted morale in the combat theaters.

These Leatherneck fighter pilots in the South Pacific hope to catch more Japanese airmen off base. The baseball motif was inspired by 20 caps sent Major Gregory Boyington’s squadron by the St. Louis Cardinals. The ball caps were worn traditionally by Marine pilots when not actually flying. Left to right: On a Corsair fighter wing, 1st Lieutenant Robert W. McClurg, 3 Zeros; 1st Lieutenant Paul A. Mullen, 3 Zeros; 1st Lieutenant Edwin L. Olander, 3 Zeros, December 4, 1943 (Defense Dept. Photo/National Archives).

On January 8, 1944, the Blacksheep ended their second combat tour in the Solomon Islands five days after their commanding officer was shot down and missing in action. Marine Fighter Squadron 214 received the Presidential Unit Citation with nine of their pilots achieving “ace” status (five or more confirmed air-to-air kills). In their first three months of flying, the Blacksheep compiled an impressive record that included 97 confirmed enemy air-to-air kills, more than 200 aircraft destroyed or damaged, including those hit during VMF-214 ground-attack missions, and multiple enemy ships (troop transports and supply vessels) sunk.

The 1946 season was a year of healing for returning GIs, families who suffered loss and for the game. Many of the minor leagues were able to restart after ceasing operations early in the war. The major leagues saw most of their veteran players return from the service as rosters began to resemble what was seen in the 1942 and 43 seasons. The Cardinals returned to the World Series and defeated the odds-makers’ favorite, the Boston Red Sox. During the World Series, Lt. Col. Gregory Boyington announced the founding of the Disabled Veterans Rehabilitation Association to assist paralyzed WWII veterans to obtain jobs and housing. Having spent 20 months as a tortured POW held in Japanese prison camps, the Medal of Honor recipient and former VMF-214 commanding officer contracted severe arthralgia and had to deal with his own health issues following the war.

Regardless of the decades-long fruitless searches, our pursuit of original Blacksheep photos with their Cardinals caps and bats continues. However, our archvitist’s curiosity leaves us with a lingering question; what became of the Cardinals World Series caps and game used Louisville Slugger bats?

See Also:

• Serving Behind the Scenes, Rizzuto Shared His Heart for the Game
• Accidental Discovery: A Photographic Military Baseball Holy Grail of Sorts
• Charlie “King Kong” Keller Rattles the Woodshed ending a Yearlong Silence

Sources:

• *Yank Fliers in Pacific Bid for Caps of Winning Team in World Series – One Jap Zero for Each Cap, Oakland Tribune (Oakland, CA), Thursday, October 7, 1943
• World Series Caps to Fliers – Honolulu Advertiser, Wednesday, October 27, 1943
• Nation’s Leading Air Aces Gain Laurels Against Japs – The Rock Island Argus (Rock Island, IL), Tuesday, December 7, 1943

His Best Baseball Seasons While Serving: Bobby Hornig’s Unrealized Potential as a Pro

Researching local service team baseball history is a task that has been put off for years with the justification that it should be relatively easy to draw upon area sources and institutions in such an effort.  With much of our research work being focused upon baseball in wartime combat theaters such as Europe and the Pacific along with the more well-known domestic service teams, our local area has been an afterthought, save for a few pieces researched and published in recent months

• Morrie Arnovich: Breaking Ground for Branch Rickey’s Bold Move
• Colonel R. D. Johnson: On the Mound and In Command at 59
• A Wartime Baseball Photograph Leads to Incredible Baseball and Combat Discoveries

As our research continues for several projects surrounding a handful of artifacts, we continue to make new discoveries. The discovery of one treasure seems to lead to others.

While researching our piece detailing Lefty Chambers, Tony Saso and Bill Brenner, another player’s name was continually surfacing. After several occasions of viewing the name Bobby Hornig, we were prompted to perform a cursory check on the player’s profile (on Baseball Reference), which revealed that he was a local product and played for regional ball clubs. Shortly after the publication of the Chambers, Saso and Brenner article, Hornig’s name surfaced again during a vintage photo search. This time there was a face to go with his name. Without much thought, we made arrangements to acquire the photo of Bobby Hornig, thinking that the player was captured during his time as pro ball player. It wasn’t until the photo arrived that we saw the service team details in the image.  Other than the snippets we had discovered, we had no knowledge of who Hornig was as a man or as a baseball player.

