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Threads of Lefty: From Ace Farmhand to the GI World Series, Part I
This is the first of a two-part series: see Part II
After the dust settled following the Leghorn, Italy championship series that saw the All-Stars from European Theater of Operations (ETO) sweep the Mediterranean Command Champions in three games,[1] players returned to their units and awaited their ticket to sail across the Atlantic and be reunited with their families. The final game, played on September 26, 1945, was a 13-3 rout in front of a small crowd of 4,000 GI spectators. The starting pitcher for the ETO team, Ewell Blackwell, was not in peak form, giving up eight hits. “The Whip” hurled a clean game, walking none and striking out six. To commemorate their diamond dominance, Blackwell and his teammates were presented with wrist watches and gold medals by Colonel Roger Whitman in addition to the team’s championship cup.[2]
The ETO team consisted of select players predominantly from the Oise All-Stars from the Communication Zone (COM-Z) command and from the GI World Series losers, the 71st Infantry Division Red Circlers. Led by Oise All-Stars manager and former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher, Sam Nahem, the ETO roster boasted stars including Harry “the Hat” Walker (Cardinals), Maurice Van Robays and Johnny Wyrostek (both Pirates), Blackwell (Reds), Tony Jaros (University of Minnesota) and Jim Gladd (Muskogee, Oklahoma).[3]
As the end of September was fast approaching, the long baseball season was finished. Many of the players who started off with their unit teams were already home ahead of the opening game of the GI World Series. Many of Ewell Blackwell’s 71st Division Red Circlers teammates were gone. The Red Circlers’ post-season roster was a veritable collection of baseball all-stars, an aggregation of men pulled together from several units.
Service personnel stationed throughout the European and the Mediterranean theaters experienced one of the most memorable baseball seasons after the Third Reich was defeated. More than 100,000 troops on hundreds of teams competed in local leagues with the winners advancing through regional championships and getting into the GI World Series and the ETO-MTO Championship series. In those last few rounds, the advancing clubs would raid the rosters of the vanquished opponents for the best players in order to tilt the odds in their favor and be the last team standing.
By the time the Red Circlers reached the GI World Series, their roster included several players from other ETO baseball teams, including the 1st, 5th, 65th and 76thA Infantry Divisions, as well as the 33rd Field Artillery Battalion and 16th Armored Division. Since acquiring in 2012 a scorecard from the August 7-9 Third Army Championship Series, considerable effort has been put forth to fully identify all the players listed for both teams. However, a handful of the names are still being researched with one man, catcher “Tauzlarich,” identified only by his last name[4].
Among the 71st Division unidentified players listed on the Third Army Championship scorecard is a pitcher named “Powell.” Scouring several dozen articles of the 71st within the archives of Stars and Stripes and countless domestic newspapers, no mention is made of Powell or several others on the scorecard roster. Powell’s name appears once again in the late-August 1945 Southern Germany Baseball Championship scorecard[5], again without his first name. After the Red Circlers defeated the 29th Division’s Blues and Grays in the Southern Germany Championship series, they advanced to the GI World Series to face the Oise All-Stars. In all the published game summaries, Powell’s name is never mentioned, indicating that he likely did not appear in any of the five games. Who was Powell?
Through several years of researching for various Chevrons and Diamonds projects, we were able to positively identify most of the players printed on both teams’ rosters in the Third Army Championship scorecard. Powell’s identity still proved to be elusive; however, that was about to change.
Unlike the seemingly unending supply of World War II Pacific Theater game-used baseball militaria, items from the European Theater arrive on the market considerably less frequently. Listings for scorecards from the 1944 Servicemen’s World Series and the 1945 Navy World Series are recurrent throughout each year on popular auction sites. Conversely, in nearly 15 years we have accounted for five scorecards from the 1945 GI World Series games played at Nuremberg Stadium and single examples from preceding championship games played during the post VE-Day season. Pacific Theater vintage baseball photography, though quite rare, is far more easily curated than images from the championship games in Germany.
In 2016, Goldin Auctions listed a 1945 Rawlings-made flannel set that that was attributed to the 1945 season in Germany. In black block felt lettering, “THIRD ARMY” was emblazoned across the chest of the jersey while a chain-stitched 71st Infantry Division unit insignia was sewn onto the left sleeve. The jersey’s manufacturer tag included the player’s name, “Bremer,” hand-inscribed in ink onto the tag. The matching trousers’ tag bore the name of a different player, “Ticco.” Authenticated by Dave Miedema as an authentic mid-1940s uniform, the set sold for more than $2500[6]. As an aside, the disparity of the inscribed names could be due to the player trading for a different size, though the chain of custody from 1945 through 2016 is not known, leaving questions as to how the jersey and trousers became paired (see: 1945 3rd Army Championship Flannel: Red Circlers of the 71st ID).
By defeating the 7th Army’s champion 29th Division and capturing the Third Army Championship crown, the Red Circlers of the 71st Division exchanged their unit togs to wear the Third Army flannels replete with their division insignia adorning the left sleeves. Entering the series with the Red Circlers, the Blue and Grays’ new uniforms featured an oversized, chain-stitched insignia on the left sleeves and the regulation “yin-yang” division insignia[7] patch on the right sleeves.
Wartime service baseball uniforms are truly scarce artifacts. The Third Army champion jersey worn by the 71st Division’s Herb Bremer is the one of few confirmed examples from the 1945 season. To date, no baseball uniforms from the Oise All-Stars, the Twenty-Ninth and Seventy-Sixth Divisions or any other championship teams from the 1945 ETO baseball leagues have surfaced in the last decade.
The Chevrons and Diamonds Collection of service-related baseball artifacts is diverse, with scorecards, programs, vintage photography, personal items, awards, and on-field equipment. Each item in our collection is rich in historic value and serves to tell the story of the game and the part it played in armed forces history. The story of baseball within the ranks of the armed forces is well told through artifacts. No doubt, “one picture is worth a thousand words,” as photographs capture the attention of a wide variety of audiences. However, there is one category of military baseball artifacts that tends to draw the most attention among our viewers, readers or visitors to our public exhibits.
Whether it is a basic uniform with block letters or something far more colorful or elaborate, the visual aesthetic of vintage baseball flannels captures the gaze of almost everyone who spots these treasures. Our collection features nearly 30 examples of service baseball uniforms that date from 1940 to the mid-1950s, though most are World War II era pieces. Some flannels are connected to players who played in the major leagues or to teams that featured former major leaguers, making those artifacts even more significant.
In August 2022, we were made aware of a uniform set consisting of a jersey, trousers, and stirrups along with the owner’s pre-war baseball undershirt from his minor league playing career. Photos of the uniform group showed a brilliant color scheme of red and blue on a cream white base. The jersey and trousers, matching the Lowe and Campbell manufacturer’s tag design, placed the uniform’s age in the early to mid-1940s. The photos of the jersey showed two different sets of numerals. The front athletic felt five-inch “18” was sewn into the left breast while the back featured a seven-inch “15.” Both sets of numerals were three-dimensional red over-blue in appearance. Extending from the sleeve edge to the base of the collar, the jersey was trimmed with a 3/4-inch blue rayon soutache centered and sewn to a two-inch red athletic felt band.
