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

 

A Diamond for a Midway Hero

One of my favorite personal accounts of World War II is found in Ensign George Gay’s autobiography, Sole Survivor: Torpedo Squadron Eight – Battle of Midway written by the only person of 30 naval aviators and crew of USS Hornet’s (CV-8) Torpedo Squadron Eight (VT-8) that launched from the carrier to survive the first attack on the Japanese carries during the initial assault. Ensign George Gay would watch the entirety of the battle floating in the water after having ditched his Douglas TBD Devastator after being damaged by enemy fire. The story was harrowing as U.S. Naval air forces from the three carriers, which included the Enterprise (CV-6) and Yorktown (CV-5), executed the initial attack on the Imperial Japanese Navy forces and were devastated in the process.

Lieutenant Commander John Charles Waldron, USN, poses in front of a Douglas TBD-1 “Devastator” of Torpedo Squadron Eight, circa 1942, USS Hornet.

While the Battle of Midway was a victory for the United States and the turning point of the war in the Pacific (placing the Japanese on the defensive until their unconditional surrender in 1945), it was a massive gamble and if things had gone differently, the entire West Coast and what remained of the United States Pacific territories would have been left wholly unprotected from the advancing Japanese navy. Nimitz’ battle paid off as did those of the men who actually carried the battle to the Japanese.

The story of VT-8 would otherwise be one of failure as Lieutenant Commander John C. Waldron carried the battle to the Japanese and in doing so, had disobeyed the orders of his commanding officer and that of Hornet’s skipper, Marc Mitscher regarding which heading he was to proceed upon takeoff. Once airborne, LCDR Waldron changed direction (but failed to get the entire attacking force to follow), following his best assessment of where the enemy would be. Once his VT-8 squadron arrived, they were without American fighter protection and were cut to pieced by both Japanese fighters and shipboard anti-air gunnery. However, once the other squadrons of American torpedo and dive-bomber planes arrived, the Japanese fighters were out of position (having dropped down to engage VT-8.  As a result of the lack of cover, the Japanese carriers were exposed for the American dive bombers (from squadrons VB-6, VS-6 and VB-3) to attack with success, destroying three Japanese carriers within six minutes of the commencement of their attack.

There were several men who played key roles in the success of the attack on the Japanese naval forces and there were decisions made with extremely high risk of failure that could have ended up in disaster but the gambles paid off. Many valor decorations were awarded for the actions spanning the dates of June 4-7, 1942 including the Navy Cross LCDR Waldron received (along with the 14 other VT-8 pilots). His citation reads:

The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Lieutenant Commander John Charles Waldron (NSN: 0-58825), United States Navy, for extraordinary heroism in operations against the enemy while serving as Pilot of a carrier-based Navy Torpedo Plane and Commanding Officer of Torpedo Squadron EIGHT (VT-8), attached to the U.S.S. HORNET (CV-8), during the “Air Battle of Midway,” against enemy Japanese forces on 4 June 1942. Grimly aware of the hazardous consequences of flying without fighter protection, and with insufficient fuel to return to his carrier, Lieutenant Commander Waldron resolutely, and with no thought of his own life, led his squadron in an effective torpedo attack against violent assaults of enemy Japanese aircraft fire. His courageous action, carried out with a gallant spirit of self-sacrifice and a conscientious devotion to the fulfillment of his mission, was a determining factor in the defeat of the enemy forces and was in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

Waldron’s leadership in trying moments (his pre-flight orders and his decision to attack without fighter cover) was heroic and he was so honored with the Navy’s highest, decoration (short of the Medal of Honor). As a naval aviator, his name was further esteemed when the Navy bestowed the aviator’s name upon a Naval Auxiliary Air Field (NAAF) near Naval Air Station Corpus Christi.  NAAF Waldron was commissioned on April 1, 1943, ten months after the decorated aviator was shot down during the Midway battle. NAAF Waldron was established as a training base to develop, (appropriately) torpedo bomber pilots, continuing the education for naval aviation cadets. In addition to the naval training facilities constructed on the base, the need for these men to enjoy recreational downtime during their intense and rigorous training  necessitated the construction of athletic areas and resources. As baseball was (and still is) our national pastime, fields and diamonds were built and leagues teams were established for active duty personnel as had been established at other naval training facilities (Norfolk, Chapel Hill, Fort Belvoir, Camp Pendleton and in Hawaii).

The Waldron team of 1944 included major leaguers such as Johnny Sain (front row, 4th from the left) and Sam Chapman (front row, 3rd from the right). The team is posed in front of what appears to be an SNB-2 Beechcraft (navigation trainer) wearing their home uniforms (image source: Baseballinwartime.com).

As with many other bases during WWII, NAAF (sometimes referred to as Naval Air Station – NAS) Waldron fielded a team of aviation cadets. At least two  filling the roster of the Waldron team were veterans of the major leagues (Sam Chapman, a rising star outfielder of the Philadelphia Athletics and the Boston Braves’ pitcher, Johnny Sain). As of this publication date, there are no available records to research regarding games, game logs, wins or losses or complete rosters for the duration of the war.

The two-color (red over blue) soutache encircles the collar and the sleeve cuffs.

This gray wool flannel jersey was used by the baseball team from the Waldron Naval Aviation Auxiliary Field (NAAF) near Naval Air Station Corpus Cristi.