Bobby Hornig, formerly of the Tacoma Tigers, Spokane Hawks/Indians and Salem Senators of the Western International League, August 3, 1942 (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

In the Seattle Times’ May 19, 2003 article, “Bob Hornig, local baseball-outfield star, dies at 87,” reporter Emily Heffter described Hornig as an All-City baseball star while attending Seattle’s Queen Anne High School. The Tacoma, Washington-born Hornig graduated in 1935, turning down a college scholarship to remain close to his (then) girlfriend, Ruth Totten.  Prior to his 21^st birthday, Hornig signed his first professional baseball contract with the class “B” Tacoma Tigers of the Western International League (WIL) in March of 1937, playing with the club for manager Hollis “Sloppy” Thurston until June of that season when he was released. The speedy, hard-hitting outfielder was promptly signed by the cross-state rival Spokane Hawks, where he starred in the outfield and was among the league’s top hitters. Heffter’s piece regarding Hornig mentioned some of the newspaper accolades during his time with the Hawks, calling him the “speedburner with lots of class.”

Fascinated by the glowing review of Hornig’s play in the minor leagues, questions began to arise as to why he never progressed during his brief career (1937-1941) that was played entirely in the WIL. With several articles published during his career documenting his batting and fielding as being among the league’s best, Hornig seemed to be primed to move upwards in the game, if not to the major leagues, then at least to the upper minor leagues. Injuries have always been a part of the game and Hornig suffered what appears to be more than a normal number of them, though they didn’t seem to slow him down once he was back on the diamond. Instead of a series of injuries, another trend appeared to emerge in his professional career that, at least on the surface, contributed to the abrupt end of it.

Almost from the beginning of his tenure with Spokane in 1937, Hornig gave his manager cause to discipline him. Having signed with the team on June 16, just a week later manager Bernie DeViveiros suspended Hornig for going AWOL when the youngster left the team to spend time with his parents in Seattle. Following reinstatement, Hornig was on track and among the top hitters in the league and by late August, he was batting .297 (in 90 games with 392 plate appearances).

Bobby Hornig was spotlighted in the June 26, 1943 edition of the Spokane Chronicle (clipping, Newspapers.com)

On September 13, 1937, the Pacific Coast League’s Oakland Oaks visited Spokane for their last game of the season. The roster of the Yankee affiliate was filled with past and future major leaguers along with stars of the Coast League such as Walter Judnich, Dario Lodigiani, Pinky May, Hal Haid and Billy Raimondi. On the mound for the Hawks was Leo Fitter. whose spotty career spanned 13 seasons (1926-1938) but who had only six professional years to his credit. Fitter was opposed by 21-year-old Nick Radunich, who was just getting his career started. Hornig got the offense started in the bottom of the first inning, reaching base on an error and then using his speed to score from first on single by Joe Abreu, putting the Hawks on top by a run. In the third, Oakland plated three runs, putting the Hawks down by two. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Hornig knocked a double off Radunich and was driven in on a single by Frank Volpi. The Oaks won the game, 3-2, but Hornig accounted for all of the Hawks’ runs while facing a much more experienced and talented team. Despite the way his season commenced with Spokane in 1937, his showing against the league was punctuated by his performance against the Oaks at the close of it.

The 1938 season should have been a year of moving upward for Hornig and apparently he saw his 1937 success as grounds for an increase in salary with Spokane. Rather than signing his contract after the new year began, he returned it without a signature and demanded higher compensation. His contract holdout lasted into April but he did report to camp with acceptable contract terms. Hornig’s season did not start well. He struggled at the plate and saw some defensive woes that included a May 10 three-error game. On June 6, he suffered a broken bone in his ankle that sidelined him through the end of August. Along with being out of the line-up due to an injury, Hornig was again suspended by DeViveiros for an undisclosed infraction. Just as the 1938 season was winding down, Hornig returned to the lineup on August 31, though too late to help Spokane climb in the standings.

Troubles continued to follow Bobby Hornig in 1939. At spring training in Anaheim, California, progressed, Hornig was experiencing difficulties with the ankle that he had injured in June of the previous season. His speed in the outfield and on the base paths escaped him and manager DeViveiros ordered him to take it easy , sending him back to Spokane for rest. During an April pre-season game against Washington State College, Hornig injured one of his big toes. Despite his physical challenges, Hornig’s bat returned to form and he found his .290 batting average ranked fourth on the Spokane roster behind Dwight Aden (.386), Theodore Clawitter (.333) and Levi McCormack (.304). Hornig was also leading the WIL in sacrifices (14) and was ranked third with stolen bases (21) by the last week of July.