The trousers were adorned with matching trim extending down the out seams of each leg. The wide belt loops were colored in alternating red and blue
Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the uniform was the 3-1/4-inch by 3-inch chain-stitched insignia emblazoned on the left sleeve of the 18th Field Artillery Battalion. With most U.S. Army shoulder sleeve uniform insignia approximately two inches, the oversized insignia adorning the baseball jersey was custom made. Embroidered with gold, red, and blue chain stitched over a royal blue felt shield, the insignia is similar to that of the 71st Infantry and 7th Army baseball uniform patches as well as the 69th Division cap insignia. All these emblems appear to have been sourced from local German embroiderers. The 1945 36th Infantry Division’s “Arrow Heads” had their team uniforms entirely crafted by a local manufacturer in Munich, indicating that the practice of utilizing local European craftsmen was not an uncommon practice for baseball uniform customization.
For more than two decades, this named 18th Field Artillery uniform group has been in the possession of a California-based collector who obtained it directly from the veteran, who was also a former minor league ballplayer. The name of the ballplayer was Lawrence M. “Lefty” Powell, who played professional baseball from 1937 to 1954, with a four-year break from 1941 through 1945 coinciding with World War II.
Larry “Lefty” Powell
Laurence Milton Powell was born on July 14, 1914, in Dinuba, California, a small agricultural community 30 miles southeast of Fresno. He was the second oldest of four sons of Samuel McCutcheon Powell and Ruth Elenor Craven. While all four boys were born in California, their father, a farmer employed in the area’s vineyards, was a native of Kentucky who was born four years after the Confederates’ surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. Born in Yorkshire, England thirty-three years after her husband, Elenor immigrated with her parents and six siblings to the United States in 1899, settling in Fresno.
Larry Powell attended Bradley High School and was a factor in the team winning its division championship[8]. His high school coach, Jack Savory, taught him quite a bit about pitching and Powell carried his winning ways into the semipro ranks with the California State League’s Fresno Tigers in 1936. That season, the 21-year-old Powell caught the eye of the San Francisco Seals and was signed for the 1937 season. Seals manager Frank “Lefty” O’Doul had an opportunity to get a good look at his future hurler during an August 17 exhibition game at Fresno’s Frank Chance Field.[9]
Tucson Cowboys, 1937
After spending spring training in camp with the Seals, Larry Powell was farmed out to the Tucson Cowboys in the Class “D” Arizona-Texas League.[10] Under manager Harry Krause, Powell posted a 14-6 won-loss record in 161 innings. Krause, a longtime Pacific Coast League pitcher with Portland and Oakland, was also a member of the Philadelphia Athletics from 1908 to 1912, including their two World Series championship seasons. No doubt, Krause regaled the young left-handed hurler with stories of Athletics Hall of Fame pitchers Charles Bender and Eddie Plank. By early August, Powell was recalled to San Francisco, though he did not appear in any games that season.[11]
After the end of the 1937 season, San Francisco management considered Powell to be a great prospect who was not yet ready for the highly competitive Coast League. They were seeking to further develop the young pitcher in the low minor leagues. Speculation that fall was that Larry would be destined for the Class “B” Western International League’s Tacoma Tigers.[12] After signing his contract for the 1938 season, Powell reported to the Seals’ camp, though with the team having a full stable of arms, the green Powell was not likely to earn a spot on the San Francisco hurling staff.[13]
Tacoma Tigers, 1938
“Powell really has something and should be a regular,” said Seals public relations director, Walter “Duster” Mails. “He has developed a screw ball which affords him a good assortment with his fast one and change of pace and he should win some big games for us,” Mails continued. “One thing in Powell’s favor is he has the proper disposition to make good,” said the former southpaw pitcher and winner of Game 6 in the 1920 World Series for the Cleveland Indians.[14] Despite the heaps of praise from his Seals pitching coach, Powell was sent to Tacoma.
The 1938 Tacoma Tigers’ pitching staff led the Western International League in fewest runs allowed with a 4.09 per game average. However, the Tigers trailed all teams in both offense and fielding and finished last in the six-team standings. Powell’s second professional season saw him post another winning record at 14-10. In 224 innings, Lefty struck out 230 batters and walked only 86 and was stingy in allowing opponents to score. His earned run average was just 2.77. Towards the end of the season, Powell strung together six consecutive victories.[15]
San Francisco Seals, 1939
Powell’s 1938 season success earned him ascension to the Seals in 1939. On January 8, the lefty signed his contract and was slated to report to spring training.[16] There was excitement about the Seals’ strong pitching staff, which was set to be bolstered by young arms including that of “Lefty” Powell. “Powell is destined to be one of the really great pitchers in baseball,” Seals manager O’Doul told Prescott Sullivan. “He has a fine curve ball, a baffling screw ball, an adequate fast one and an understanding of pitching technique that is astonishing in a kid of his limited experience.” O’Doul astonishingly compared his young lefty to one of the best in the major leagues. “His control, right now, isn’t the best, but it will improve. When he gets that, he’ll be another Carl Hubbell. Mark my words,” O’Doul insisted.[17]
Powell’s 1939 winning percentage was .522 or a game above .500. Looking solely at his 12-11 won-lost record, it would seem that his move to the Coast League was not that successful. However, his 2.79 ERA in 184 innings might have indicated a lack of run support more than pitching ineffectiveness. At the season’s outset, O’Doul predicted that he could easily win 20 games and mature into “one of the league’s best drawing cards.[18]”
The Seals finished 4.5 games behind the Coast League champions that season. Powell’s teammate, Dom DiMaggio, the youngest of the famed baseball brothers, finished the season atop four of the league’s offensive categories: hits (249), triples (18), stolen bases (39) and runs scored (165). Major league clubs took notice of the young centerfielder, which led to the Seals selling their star to the Boston Red Sox on November 3. It was not enough to simply take the outfielder as the Boston brain trust of owner Tom Yawkey and general manager Eddie Collins also wanted the rising star pitcher and purchased the pair in a package deal for an unheard of sub-$100,000 price tag (reported to be in excess of $70,000[19]). Recognizing Powell’s need for continued development, Red Sox management promptly optioned Powell back to San Francisco for the 1940 season.[20]
1940
Powell’s second season with the Seals was not as successful despite his equaling his 1939 12-win total against fewer (7) losses. Powell appeared in seven fewer contests (23) and made three less starts (21). His ERA climbed by nearly a full run to 3.57. For Powell, 1940 was a step in the wrong direction. “The highly touted left hander, who has already been sold for 1941 delivery to the big leagues, has been a distinct flop,” wrote the Oakland Tribune’s Lee Dunbar. “It is true Powell has won more than he lost but has not been at all impressive in his games. The kid looked like a great pitching prospect last year but this season has demonstrated little of the ability that made him a standout 12 months ago.” Dunbar concluded.[21] “Lefty” was having some control problems in the early goings of the season.
By late May, Powell was among the Pacific Coast League’s leading pitchers with a 7-1 won-lost record, but sportswriters continued to observe his diminished brilliance from 1939. “Larry Powell’s defections are more mental than physical, amateur analysts contend,” Abe Kemp wrote. “They argue that the focal point of his trouble lies in his mind and not in his left arm, or left shoulder, as is popularly supposed.”[22] Despite speculations, it was becoming clear that Powell was struggling with a physical issue. Through eight innings in a June 15 game against Los Angeles, Powell, having held the Angels to one hit, was lifted by O’Doul due to arm pain. [23] As the summer continued, the pitcher showed signs of recovering from his ailment. Under the watchful eyes of the visiting Director of Minor League Operations, Herb Pennock, the Seals continued to send the hurler to the mound for scheduled starts in early July. While he notched a win in one game, he was shelled in another.