My pursuit of military baseball uniforms (especially jerseys) is well-documented on this site. When a jersey bearing the Waldron name was listed at auction last fall, my interest was piqued, prompting me to begin researching the uniform in an attempt to validate the seller’s claims.

“RARE Waldron Field Baseball Jersey World War II NAS M-41 M-43 President Bush??

Do you like World War II-era items? Do you like baseball?

Then here’s your chance at acquiring the best of both worlds!

Bid on or buy this EXTREMELY RARE Corpus Christi Waldron Field Naval Air Station Baseball Jersey from the days of World War II 

Old heavy flannel made in Louisiana for the Texas team.

This really belongs in a military or sports museum. Give it a good home.

MORE RARE than a combat-worn M-41 or M-43 jacket

HOW RARE??? There are 20-25 players to a team, plus a handful of coaches = NOT MANY JERSEYS!

GOOD LUCK FINDING ANOTHER!”

Waldron NAAF was built as a satellite airfield in 1943 for nearby Corpus Christi Naval Air Station (National Archives Photograph, 1943).

The listing and the photos were captivating and soon I was performing due diligence in determining of the seller’s claims were valid. Prior to seeing the auction, I had no idea if a “Corpus Christi Waldron Naval Air Station” base in existence or if there ever was one. I seldom get buoyed by the attempts to fuel emotional responses so I immediately disregarded all of the other information that the seller provided. I also took note that there was no mention of any provenance or if it was associated with any estates. One off-putting aspect of the listing was that the asking price was well above what these jerseys typically sell for. Often times, sellers will initially list them at a high buy-it-now and initial bid amount as they are hopeful that there would be a knee-jerk, trigger-pull response to bidding. The lack of interest at such a high price will prompt the seller to enter into a cycle of re-listing, reducing the price each time. In this case, I watched this happen twice and then decided to contact the seller at the end of the second listing.

My researching of the jersey led me to the information about the Waldron Naval Auxiliary Air Field and subsequently, the photo (shown above) of the ball club in uniform. While my research wasn’t conclusive in terms of confirming that the seller’s Waldron jersey was, in fact from this team, I was able to rule out every high school named “Waldron.” Also, the lettering of the auction jersey, made of road gray wool flannel and a two-color (blue and red) soutache trimmed around the placard and the sleeve cuffs. Also, the jersey’s design was representative of the early-to-mid 1940s and the “W A L D R O N” lettering was applied to this jersey exactly as it is in the NAAF team photo (seen above).

Unlike many WWII-era jerseys, this uniform is stitched with cotton block lettering.

Armed with my information and not wanting to tip my cards to the seller that I was really interested, I did pass along to him the sale-price history of similar military jerseys for the last few months and years. After some back-and-forth dialogue, we were able to negotiate a fair price for the jersey but I needed to wait a week to be able to pay the price (this was getting close to the Christmas holidays and my budget was very restricted). When I was ready and the appointed day arrived to execute the deal we struck…nothing. The seller re-listed the jersey for a significantly higher (than the initial listing price). After further correspondence in attempting to ascertain what went wrong, I realized that I was best to simply let go of the transaction and see what would happen with the auction.

A large numeral made from the same material as the lettering is affixed on the jersey’s back.

As I predicted to my wife, the jersey did not sell and the auction ended. Weeks rolled by into nearly two months since that latest listing when he made another attempt. This time, the seller included a “best offer” functionality to the listing and I submitted the same price as what was negotiated more than two months prior. The seller countered my offer (it was reasonable, if unethical…but who am I to argue? I really wanted to have the jersey) and I accepted and quickly paid the seller. What happened next perplexed me. The seller sent a message to inform me of the anticipated date of shipment, ” This will ship by Saturday. Enjoy,” he wrote. “And please let me know what you get for this when you re-sell it. I’m curious what you’ve got here,” his closing sentence left me perplexed. Did he honestly think that I spent more than three months of effort and energy just to turn around and flip it for profit – considering he was wholly unable to do this? After follow-up discussion, I informed him of my efforts and he satisfactorily explained himself further but I was still scratching my head. It was the first time that a seller made such a comment to me in more than 500 transactions spanning 17 years.

The jersey arrived as promised and it was fantastic to place this artifact among my (now) eight vintage military baseball jerseys and uniforms.

Author’s Note: World War II was especially difficult for the Waldron Family. Not only did LCDR Waldron’s (ten years-older) sister lose her brother during the Battle of Midway in 1942, but she also lost her youngest son, Major Robert Phillip, USMC, a naval aviator when his aircraft was lost at sea slightly more than a year after her brother was killed. Major Phillip’s aircraft was lost on June 24, 1943 in the waters near Manono Island (Samoa). As devastating as these two losses were, the cost of the war to the Waldron family wasn’t yet finished. Alice Island “Isle” (Waldron) Phillips oldest son, Commander George Phillip Jr. paid with his life during the Battle of Okinawa on 16 June 1945 when the destroyer that he commanded, USS Twiggs (DD_591) was sunk after a Japanese torpedo plane struck the ship with a torpedo then circled back in a kamikaze attack, igniting a mass-conflagration of explosions and flames. The Twiggs sank within an hour and Commander Phillip went down with his ship and 151 other men.