In June, Hornig married his high school sweetheart, Ruth H. Totten, at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Seattle. According to the 2003 Seattle Times article, Hornig’s future bride resided across the street from a ball field in Seattle’s Queen Anne neighborhood.  Ruth would walk her dog through the park “trying to get noticed” by the boys (including Hornig) playing baseball. Bobby did notice her and they dated throughout high school.

In her article, Times reporter Emily Heffter quotes Hornig’s widow, Ruth, as she commented about her husband’s baseball career. “He could have made it in the ‘big leagues,’” Ruth Hornig said, but “romance interfered with him, I think.” Perhaps his romantic life was behind some of his challenges in baseball. Just a few weeks after his wedding, Hornig was again suspended by Spokane and removed from the team’s roster entirely. In need of consistency, new manager Eddie Leishman (DeViveiros was fired on July 3 due to developing friction with the team’s business manager), recently promoted from the class “C” Twin Falls Cowboys (Pioneer League), called up 37-year-old former major league veteran Wes “Two Gun” Schulmerich, who was previously playing for him at Twin Falls. According to articles in the Spokane Spokesman Review between July 27-29, Hornig was refusing his assignment and faced being declared ineligible to play professional baseball that season. Three days after suspending Hornig, Spokane owner Bill Ulrich delivered an ultimatum, directing the outfielder to report to Twin Falls in seven days. Ulrich guaranteed the player’s salary at Twin Falls, stating that despite the Pioneer League rules limiting pay, he would provide Hornig with a bonus to make up the difference. Ulrich also offered Hornig a chance to work his way back to the Hawks’ roster. Hornig was instead hoping to obtain his release from the club in an attempt to sign with another Western International League team and did not comply with the reassignment.

Out of baseball since late July, 1939, and without a 1940 season contract, Hornig remained the property of the Spokane Hawks due to baseball’s Reserve Clause and in mid-February sought a return to the game. He sent a letter to the club requesting reinstatement. Hornig’s exit from the game seemingly burned bridges with the team’s field manager, Leishman, who criticized the fallen outfielder as being more interested in his paycheck than the game itself. Such a trait was directly at odds with Leishman’s managerial style. On March 23, Spokane began shopping Hornig following the player’s month-long contract holdout.  The outfielder dispatched a letter to the club requesting a salary increase or his release, despite being reinstated by Spokane in February at his request. Branded a “problem child” by the Spokane Chronicle, the Hawks unsuccessfully shopped Hornig to other Western International League clubs, prompting Hornig to apply for voluntary retirement.  In Hornig’s letter to the club he stated that he was considering giving up baseball in favor of a job in Seattle that would provide a better income than he was getting playing the game. His 1940 season was finished before it ever got started and at this point, his baseball career appeared to have ended.

Despite his injuries and disciplinary challenges, the 24-year-old outfielder still had a lot of baseball left in him. Ahead of the 1941 season’s spring training, Hornig again sent a mid-February letter to the Spokane Hawks team and to Judge William G. Branham, president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues, seeking reinstatement. Spokane was required to tender a professional baseball contract following reinstatement but they had no plans beyond evaluating Hornig’s viability for the 1941 season. With the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 affecting baseball clubs at all levels, the Hawks, like all other clubs, were in need of players. The Hawks’ management determined that if Hornig was not a good fit for Spokane, he could have value to other Western International League clubs. Instead of accepting the terms of his contract, Hornig infuriated team management with another holdout. Spokane eventually found a taker in the league and dealt Hornig to the Salem (Oregon) Senators. Having appeared in only four games for Salem since his trade, Hornig was granted his outright release.  His professional baseball career was over.

The Pacific Coast League featured talent drawn from the sandlots, high schools, colleges and semi-professional teams within the neighborhoods surrounding each franchise. With the popularity of the hometown Seattle Rainiers (a founding club of the league) and the game itself, it is no wonder that the region incubated some of the best talent, such as Earl Averill, Fred Hutchinson, Charley Schanz, Mike Budnick, Don White, Levi McCormack and Edo Vanni all of whom saw time in the Coast League. Lower minor leagues such as the Western International and Pioneer leagues farmed talent almost exclusively from their own backyards. During his time as a professional, Hornig played alongside or against some of these men. After December 7, 1941, baseball changed and Hornig’s baseball fortunes were about to change.