On July 16, Powell was shut down by Dr. Floyd St. Clair, who stated that he could return in ten days. The doctor explained that “muscles in Powell’s left shoulder were sore but would respond to treatment.”[24] The physician’s comments, by contemporary standards of sports medicine, demonstrated the risks that pitchers faced. “Powell has one of the finest arms that I have ever examined,” Dr. St. Clair boasted to Seals trainer Robert Johnson. “It is an arm that any young man should be proud of.” Unfortunately for Powell, the Seals and the Red Sox, the injury was likely to be considerably more serious and a few days’ rest could not possibly heal the hidden structural damage. “The boy has a sore spot in his left shoulder, but it is nothing alarming,” St. Clair insisted. “Time and rest will restore his arm to normal.”[25]
Sportswriters were not convinced of the doctor’s prognosis nor the pitcher’s prospects of remaining on the Seals’ staff. Art Cohn of the Oakland Tribune suggested that Powell was lost for the season, quoting then baseball historian Bob Hunter of the Los Angeles Examiner, “Stupid handling of Powell as a starting pitcher for the past few weeks hasn’t helped his condition, morale or the Seals,” and then chided the Seals manager, “Are ya listening, Mr. O’Doul?”[26] Cohn’s criticism of O’Doul was just the beginning. Curly Grieve of the San Francisco Examiner rang the alarm bell for Boston to get their star pitcher out of San Francisco In a scathing column on July 28.[27]
Calling Powell’s situation one of the “minor tragedies of the current baseball season,” Curly Grieve meted out blame for Powell’s arm troubles to all involved. Almost excusing Powell’s concealing of his pain due to his fears of accusations of shirking his duties and his status as the property of a major league club, Powell pitched through the pain early in the season. By the time that it became obvious to all concerned that there was a problem, he finally conceded to the team that “something gave way” during a series with the Hollywood Stars. However, Grieve then addressed the failure of medical personnel in what he labeled “another series of semi-tragic incidents.” Citing an early diagnosis from Dr. St. Clair, “There’s nothing wrong with that wing that pitching won’t cure,” Grieve then took aim at the Seals’ management for sending Powell out to the mound repeatedly, referring to the diagnosis as an indictment of Powell, asserting that he was then judged as a “quitter, a bellyacher, a traitor to his club.”[28]
Onward Powell pitched and had some success; however, his health continued to deteriorate as the season progressed. “He lost weight, his health was obviously affected,” Grieve noted. “He broke down completely two weeks ago yesterday. Starting against Seattle, he hurled one and one third innings. By that time, it was evident he had nothing at all on the ball and he was removed.” The psychological impact was exacting a toll upon the pitcher. “On the bench, he wept unashamedly. Tears coursed down his face. He was so distressed that Manager O’Doul had to escort him to the clubhouse and console him.”[29] It was during his second visit to Dr. St. Clair on July 16 that other health issues were observed during Powell’s examination. “It was discovered that two teeth were infected, that the left shoulder muscle was sore.” Powell’s teeth were extracted and he developed a fever. He was subsequently hospitalized as his body was fighting an infection. An abscess in his throat was discovered and it required surgical attention.[30]
Dr. St. Clair’s outlook that “Powell’s arm will give him no more trouble. He’ll be able to take his turn on the mound within fifteen days,” raised even greater concern for Curley Grieve. “Personally, I think it will take him a month to recover from the shock of treatment, build up his health, recover his poise, get his arm into shape. But I’m no expert.” Grieve’s closing comments suggested that Powell’s career and Boston’s investment were doomed if the pitcher remained in San Francisco. “The whole affair has been bungled abominably so far,” the columnist wrote. “If I were Joe Cronin of the Red Sox, I’d call Powell to Boston to be sure that his arm is ready before he pitches. Proceed with caution. A kid’s whole future hangs in the balance.”[31]
Forty-three days after being shut down, Powell returned to the mound at San Diego’s Lane Field against the Padres. Powell went the distance in the 5-4 victory, surrendering seven hits while striking out four and walking none. It appeared that the injury and the mishandling of it were behind him, and the Red Sox announced that Powell was being recalled to Boston for the 1941 season. A glimmer of light began to return to the pitcher’s outlook as he beat the Hollywood Stars on September 1 for his twelfth and final win of the season.
Boston sportswriters were far from optimistic despite Powell’s apparent recovery. “Larry Powell, due for 1941 delivery to the Sox in the rest of the Dom DiMaggio deal,” Steve O’Leary of the North Adams (Massachusetts) Transcript reported, “has been under treatment with a sore arm for several weeks.”[32] By December, Powell was cleared for his call up to Boston. “Coast officials gave the Sox good reports today on Larry Powell,” The Boston Globe reported that the young pitcher would be reporting to Sarasota, Florida for Red Sox spring training.
1941, Boston Red Sox
The start of the new year signaled the beginning of contract-signing season. As general managers prepare for spring training, contracts are mailed to players with the terms and compensation for the coming season. It is also the time when players, seeking better terms than being offered by their clubs, hold out rather than simply agree and sign. The Pacific Coast League’s reputation for better compensation than typical first-year major league salaries meant that players like Powell were taking sizeable pay cuts to play at the higher level.
At home in Reedley, California, Powell responded to Fresno Bee beat reporter Ed Orman’s inquiry about the status of his contract. “I had it with me for about a week,” Powell told Orman, “I thought it over, and then just mailed it back last Friday, the pitcher continued. “It seems to be the privilege or rather custom of ball players to fire back contracts they receive when first going to the big leagues.” Powell declined to sign the Red Sox’s contract, “If they get you down in salary, they are likely to keep you there. Maybe they will think more of sending it back. I hope so. Though I do not anticipate any trouble,” Powell stated with confidence.[33] A brief time later, Powell signed with the Red Sox [34] and was ready to report for spring training.