After being released by Salem, Hornig went to work operating a printing press for Tacoma-based Pioneer, Inc. and supported his wife. Hornig was working not too far from where his baseball career began with the Tacoma Tigers. His post-season occupation in 1941 became his post-baseball occupation. With the U.S. drawn into the war with Japan and Germany, there was no doubt that Hornig would be called to duty at some point, having registered for the draft in October of 1940. Rather than making another attempt at a baseball career, Hornig instead enlisted in the U.S. Navy on April 18, 1942, as a Seaman 1/c in the V-6 program (Naval Reserve) and was assigned to Naval Air Station Seattle at Sand Point.

In addition to NAS Seattle/Pasco’s Edo Vanni, the 1941 Seattle Rainiers squad had several players who served during the War. Shown are (front row, left to right): Al Niemic, Ned Stickle, Edo Vanni, Jo-Jo White, Bill Skiff (manger), Taylor, Lynn King, Dick Barrett, Spence Harris. Middle row: Richards (trainer), Charles Fallon, Hal Turpin, George Farrell, Earl Averill, Les Scarsella, Ed Cole, Lloyd Brown, Bill Matheson. Back row: Paul Gregory, Boze Berger, Costello, Dewey Soriano, Bill Lawrence, Les Webber, Bob Collins, Ira Scribner, Syl Johnson. Seated:  Jimmy Arcorace, bat boy (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).

It was known that former major league great and manager of the Great Lakes Naval Training Station Bluejackets, Mickey Cochrane, was known for reaching out to his fellow major leaguers to recruit them for wartime naval service and the potential to play for his team. Perhaps this happened in Seattle as former Rainier star Edo Vanni was designated as the manager or the Naval Air Station (NAS) Seattle “Flyers” baseball team in early 1942. Vanni enlisted on February 11, 1942, as a seaman first class and was attached to the U.S. Naval Reserve Aviation Base command at Naval Air Station Seattle (located at Sand Point). In a similar fashion to Mickey Cochrane at Great Lakes, Vanni began building a baseball team of former professionals who enlisted in the local Puget Sound region. With players from the Pacific Coast League (Hollywood, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle), Western International League (Lewiston, Spokane, and Tacoma) and from Augusta, Mobile, Montreal, Sherbrooke, Tucson, Tulsa and Winston-Salem, a former professional baseball player filled all but one NAS Seattle Flyer roster spot. One of Vanni’s Flyer outfielders was “Chief” Levi McCormack, his former teammate with the 1938 Seattle Rainiers. McCormack had also been in the Spokane Hawks’ outfield with Hornig, and thus he might have   been a factor in Hornig landing a roster spot. Two years his junior, Vanni most likely remembered Hornig from their time together at Queen Anne High School.

1942 Naval Air Station Seattle/Pasco Flyers:

Rank	Name	Position	Former
	Bob Alf		(NWL)
	Dan “Danny” Amaral	OF	Portland (PCL)
	Steve Ananicz	C	Sherbrooke (QUPL)
	Harold V. “Hunk” Anderson	P	Spokane (WIL)
	Edson “Ed” Bahr	P	Augusta (SALL)
S1/c	Francis J. Bellows	SS	Spokane (WIL)
	Johnny Bittner	P	Hollywood (PCL)
	Lindsay Brown	SS	Portland (PCL)
	Mel Cole	2B, C	Tacoma (WIL)
	Danny Escobar	1B/OF	Portland (PCL)
	Fred Gay	P	Hollywood (PCL)
S1/c	Bobby “Bob” Hornig	OF	Spokane (WIL)
	Paul Irvin	LHP	Portland (PCL)
	Bob Kahle	3B	Hollywood (PCL)
	Henry Martinez	3B/2B	Portland (PCL)
S1/c	“Chief” Levi McCormack	OF/P	Spokane (WIL)
	Elmer “Ole” Olsen	OF	Bakersfield (CALL)
Ens.	Kenneth Peters	Coach/2B	Mobile (SL)
	Stan Riedle	C	Lewiston (WIL)
	Barney Saffle		Semi-Pro
	Rube Sandstrom	P	Tacoma (WIL)
	Bill “Scoppy” Scoppatone	OF	Winston-Salem (PIED)
	Joe Spadafore	1B	Tacoma (WIL)
	Harvey Storey	OF	Tulsa (TL)
S1/c	Edo Vanni	Mgr/ OF/P	Seattle (PCL)
	Don White	OF	San Francisco (PCL)
	Al Wright	2B	Portland (PCL)