Powell’s prospects with the Red Sox, in all appearances, seemed to be bright. “I know Larry Powell,” Red Sox star Dom DiMaggio told the Boston Globe, speaking about the class of incoming rookies, “They’re all liable to make the grade this spring. Boy, they are all pretty good,” DiMaggio asserted. “I’m only glad these boys are on my team and not against me.”[35]
At camp, “Lefty” Powell, along with other rookie pitchers, began to work with future Hall of Famer, Robert Moses “Lefty” Grove in the development of pitching mechanics and strategy.[36] In Boston’s first contest of the spring, an intrasquad game on March 6, Powell hurled the first three innings, surrendering two runs on two hits and a pair of walks. Melville Webb commented, “Possibly the most encouraging feature from the standpoint of the boxwork [pitching] was that left-hander Larry Powell, from the Coast, started away by pitching nine balls off the plate and then settled down to look mighty good.”[37] In another intrasquad game, Powell used his curve and screwball to strike out three, including catching Jimmie Foxx and Tom Carey looking. “Powell looked better than previously, showing a fine curve ball and a ‘screw ball’ pitch over which he had excellent control,” Melville Webb wrote on March 13.[38]
Reports from Red Sox spring training began have a less favorable tone regarding Powell’s efforts. In a March 17 game against the International League’s Newark Bears, Powell pitched the first three innings, surrendering six hits, walking two and fanning five. Melville Web noted that Powell had “good control but not much on the ball.”[39] Newark batters feasted on Powell, plating three of their runs in the first inning, though the Sox prevailed, 6-4. The performance against the Bears showed that he needed more work, or perhaps he was hampered by his shoulder injury. Regardless of the reason, 24-year-old Powell would not be part of the Red Sox opening day roster. He was optioned to the Louisville Colonels of the class “AA” American Association on March 22.[40]
Louisville Colonels
Powell’s struggles continued in Kentucky. By the end of April, his pitching accounted for two wins, but his control problems were showing as he had amassed 17 walks. The club was counting on Powell returning to 1939 form; however, it was not materializing with the Colonels. In his second consecutive victory, he issued nine free passes to Minneapolis Miller batters. His walks-per-game ratio was hovering near 7.5, though Louisville management was convinced he would help the club to a championship.[41]
By mid-May, Powell had lost his starting role and was pitching in relief. In a May 15 game against the Indianapolis Indians, the left-hander entered the game in the fifth inning after starter Bill Sayles was touched for runs in each inning to give the opponent a 6-0 lead. Powell stopped the bleeding, allowing three hits and one run in the 7-2 loss.[42] Four days later, the Colonels cut their losses and dropped Powell from their roster.[43] He was sent down to class “A” Scranton of the Eastern League on May 19, but he refused to report and was returned to Boston. The Red Sox sent the pitcher back to the West Coast, optioning the former Seal to the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League on May 25.[44] The Oroville Mercury Register’s Bill Dolan called Powell’s demotion, “the number one Coast League let down” for former league pitchers in the major leagues.[45]
San Diego Padres
With his major league hopes on hold, Larry Powell signed with the Padres, only to receive his Selective Service draft notice a few weeks later. The pitcher was ordered to report to local draft board 124 on May 24 for his pre-induction physical examination.[46] San Diego seemed to be what the doctor ordered for turning his pitching fortunes around as Powell was showing flashes of his 1939 season. He was 2-0, having appeared in five games for the Padres with three complete games. On July 8, Powell received a call up that he was expecting but not anticipating. Instead of taking the hill for the Red Sox, the pitcher was added to the ranks of the U.S. Army on July 9.[47]
Also read:
- Seals at War
- Third Army – Baseball Championship Series
- Southern Germany Championship – 3rd vs 7th Armies | Soldiers’ Field, Nuremberg, August 25, 1945
- The 29th Infantry Division’s Blues and Grays: the Men Behind one of the Army’s best World War II Baseball Teams
[1] Slocum, Charles, “ETO Sweeps Series By Defeating MTO in 3rd Game, 13-3,” The Stars and Stripes, September 27, 1945: p7.
[2] Ibid.
[3] “E. T. O. Baseball Champs To Play Mediterranean,” The Morning News (Wilmington, DE), September 14, 1945: p26.
[4] “Third Army Baseball Championship” scorecard (http://bit.ly/3hxPOA9), Chevrons and Diamonds (accessed November 13, 2022).
[5] “Championship Baseball – Third Army vs Seventh Army” scorecard (http://bit.ly/3EtzU2N), Chevrons and Diamonds (accessed November 13, 2022).
[6] “1940s Herb Bremer World War II Third Army Game Used Flannel Baseball Jersey & Period Style Pants: Lot 318 (https://goldinauctions.com/1940s_herb_bremer_world_war_ii_third_army_game_use-lot28705.aspx),” Goldin Auctions (accessed November 13, 2022).
[7] Myers, Meghann, “The 29th Infantry Division gets to keep its Confederacy-themed patch (https://www.militarytimes.com/news/pentagon-congress/2022/08/01/the-29th-infantry-division-gets-to-keep-its-confederacy-themed-patch),” Military Times, August 1, 2022 (accessed November 13, 2022).
[8] “Larry Powell Pitches Way to Sightseeing Tour,” The Tacoma News Tribune, April 23, 1938: p7.
[9] Orman, Ed, “S.F. Seals And Fresno Tigers Clash To-night,” The Fresno Bee – The Republican, August 17, 1936: p6.
[10] “14 Players Chosen For Tucson Baseball Team,” Tucson Daily Citizen, April 3, 1937: p4.
[11] Kemp, Abe, “Locals Make Good,” The San Francisco Examiner, August 6, 1937: p23.
[12] Walton, Dan, “Sportologue,” The Tacoma News Tribune, November 19, 1937: p16.
[13] Newland, Russ, “Seal Squad In Running,” The Tacoma News Tribune, February 18, 1936: p14.
[14] Orman, Ed W., “Sport Thinks: Praise For Powell,” The Fresno Bee – The Republican, March 10, 1938: p16.
[15] “Tigers Defeat Vancouver For Fifth Straight Win,” The Tacoma News Tribune, September 13, 1938: p12.
[16] “Contract Signed by Larry Powell,” The Tacoma Times, January 8, 1939: p10.
[17] Sullivan, Prescott, “Low Down,” The San Francisco Examiner, May 11, 1939: p27.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Kemp, Abe, “Putnam’s Ballyhoo Missed in Baseball Deal,” The San Francisco Examiner, December 26, 1939: p20
[20] Dom DiMaggio Bought By Sox in Seals’ Deal,” The Boston Globe, November 13, 1939: p6.
[21] Dunbar, Lee, “The Bull Pen,” Oakland Tribune, April 28, 1940: pA11.
[22] Kemp, Abe, “On The Nose,” The San Francisco Examiner, June 9, 1940: p54.
[23] “Angels Outlast San Francisco, 5-4, The Pasadena Post, June 16, 1940: p18.
[24] Kemp, Abe,” Doctor Tells Larry Powell He’ll Be Ready in 10 Days,” The San Francisco Examiner, July 17, 1941: p15.
[25] Kemp, Abe, “On The Nose,” The San Francisco Examiner, July 18, 1940: p26.
[26] Cohn, Art, “Cohn-ing Tower,” Oakland Tribune, July 19, 1940: p27.
[27] Grieve, Curly, “Sports Parade,” The San Francisco Examiner, July 28, 1940: p43.
[28] Ibid.
[29] Ibid.
[30] Ibid.
[31] Ibid.
[32] O’Leary, “New England Sports,” The North Adams Transcript (North Adams, MA), August 13, 1941: p11.
[33] Orman, Ed, “Sport Thinks, The Fresno Bee The Republican, January 29, 1941: p12.
[34] “Sport Chatter,” Fitchburg Sentinel (Fitchburg, MA), February 5, 1941: p11.
[35] “Dom DiMaggio Here for Dinner,” The Boston Globe, January 29, 1941: p19.
[36] “Pitchers! Pitchers! Pitchers!.” The Boston Globe, March 1, 1941: p6.
[37] Webb, Melville, “Red Sox Warm Up With Win Over Their Yannigans, 5 to 3,” The Boston Globe, March 7, 1941: p26.
[38] Webb, Melville, “Sox Given Chance to Develop Flair,” The Boston Globe, March 13, 1941: p20.
[39] Webb, Melville, “Butland Fans Five as Sox Win, 6-4,” The Boston Globe, March 18, 1941: p20.
[40] Fitzgerald, Tommy, “Bosox Option Pair, Third Man Bought,” The Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY), March 23, 1941: p46.