With the 1942 season well underway for the Northwest Region, NAS Seattle began to emerge as the league leader. The Flyers dominated the competition by breaking out with a 25-game win streak. It cemented them for the post-season by placing them out in front as the team to beat.  Not only did the Flyers face service teams such as Coast Guard Repair Yard Seattle, Fort Lewis Warriors and McChord Bombers, they matched up against professional clubs such as the Tacoma Tigers and Spokane Chiefs (WIL) and the San Francisco Seals, Oakland Oaks, Portland Beavers and Seattle Rainiers (PCL). On Sunday, July 12, the Flyers’ 25-game win streak was halted when they were downed 7-6 by the hometown Seattle Rainiers, who were on their way to securing their third consecutive Pacific Coast League crown. No doubt seeking to outperform his former team, NAS Seattle Flyers’ manager Edo Vanni, a member of the Rainiers championship clubs in 1940 and ’41, was managing from the visitor’s dugout. Vanni was joined by “Chief” Levi McCormack, who began his professional career with the Seattle club in 1936 when they were still named “Indians.” McCormack’s moniker, which today would seem to be derogatory, was truly fitting considering the former Washington State Cougar player was actually Nez Perce Indian royalty:

“You ball fans have become accustomed to calling Levi, “Chief” McCormick,” said Abel Grant, uncle of the ball star, yesterday. “While you are referring to him with that title, you fans don’t know how true the appellation is. Levi is my nephew, a son of my sister. His father is a direct descendant of Chief Timothy of the Nez Perces, one of the best friends of the early white settlers. On his mother’s side he is a direct descendant of Chief Joseph, in fact Levi is a member of the fourth generation descended from the old chief. He goes to the Coast league with our best wishes.” – Lewiston Morning Tribune, Monday, July 20, 1936

The Flyers were in control of the 1942 season with pitching and offense.  Through July, the Flyers team batting average was .406, led by outfielder Edo Vanni (.516) first baseman Danny Escobar (.482), second baseman Mel Cole (.470), catcher Steve Ananicz (.435), outfielders Bobby Hornig (.425) Levi McCormack (.425), shortstop Francis Bellows (.410), and third baseman Don White (.406).

In early August, the Navy packed up and relocated the entire Naval Air Station Seattle Flyers squad 220 miles southeast to the small town of Pasco, Washington, to be based at the newly commissioned Naval Air Station situated at the Pasco Airport (known today as the Tri-Cities Airport). The move and added travel distance to away games on the west side of the Cascades didn’t diminish their abilities. Later that month, the Seattle Rainiers hosted the Flyers for a fund-raising exhibition game to outfit the sailors with athletic equipment at their new station.

At the end of the 1942 season, two teams were standing at the top of the Northwest Service League and vying for the title. In the best of three series scheduled to be played at Tacoma, Spokane and Seattle (if necessary), the NAS Pasco Flyers were set to face the Warriors of Fort Lewis, led by former major leaguer, Morrie Arnovich.  Game one turned out to be an offensive showdown with a game-winning home run by McCormack to cap the 11-8 victory. The second game turned out to be the decider as Vanni started John Bittner, who pitched a nine-inning, 7-hit shutout against the Warriors. All but two of the 10 Flyers batters managed hits against Fort Lewis’ former Vancouver Capilanos (WIL) pitcher and Tacoma native, Cy Greenlaw. Bobby Hornig spelled starting right fielder Don White in the eighth inning, copped a base hit and made a spectacular running catch in the top of the ninth to rob Arnovich of his third hit of the game. With the 8-0 win, the Flyers claimed the first Northwest Service League championship.

With the NAS Pasco Flyers’ roster relatively unchanged, there was no reason to expect anything different from the 1942 season to 1943. The addition of local pitching product and veteran of the Spokane Indians (WIL) and Seattle Rainiers, Mike Budnick, helped the Flyers to resume their dominance from the previous season. “Pasco’s club is generally rated as one of the toughest service aggregations in the west,” the Spokane Spokesman Review published June 24, 1943, “and has been dumping some of the best teams available this year including the San Diego Padres (PCL). On June 6, the Flyers downed the Ephrata Army Air Base team, 21-2. The “fleet-footed” Bobby Hornig was the subject of a Spokane Chronicle feature touting his return to the area’s Ferris Field as the Flyers visited to take on the Army’s Geiger Field Indians. He was clearly a favorite of the local fans.

1943 Naval Air Station Pasco Flyers:

Rank	Name	Position	Former
	Dan “Danny” Amaral	OF	Portland (PCL)
	Steve Ananicz	C	Sherbrooke (QUPL)
	Harold V. “Hunk” Anderson	P	Spokane (WIL)
	Edson “Ed” Bahr	P	Augusta (SALL)
	Baker	RF
	Johnny Bittner	P	Hollywood (PCL)
	Lindsay Brown	SS	Portland (PCL)
	Mike Budnick	P	Seattle (PCL)
	Mel Cole	2B, C	Tacoma (WIL)
	Danny Escobar	OF	Portland (PCL)
	Fred Gay	P	Hollywood (PCL)
	Marv Harshman	1B	PLU
S1/c	Bobby “Bob” Hornig	CF	Spokane (WIL)
	Bob Kahle	IF	Hollywood (PCL)
	Matry Martinez	2B	Spokane (WIL)
	“Chief” Levi McCormack	OF	Spokane (WIL)
	Pesky	P
Ens.	Ken Peters	OIC	Cardinals
	Peters	2B
	Bill “Scoppy” Scoppatone	RF	Winston-Salem (PIED)
	Harvey Storey	SS	Tulsa (TL)
	Edo Vanni	OF/MGR	Seattle (PCL)
	Don White	OF/3B	WIL/PCL

Pasco was unmatched in the A.W.O.L. league as the Flyers dispatched the competition with relative ease. On June 30, former Hollywood Stars pitcher Fred Gay pitched as the club administered a 12-2 drubbing of an Army All-Star team in Walla Walla. For Independence Day, Pasco faced a hand-picked squad of the region’s top Army ball players, led by former Browns, White Sox and Athletics pitcher, Camp Adair’s Sergeant Jack Knott (up from the Corvallis, Oregon Army base), at the Seattle Rainiers’ home field, Sick’s Stadium, dropping them 3-1. Pasco posed fierce competition to professional clubs.

The Pasco Flyers were steamrolling the competition in their league and in the region. By July 9, the team had a two-season combined record of 62-7. The war was still progressing and the needs of the Navy intervened, ending the Pasco Flyer’s 1943 campaign. The order was immediate and the players were reassigned to various naval units to prepare for sea service duties and to vacate base facilities as NAS Pasco was being transformed into a naval station predominantly for WAVES (Women Accepted for Volunteer Service).

Many of the Pasco Flyers saw overseas duty. “Hunk” Anderson saw action in the Philippines. Chief Levi McCormack served in the South Pacific. Manager Edo Vanni was sent to Naval Air Station Jacksonville, where he played centerfield for another “Flyers” team (along with his former Pasco pitcher, Johnny Bittner) before completing his Navy career playing for the Hellcats of the Naval Air Technical Training Center in Memphis, Tennessee.  After a stint with the Bainbridge Naval Training Station Commodores   baseball team,  Mike Budnick found his way to Hawaii and was tagged by Bill Dickey to join the 1945 Western Pacific baseball tour, playing with such stars as Pee Wee Reese, Johnny Mize, Barney McCosky, Elbie Fletcher, Joe Grace, Johnny Vander Meer, Virgil Trucks, Al Brancato and Mickey Vernon.

According to Seattle Times reporter Emily Heffter’s article, Bobby Hornig was reassigned to the South Pacific and served “as a picket-boat commander from 1941-1945.” With the reporter’s dates being inaccurate, the potential exists for other inaccuracies surrounding Hornig’s post -NAS Pasco duty assignment. Unfortunately, research sources could not be located to pinpoint Hornig’s service from July of 1943 until the end of the war.

Following the Japanese surrender and VJ-Day, troops began to return to the States to be separated from the service. With all of the adaptations, adjustments and roster moves that occurred within the major and minor leagues, the returning ballplayers had some guarantees for earning their positions back but were faced with new challenges in resuming their baseball careers. For men like Hornig who had already retired well before the United States’ entry into the war, there were no guarantees. Hornig returned home with baseball behind him. His professional baseball career was behind him as he pursued a worthwhile career with Pacific Bell instead.

However, in 1946 baseball turned tragic for some of Hornig’s former NAS Pasco teammates and for his former professional club, the Spokane Indians. In the worst accident in professional baseball history, eight members of the Spokane team were killed, including the team’s manager, Mel Cole (who played second base and caught for the NAS Pasco Flyers), when their team bus was sideswiped by an oncoming sedan four miles west of Snoqualmie Pass summit. The bus rolled 350 feet down the mountainside, ejecting many of the men before resting on a large rock outcropping, where the vehicle caught fire. Five of the eight players perished at the scene. Hornig’s Spokane and Navy teammate, “Chief” Levi McCormack, was injured but survived.