[41] Associated Press, “Colonels Expect Lots From Powell,” Muncie Evening Press (Muncie, IN), April 26, 1941: p8.
[42] “Indians Blast Colonels,” The Star Press (Muncie, Indiana), May 16, 1941: p13.
[43] “Larry Powell Dropped From Roster of Colonels,” The Owensboro Messenger (Owensboro, KY), May 21, 1941: p6.
[44] Orman, Ed, “Sport Thinks,” The Fresno Bee The Republican, June 3, 1941: p20.
[45] Dolan, Bill, “Errors Lose 11-9 Game for Oroville,” Mercury Register (Oroville, CA), July 11, 1941: p2.
[46] “Coast Hurler to Army,” The Spokesman-Review (Spokane, WA) June 22, 1941: p15
[47] Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946, National Archives AAD (accessed November 20, 2022).
Hero Among Us: Just an Ordinary “Joe”
For most of our lives, we have been surrounded by people who were our neighbors, letter carriers, doctors, dentists, nurses or even grandparents or parents. They were ordinary people who lived ordinary lives. We encountered them every day and were entirely oblivious to the extraordinary lives they lived decades before. They didn’t dwell upon the things of the past as they sought only to pursue careers and raise families and leave their world better than it was when it was handed down to them.
“The Greatest Generation” is a term that has fallen out of favor in the last decade. Often overused to describe the men and women who were born following the Great War and spent their adolescence immersed in the Great Depression, the term spoke to their experiences that were brought to bear following the end of the Second World War when the United States saw its largest economic (and generational) boom. Most Americans didn’t recognize these aging men’s and women’s resilience, determination, patriotism and service to their communities and families as anything outside of normalcy until the last decade of the twentieth century, when they began entering their eighth decade and their rate of passing started to rapidly increase.
The kind-hearted, soft-spoken, gray-bearded gentleman was a favorite teacher among the students, year after year. He taught eighth-grade science at your junior high school and his style was anything but boring as he walked you through the basics in chemistry, light waves, refraction and reflectivity among many elementary principles. In ninth grade, many of the scientific elements that he previously introduced you to were foundational in the course that he taught in which his artistic passion was transferred to you through the world of photography.
It was in ninth grade during that photography class that you noticed something different. As you worked through an assignment with your classmates, the gray-bearded man sat at his desk that was positioned at the head of the classroom and adjacent to the counter that contained the Bunsen burners and petri dishes. Upon his desk was a deformed metallic object, heavily oxidized with dirt caked into the recesses of the twists of what appeared to be aluminum. The shared curiosity among your classmates wasn’t enough to stir anyone to action; so you decided to approach the teacher, gesturing toward the object as you posed your simple question, unprepared for the emotion-filled story that he was about to bestow upon you.
In a matter of moments, you were transported from simple childhood ignorance to the 8th Air Force and B-17 Flying Fortresses on bombing missions over Third Reich targets, with a tale of bailing out over enemy-occupied territory after sustaining heavy enemy fire. The tears welling up in your teacher’s eyes provided a painfully obvious sense of loss as he described himself and one other crewmen as the only survivors from that flight as the others were too badly wounded and incapable of bailing out before the aircraft crashed. He told you that the pilot ordered the crew to abandon the aircraft as he kept it at altitude long enough for the two survivors to make a safe exit. That harrowing story of survival decades earlier transitioned to the present day as your teacher shared with you his summer vacation of traveling to Europe and visiting the newly discovered crash site of his Flying Fortress. The remains of the crew who had been unable to escape the crash were among the wreckage when the site was discovered. Of course they had been removed before he visited. The piece that sat upon the teacher’s desk served as a reminder of the sacrifices made so that he could live his life in peace and share the stories of what made his generation truly great.
Seventy miles northeast of Detroit, Michigan, lies a small city on the shores of Lake Huron where the St. Clair River empties into the lake. Port Huron lies on the western bank of the river opposite Sarnia, Ontario. The two cities are connected by the Bluewater Bridge on Interstate 94. Three miles southwest of the bridge on 24th and Court Streets lies Port Huron High School, which today looks nothing like it did in January of 1943 when Jack Dobratz, a multi-sport star athlete, graduated.
Born to Charles G. and Minnie C. Dobratz, Jack was the third of five children and the third son born to first generation German-American parents. Jack was a stellar athlete in football, basketball and baseball, earning 10 letters with the Port Huron High School Reds, the first student to do so in twelve years. His departure from the school in the middle of winter left a gaping hole in two of the school’s sports rosters. The starting center for the basketball team graduated in the middle of the season and weeks later was wearing a different uniform.
Seeking Jack’s inspiration for participation in athletics, one need look no further than his father Charles, who clearly had a passion for sports. His August 6, 1951 Port Huron Times Herald obituary said that Charles’ love of sports was widely known. “Mr. Dobratz’ interest in every type of sporting event was carried over to the athletes who participated in them.” Charles left his imprint on the following generations with his involvement in Port Huron’s sports community. “Youngsters particularly, beginning to play softball, basketball and baseball, received invaluable counsel and encouragement from him.” The elder Dobratz was a member of the Port Huron Old Timers Association, whose members included notable baseball men such as Fred Lamlein, Frank Secory and Bill Watkins. Charles Dobratz also served as an umpire in industrial, city and church basketball leagues, no doubt influencing his son Jack.
Jack Dobratz as a senior on the Port Huron High School football team (image source: Ancestry.com). 
Though he was one of Port Huron High School’s star cagers, Jack Dobratz graduated in the middle of baseketball season and a few weeks later was in Army basic training (image source: Ancestry.com).
There were no doubts about Jack’s post-graduation destination as he registered for the wartime draft on June 30, 1942, leading him to enlist in the U.S. Army on February 16, 1943. At that time in the Pacific theater, the ground offensive on Guadalcanal was pushing the Japanese off the island. With the Axis stranglehold across Europe, Operation Torch, the Allied offensive in French North Africa against German and Vichy units, was in its third month as the planning was well underway for what would be known as Operation Overlord – the Normandy Invasion. Camp Wheeler served as an infantry replacement center and Dobratz was trained for future assignment to replace a combat casualty as the need arose.
Once his training was completed at Camp Wheeler, the six-foot-three, 182-pound private pitched for his unit’s baseball team before he was transferred to England in July, 1943. His athletic abilities were apparent to his unit upon his arrival overseas and he found himself continuing his mound duties on foreign soil through for the remainder of 1943 and into the following year.
Private First Class Dobratz reported to the 115th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division on July 18, 1944 and was assigned to Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion. He was promptly appointed to the rank of sergeant. His arrival at the 115th was as a replacement. The regiment was in need of personnel, having sustained 3,700 casualties in the The Battle of Saint-Lo. Sergeant Dobratz’ military occupation specialty was 729 Pioneer (construction and engineering); so he was more than likely assigned to the support platoon.
The 115th Infantry Regiment saw action in the August-September battle for Brest during which Dobratz spent three days hospitalized for a non-battle injury. On September 30, the regiment crossed into Germany during the Rhineland Campaign, which saw the 115th along the Roer River. Due to the region’s heaviest rainfalls in more than three decades combined with heavy enemy resistance, the men of the 115th got bogged down in the very harsh conditions. The troops lacked personal foul weather gear to protect them from the wet conditions, resulting in an increase in non-battle casualties (NBC) for issues such as trench foot. In early December, Sgt. Dobratz came off the line and reported to the hospital for an NBC that ultimately saw him dropped from the 115th Infantry’s muster rolls. By February 10, 1945 he had been released and reported back to his unit. Two weeks later, the 29th Division launched their offensive on February 23, attacking the enemy across the Roer River towards their objective, the German town of Jülich, which fell on the first day of the assault. The Division pressed onward toward the Rhine, linking up with the British 21st Army Group, led my General Montgomery. Having seized München-Gladbach, just 32 kilometers west of Dusseldorf and the Rhine River, the 29th was relieved on March 1 for a much needed period of rest and recuperation as well as resupply and refit.
The 29th Division’s Central European Campaign continued for several more weeks of mopping up pockets of German resistance, leading up to the May 2 surrender of Third Reich forces. The 115th Infantry Regiment began transitioning from combat to occupation duties. In the weeks that followed, idle troops across the European Theater began to form baseball leagues with more than 100,000 participants. Dobratz was an obvious choice for the 29th Division’s team as the search for the most talented players netted a mix of former professionals, semi-pros and star high school players in order to field a highly competitive roster.
The 29th Division’s Blue and Grays worked their way through the season and captured the Seventh Army Championship (details of the games and opponents have yet to surface) and gained entrance into the ETO (European Theater of Operations) World Series semifinal games against the 71st Infantry Division Red Circlers. The Red Circlers were well rested following their early August five-game series in which they captured the Third Army championship by defeating the 76th Infantry Division’s Onaways. Former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Ewell Blackwell had tossed a 7-0 no-hitter in the second game and 5-0 two-hitter in the fifth and deciding game.
40,000 GIs and WACS witnessed the 71st Division defeat the 29th at Nuremberg Stadium on August 26, 1945. “This was baseball’s biggest spectacle to date as pennants of all major league teams flew from the rim of the stadium and Red Cross vendors climbed up and down, peddling beer, soft drinks and peanuts. Two thousand cases of beer, mostly American brands, were sold during the day as shirt-sleeved soldiers reveled.” (Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, August 29, 1945.)
The 71st carried their momentum forward as they faced the Blue and Grays of the 29th Infantry. Ewell Blackwell’s pitching was dominant in the first game as he captured the 2-1 win. Bill Ayers, victorious pitcher from the 12-innnng, 2-1 Game Three in the Third Army Championships, followed Blackwell with a two-hit, 3-1 win that put the 29th on their heels for the make-or-break Game Three. Ken Heintzelman, former Pittsburgh Pirate pitcher, entered the game with the score knotted at 3-3 in the top of the eighth inning and held the 29th hitless. In the bottom of the frame, Heintzelman’s bat ignited a three-run rally that broke the game open. In the top of the ninth, the ex-Pirate set the side down in order to seal the three-game sweep of the Blue and Grays. Dobratz and his teammates were eliminated from the series, falling three wins short of the ETO World Series and being forced to settle for the Seventh Army Crown. The 29th Infantry Division members were presented with engraved German-made medals that commemorated the Seventh Army title at Mannheim, Germany in August of 1945.
After acquiring the medal awarded to his teammate, Earl Ghelf, a year earlier (see: European Theater Baseball (the 29th Infantry Division Blue and Grays at Nurnberg)), we were keenly aware of the significance of the piece when a second medal appeared in an online auction listing. The engraving on the medal’s reverse was an identical match to our medal, prompting us to place a bid and hope for the best. When the auction closed, we were astounded at the minimal competition as our bid closed the deal. Upon its arrival, we were already challenged in researching the inscribed name as our attempts continued to reveal nothing. “J. DEBRATZ” was an absolute mystery and we were resigned to waiting and hoping for a research breakthrough.
Days after publishing our article regarding “Debratz’s” medal (Metal Championship: Two 7th Army Victors of the 29th Division), we were contacted by a board member of the Maryland Museum of Military History who was an actively serving U.S. Army colonel. Col. Drew Sullins, along with historian Joseph Balkoski, author of several 29th Infantry Division books (see below), had been researching the 29th Division’s 1945 Blue and Gray baseball team and had uncovered significant details. Sullins researched the Division’s archive within the museum on our behalf for “DeBratz” among the morning reports. He soon discovered that the name as it appeared on our medal was misspelled, “Those Army clerks weren’t always perfect.” Colonel Sullins said. The colonel’s research yielded significant details, opening the doors for us to pursue other directions into Jack Dobratz’ military life.
“Jack Dobratz is having a good time ‘abroad’ in spite of being in the service of his country,” the September 23, 1945 Port Huron Times Herald read. “He does some pitching on a team that lists former major league players like Whitey Moore, former Cincinnati pitcher, and Jack Calloway [Don Kolloway] of the Chicago White Sox.” The article made mention of the team’s championship. “The 29th claims the Seventh Army baseball title, winning it on a field built by German labor.” Uncertain about his return home, Dobratz made plans for the winter athletic season in Germany, as he “sent for his basketball togs,” the article concluded.
By early December, Dobratz was back home in Port Huron and resumed his athletic competitiveness. He signed onto semi-professional basketball teams, first with the Mueller Brass club followed by Chrysler, and dominated his teams’ offensive statistical categories. By the spring, Dobratz was back in flannels, pitching for the Marine City semi-pro club and leading the team into the Blue Water District League finals.
During his World War II service, Sergeant Jack Dobratz was awarded the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, two Bronze Star medals, the Army Presidential Unit Citation ribbon and the Army Good Conduct, Europe-Africa-Middle East (EAME) Campaign (with three bronze star devices), American Campaign and World War II Victory medals.
Nearly two years after returning from Germany, Jack Dobratz married Ruth (Jensen) Smith, who was widowed when her husband’s C-109 Liberator Express was lost on December 16, 1944 in the China-Burma-India theater of operations. First Lieutenant Walter J. Smith was serving as the converted B-24’s navigator at the time of the aircraft’s loss.
The Dobratz couple later moved to Kalamazoo, where Jack worked as a floral designer until he passed away at age sixty-six on September 29, 1989. Almost three years later, his wife joined him in death. The couple had no children. Throughout the 44 years following his return from Europe, how many people who encountered Sgt. Dobratz had any concept of his actions during the war? Did he ever speak of the horrors of battle or did he fondly recollect his four months on the diamond with the 29th Division Blue and Grays? Perhaps our medal with Dobratz’ misspelled name served as a pleasant reminder of the months following V-E Day while the rest of his war artifacts were pushed aside, never to be seen again. While we are grateful for the opportunity to preserve Sgt. Dobratz’ 1945 Seventh Army Championship medal, we are left wondering what became of his service decorations.
Related Chevrons and Diamonds Stories:
- Metal Championship: Two 7th Army Victors of the 29th Division
- European Theater Baseball (the 29th Infantry Division Blue and Grays at Nurnberg)
- Third Army – Baseball Championship Series
29th Infantry Division History (by Joseph Balkoski)
- From Beachhead to Brittany: The 29th Infantry Division at Brest, August-September 1944
- From Brittany to the Reich: The 29th Infantry Division in Germany, September – November 1944
- Beyond the Beachhead: The 29th Infantry Division in Normandy
- Last Roll Call, The: The 29th Infantry Division Victorious, 1945
Connecting Joe Cronin, the American Red Cross and Sampson Naval Training Center: Vintage Baseball Ephemera
Finishing the season with a record of 93 wins and 59 losses would be a respectable performance for a major league club. However, finishing nine games behind the American League Champion New York Yankees (who lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals, four games to one) was still not acceptable for a team that featured one of the most loaded rosters in the major leagues with a team that was built around the best hitter in the game in Ted Williams.