 

See: Wayback Machine: Baseball Hero Pride of Nez Perce

Striking the Drum: a Mid-1940s Jersey from the USS Timbalier

On the heels of the acquisition of a lifetime, a uniform group that formerly belonged to a USS Phoenix (CL-46) veteran, it is hard to imagine that there are other jerseys that could draw our attention. Granted, there is a bit of a comedown once such a treasure is added to our collection. It does not diminish our interest in seeking out other service team artifacts, however.

When a colleague turned our attention to an auction listing for a vintage flannel jersey that he was considering for a project, its design was instantly recognizable as it was consistent with wartime Navy ship baseball team uniforms. Details such as the color, font and size of the athletic felt lettering and how they are arched across the chest of the jersey align precisely to what we have seen on other ship team jerseys. From the cut of the torso, the set-in sleeves and the thin navy blue soutache that encircles the collar and adorns the button-placket (and sleeve cuffs) to the cat-eye buttons and the sun collar, this jersey is reminiscent of many other wartime U.S. Navy baseball uniform tops used for warship teams.

USS Timbalier (AVP-54) in Puget Sound, 22 May 1946, two days before commissioning (US Navy Photo).

In performing some due diligence for my colleague, we were not at all certain that the jersey was one of a Navy ship baseball team. A cursory search of the name on the jersey’s front returned scant results. Ranked third in the search results behind a nine-year-old oil and gas industry company and a Gulf Coast of Louisiana barrier island was the U.S. Navy warship bearing the name on the jersey.

T I M B A L I E R (French: timpanist; timpani player; kettledrummer)

Timbalier (AVP-54) being christened by Mrs. S. B. Dunlap during launching ceremonies, 18 April 1943, at Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton, WA (US Navy Photo).

The ship, USS Timbalier (AVP-54), was a Barnegat-class seaplane tender that was named for Timbalier Bay, which lies to the north of Timbalier Island and is partially enclosed by its north shore. Timbalier Island (which is uninhabited), considered one of Louisiana’s barrier islands, is located 75 miles west of the mouth of the Mississippi River. The seaplane tender was authorized by Congress in the months following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. AVP-54’s keel was laid on November 9, 1942 at the Lake Washington Shipyard (near present-day Kirkland, Washington) on the eastern shore of the large lake. Construction proceeded slowly at the small shipyard, prompting Navy leaders to transfer the unfinished vessel to Puget Sound Navy Yard (known today as Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Washington) in early 1944. Sixteen months later, the vessel, still incomplete, was moved back to the Lake Washington Shipyard facilities and would not be completed until the spring of the following year, eight months after the unconditional surrender of Japan and the end of World War II.

Timbalier (AVP-54) launching, 18 April 1943, at Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton, WA (US Navy Photo).

Timbalier (AVP-54) nearest pier 6-A and inboard of Valcour (AVP-55) at Puget Sound Navy Yard, 10 January 1945. The two AVPs were built at Lake Washington Shipyards, Houghton, WA. and towed to the Navy Yard for completion. Timbalier was eventually towed back to the Lake Washington Shipyards and completed there while Valcour was completed at Bremerton Navy Yard. The photo is taken from the flight deck of USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14). That ship was having 20mm galleries relocated from the aft end of the flight deck to the sides (US Navy Photo).

Most of the Navy ship jerseys that we have seen in vintage photographs, other collections or listed for sale), aside from featuring the ship’s name spelled out in athletic felt lettering across the chest, also include “U.S.S.,” indicating the vessel as the Navy’s “United States Ship”. This Timbalier jersey lacks the designation. One may ask, “In the absence of the specific designation, what then indicates this jersey as originating from the USS Timbalier?”

USS Timbalier (AVP-54) tending two Martin PBM-3D Mariner seaplanes in the months following the end of World War II (US Navy Photo).

Directly obtaining an artifact from the person who used or wore it is the most ironclad provenance that one can receive. In the absence of such proof, analysis and research is required to either rule out or validate the authenticity of an item.  There are several aspects of the Timbalier jersey that we analyzed that helped us arrive at our assessment that this jersey was from the ship.