1942 was the best for manager Joseph Edward Cronin since arriving in Boston as a 28-year-old veteran shortstop who managed his former team, the Washington Senators, to a World Series appearance in his first season at the helm in 1933 (losing the World Series to the New York Giants, four games to one). Now 35 years old, Cronin was nearing the end of his playing career. His number of games at that position had been greatly reduced (to just one) with the arrival of the young shortstop, Johnny Pesky. The season was a rapidly changing one.
Joe Cronin, May 5, 1946, fresh from spring training, takes stock of his team with his roster now restored following the end of WWII (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).
The United States had been at war for ten months and though Major League Baseball Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis received the greenlight letter from President Franklin Roosevelt for baseball to proceed a month after Pearl Harbor was attacked, the game was severely impacted by the needs of the nation. With three Red Sox men Roy Partee, Andy Gilbert and Mickey Harris) already on active duty prior to the Pearl Harbor attack, the player exodus to serve in the war effort started as a trickle and was developing into a steady flow as the 1942 season progressed. Cronin’s Red Sox had already lost four players from its roster by mid-season (Al Flair, Earl Johnson, Frankie Pytlak and Eddie Pellagrini) and Ted Williams, Dom DiMaggio and Pesky had committed to begin serving in the Navy when the season concluded.
Joe Cronin’s strong sense of obligation to his nation compelled him to serve as many other ballplayers were foregoing their lucrative professional baseball contracts to in order to serve in the war effort. Volunteering for the United States Army Air Forces as he sought to earn his aviator’s wings, Cronin, who turned 36 years old in October, 1942, exceeded the maximum age and was disqualified. Prior to applying for service in the USAAF, he had volunteered at a Boston-area aircraft observation post, serving as an enemy aircraft spotter. Cronin was offered a commission to serve as an officer but declined the option as felt he lacked the qualifications.
Prior to his attempts to enlist, Cronin received a telegram from the Red Cross headquarters in Washington, D.C. during the 1942 World Series seeking his assistance with the organization’s overseas morale efforts. He discussed his desire to serve with his wife, Mildred, and with the Red Sox team owner, Tom Yawkey, prior to accepting the call to help. “In these times,” Joe Cronin told the Boston Globe, “you want to pitch in and do what you can. Besides, I was flattered by their interest in me.” Yawkey gave the Red Sox manager his blessing. “Joe was wondering if there would be any baseball next season and wanted to take this Red Cross job,” Yawkey relayed to a Boston Globe reporter, “So I said, ‘All right, fine, go ahead. Do anything you want to, Joe.’ He (Cronin) said he’d be back if baseball goes on.”
“Joe Cronin (right) manager of the Boston Red Sox, donned the uniform of the American Red Cross as he prepared to leave for a post abroad in the recreation station. With him his “Broadway” Charlie Wagner, Red Sox chucker, who’s wishing his boss a good trip overseas. Wagner is in the Navy.” November 22, 1942 (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).
The risk of Cronin remaining overseas in the performance of his Red Cross duties during the 1943 baseball season was not something that concerned his boss. “We’ll be all right,” Yawkey stated. “We’ll just get another manager in that case. But I think Joe will be back.” As the war dragged on and the ranks of professional baseball players continued to contract, there were considerable doubts as to the continuation of the professional game in 1943. Joe Cronin’s departure marked the first instance of a major league manager serving in the war effort. By early December, major league baseball owners confirmed the game’s continuation for the next season.
As his morale work with the Red Cross began, Cronin was sent to Bermuda, where he introduced British troops to the game. In November, he was dispatched to Chicago, where coincidentally the major league baseball winter meetings were being held. Cronin was able to attend with Red Sox general manager, Eddie Collins, in conjunction with his work. Following the holiday season, Cronin departed the West Coast for the Hawaiian Islands, arriving on January 7, 1943 for service in support of military personnel. For the next three weeks, Cronin’s schedule included more than 100 appearances as assigned by the Red Cross’ Hawaiian Department Special Service Office. For several weeks, the Red Sox manager spoke with servicemen and support personnel while visiting Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard bases on Oahu, Kauai and the “Big Island.” Cronin participated in the season-opening ceremonies of the baseball season at Honolulu Stadium, appearing before the start of the game between the Army Signal Corps and the Rainbows. Cronin, wearing his Red Cross service uniform, offered at a few pre-game pitches, resulting in an infield single.
Back stateside in time to arrive at the Red Sox camp for the start of spring training, Cronin spoke to reporters about his time with the troops in Hawaii. “(Cronin) practically gets tears in his eyes when he talks about what great guys those soldiers and sailors of ours are,” wrote Sports columnist Bill Cunningham in the March 18, 1943 Honolulu Advertiser. Before opening day of the 1943 season, Cronin’s Red Sox lost two more men to the armed forces as his roster was drastically different from the 93-win team the previous year. Bobby Doerr and Tex Hughson still managed to garner enough All Star votes to play in the 1943 Mid-Summer Classic, though the team finished in an abysmal seventh place and with 30 fewer wins.
After 1943, Joe Cronin’s teams for the next two seasons continued to hover at or a few games below .500, which can be viewed as an accomplishment considering the Red Sox roster consisted of those who were very young, well past their prime or were just not physically eligible for service in the armed forces. Considering Cronin’s status both as a rejected Air Forces flying officer and as a Red Cross volunteer, finding ways to contribute to the war effort and to support those in uniform was made simpler with baseball.
From 1943 through the end of the war, the Red Sox, like other major and minor league teams, scheduled and played games against military service teams both in the surrounding New England area and in the vicinities of their opponents. For the Red Sox, the games had meaning only in that they provided local area troops the opportunity to see actively serving (former) professional ballplayers hosting a major league club and raised funds (from ticket sales, concessions and advertising) to support relief efforts and for recreational equipment for the troops.
Apart from the scant news articles or the occasional press photograph that may still exist from these games, surviving artifacts are terribly scarce if they exist at all. Paper goods such as scorecards or programs that were produced for service team games, whether one of the participating organizations was a major or minor league team, could range in production quality from multi-color printing on high quality card stock to typed pages that were duplicated via mimeograph printing on basic sheet paper. The delineation between the types of programs and scorecards typically depends upon the venue hosting the game. For the minor league and major league parks, one can expect to find the more richly produced pieces.
Our recently acquired and very rare photo of the ETO World Series at Nuremberg was hard to see departing from our collection (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).
A few weeks ago, one of our colleagues approached us regarding one of our recent photo acquisitions (a game-action photograph of the ETO (European Theater of Operations) World Series being played at Soldiers Field at Nuremberg Stadium. The photo that we acquired had yet to be researched but our excitement at landing a veteran-inscribed item prompted us to share it with a few colleagues. One of them proposed a trade that proved to be too difficult to pass by.
The ETO World Series photograph was securely packaged and sent (tracking number provided to our trade partner) as we awaited the arrival of the return item. Our expectations and the anticipation of the piece of history were justifiable upon unpacking the delicate 76-year-old bi-folded sheet of paper.