1. Dating the design of the jersey
2. Button style
3. Athletic felt lettering and numerals
4. Analysis of the manufacturer’s tag or label

The cut of the body of the jersey is aligned with others from the early-to-mid 1940s with such features as nine-1/2-inch long, set-in sleeves and a tall sun-collar.  The gray wool is heavy and substantive. The five buttons are of the larger, convex cat eye variety that were common on many wartime service team baseball jerseys. The navy blue athletic felt lettering and numerals are applied with a straight stitch.

Given these design factors alone, the jersey falls into line with the 1945-46 timeline and certainly conforms to the date when the ship was commissioned. The information on the manufacturer’s tag, “Northrop Sports Shop Inc., Norfolk, Virginia”), in our opinion solidifies the assessment that the jersey is from the USS Timbalier. After the ship was placed into commission, she began her shakedown as she made her way south from Washington State. Following stops in California, the Timbalier headed for the East Coast, where her homeport assignment was located, by way of the Panama Canal. USS Timbalier spent three months at New York Naval Shipyard (formerly known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard) for her post-shakedown maintenance before transiting to her home port at Norfolk.

Since the ship most likely had her Norfolk, Virginia, home port assignment prior to her commissioning date, it is a safe assessment that the ship’s athletic equipment was sourced through the Norfolk Navy supply system. Furthermore, the lack of the “U.S.S.” lettering is possibly due to acquisition and initial use predating the ship’s date of commissioning (when she became a United States Ship).

Another aspect of research that must be considered is that the jersey could have been used by a collegiate, scholastic or even a semi-professional team, which prompted a considerable effort to find any possibilities. Conducting numerous searches through several research resources, we were unable to locate even a remote possibility of an alternative baseball team.

Heavily discolored by dirt and nicotine, the USS Timbalier jersey has a brown appearance rather than gray (image source: eBay photo).

In this side view, the vertical brown stains are quite visible as they are significantly darker than the overall discoloration of the jersey (image source: eBay photo).

This view of the back of the USS Timbalier jersey shows greater discoloration on the upper portion (image source: eBay photo).

Upon withdrawing our newly acquired USS Timbalier jersey from its shipping packaging, it became readily apparent that it required cleaning. The gray wool flannel was discolored to a brown tone with heavy streaks of soiling. The sun collar had even darker brown staining from body oils and sweat due to contact with skin at the player’s neck. The odor that was emanating from the jersey was an overpowering musty smell combined with old tobacco fetor.

After just a few hours of gentle agitation and soaking, the cleaning solution was heavily discolored and clouded by the filth released from the fibers of the USS Timbalier jersey

Following the same cleaning procedure that we employed for our heavily-soiled USS Phoenix jersey, we immediately submersed the USS Timbalier jersey into the proper mixture of warm water and delicate-textile cleaning solution. Almost as soon as the jersey entered the liquid, the dirt began to release from the fibers, causing the soapy-water to discolor and grow cloudy. After nearly four hours of soaking and gentle agitation, the water was so discolored that our plans needed to be modified. Rather than letting the jersey soak overnight in the filthy solution, the decision was made to pour out the dirty water, rinse and wash a second time.

Showing the button placket, narrow soutache and the athletic felt lettering, all of the features affirm our age-assessment of this jersey as being made in the mid-1940s.

This view shows how the soutache encircles the collar and disappears beneath the button placket. The navy blue athletic felt lettering is applied with a WWII-era straight stitch.

Applied with commonly-used WWII-era straight stitching, the condition of the athletic felt lettering is outstanding.

After being overnight in the solution and getting a thorough rinsing, the jersey was significantly improved, as was discernible by both the visual and olfactory senses. The flannel was laid out flat on towels beneath a ceiling fan to dry to a slight dampness before moving outdoors for final air-drying.

A trifecta of Navy jerseys; basking in the evening sun, recent arrivals to the Chevrons and Diamonds Collection including the USS Timbalier flannel shown together. The pinstriped 1944 “NAVY”flannel is the subject of a future Chevrons and Diamonds article.

With the drying complete, the USS Timbalier flannel is now ready for display among our other baseball and military artifacts. With four Navy baseball jersey additions in the same number of months, we are astounded by the flood of these items to the collector market.

 

Further Reading:

• USS Timbalier (AVP-54) – VP Navy.org
• USS Timbalier (AVP-54) History – Navsource.org
• USS Timbalier (AVP-54) Major Deployments – Hullnumber.com
• East Timbalier Island: ‘It’s too far gone’: Old oil wells and pipelines doom big effort to save this Louisiana island
• Timbalier Islands Restoration