On their return to Fenway following a 7-win, 14-game Midwestern road trip to St. Louis, Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit, the 1944 Red Sox made a slight detour to the Western shores of Upstate New York’s Seneca Lake, nearly equidistant between Rochester and Syracuse, at the Sampson Naval Training Station. On the previous day, the Red Sox had split a double-header with the Tigers before boarding their train to Sampson.
The Monday afternoon game was slated for a 1400 (2 p.m.) start and would feature two rosters that, one might have suggested, were evenly matched, if not weighted in favor of the Navy men. The Sampson squad was led by Lieutenant Leino Corgnati, a 34-year-old former minor league middle infielder whose last professional game was played with the Class “D” Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Raiders of the Western League a decade previously. Corgnati’s club featured a mix of former major and minor leaguers with a sprinkling of highly-skilled Navy men (perhaps with high school, college or semi-professional baseball experience). Leading the Sampson men were pitchers Hal White (Detroit Tigers), Walt Dyche (Jersey City) and Jim Davis (Newark Bears). The position players included Don Manno (Boston Braves, Hartford Bees), Tom Carey (Boston Red Sox), Del Ennis (Trenton Packers), “Packy” Rogers (Portland Beavers), Ray Manarel (Norfolk Tars) and Jack Phillips (Newark Bears). Cronin’s Red Sox roster, though a patchwork of players, was led by Skeeter Newsome. Jim Tabor, George Metkovich, Lou Finney, Pete Fox, 38-year-old “Indian” Bob Johnson and future Hall of Famer, Bob Doerr.
1944 Sampson Roster – June 5 vs Boston (bold indicates major league service):
| Rank/Rating | # | Name | Position | Former |
| Sp1/c | 12 | Barnes | LF/CF | |
| S2/c | 11 | Brock | CF | |
| Sp2/c | 5 | Tom Carey | 2B | Boston |
| LT | 1 | Leino B. Corgnati | Coach | |
| S2/c | 19 | James C. “Jim” Davis | P | Newark |
| AS | 14 | Walter Dyche | P | Jersey City (IL) |
| SM2/c | 8 | Delmer “Del” Ennis | LF/CF | |
| CSp | 7 | Fred Gerkin | 1B | Allentown |
| S2/c | 16 | Robert “Bill” Kalbaugh | SS | Durham |
| Sp2/c | 9 | Irving Karelis | P | |
| SM1/c | 3 | Kent | 2B/LF | |
| S2/c | Lancton | IF | ||
| S2/c | 4 | Barney Lutz | OF | Elmira |
| Ray Manarel | OF | Norfolk | ||
| Don Manno | OF | Hartford | ||
| S2/c | Marshall | 1B | ||
| CY | 24 | Matt McKeon | C | |
| CSp | 22 | Menarel | CF | |
| CSp | 25 | William “Bill” Mock | P | Wilkes-Barre (EL) |
| AS | 21 | Jack Phillips | 3B | Newark |
| CSp | 17 | Anthony “Tony” Ravish | C | Columbus (SALL) |
| S2/c | 15 | Packy Rogers | 3B/LF | Portland (PCL) |
| S2/c | 23 | John Szajna | 3B | Sunbury (ISLG) |
| S2/c | 20 | Red Todd | P | Columbus |
| S2/c | 2 | Eddie Turchin | SS | Cleveland |
| S2/c | 18 | Johnny Vander Meer | P | Cincinnati |
| S2/c | 10 | Hal White | P | Detroit |
While Cronin’s Red Sox were hovering just under a .500 winning percentage (with a record of 21-23), Corgnati’s Sampson Training Station club was a solid 8-0, averaging 11.1 runs per game. Eleven of the Navy batters were carrying averages of .333 or better (three were batting over .500) heading into their game against the Red Sox. The Cronin crew were the first real test for the Sampson team, which until this game had yet to face a major league club. Heading into the Sox game, the Sampson club had defeated Baltimore, Syracuse and Rochester of the International League, Hartford, Albany, Elmira and Wilkes-Barre of the Eastern League and the Navy Trainers team (consisting of V-1, V-7 and V-12 program students) from Colgate University. For Cronin and his Red Sox, the game was a morale-boosting exhibition at the end of a long road trip. For the Sampsonites, the match-up was a chance to prove that their undefeated record was not a fluke and to give their fans a great show. Due to the Navy’s ban on non-essential travel, the Sampson team’s eight prior wins were all secured on the Naval Training Station’s Ingram Field.
With basic training completed, former Cincinnati ace Johnny Vander Meer reported to manager Corgnati for duty on the Sampson Naval Training Center team on May 5, 1944 (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).
Manager Corgnati’s starting pitcher, still working himself into playing shape following his late March induction into the Navy, was being limited to pitching the first few innings of his starts. With much fanfare surrounding his arrival to Sampson, former Cincinnati Reds star hurler Johnny “Double No-hit” Vander Meer was slated to open the game against the Red Sox. In the top of the first inning, Vander Meer struggled with his control as he surrendered two free passes and three base hits to Boston, which pushed three of the base-runners across the plate. Sampson hitters were unfazed by the instant three-run deficit as they began to claw their way back into the game, getting a run right back from Boston’s starting pitcher, Vic Johnson. Vander Meer sorted out his control issues from the opening frame and proceeded to tally up scoreless innings until his relief in the seventh. The outing was Vander Meer’s longest of the young season. Meanwhile, Sampson hitters continued to feast on Boston’s pitching, scoring four runs in the second, two in the third and another in the fifth, pushing ahead of the Red Sox, 8-3. In the bottom of the sixth, Boston fell apart, surrendering 11 runs through via a bevy of hits and fielding errors.
With the game seemingly well in hand after Sampson plated another run, Corgnati relieved Vander Meer with Hal White , who was quickly touched for four runs, leaving the score an embarrassing 20-7 drubbing of Cronin’s weary Red Sox. Needing time to board a Boston-bound train, the game was cut short after the top of the eighth inning and soon afterwards, Cronin and his team were rolling eastbound.
Despite the damage and heavy use, this program is a fantastic piece of history as it provides the names as well as the rank and ratings of the Sampson team (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).
More than three quarters of a century later, after removing the yellowed and delicately brittle bi-folded sheet of paper (enclosed in an archival rigid sleeve), the type-written details across the cover reflected the June 5, 1944 game featuring the visiting Boston Red Sox at the Sampson Naval Training Station’s Ingram Field. Carefully retrieving the piece from its protective holder, the damage and decay became more appreciable in a corner and a small section from the bottom of the Boston roster page. On the back cover, the paper remnant from the scrapbook in which the program was previously mounted was still glued to and concealed the upper third of the page.
In addition to the invaluable roster of Sampson players, the artifact’s value is bolstered by the lone autograph found prominently emblazoned across the front cover, carefully applied by the visiting team’s manager, future Hall of Famer, Joe Cronin.
The yellowed and aged cover of the bi-fold program features mimographed, type-written text. Boldly inscribed across the cover is Red Sox manager Joe Cronin’s signature (Chevrons and Diamonds Collection).
The addition of the Sampson and Red Sox item to our increasing library of service game ephemera provides a boost to one of the more significant Chevrons and Diamonds project undertakings. Though the Sampson roster merely reflects the team’s configuration as it stood on June 5, 1944 and would change with the arrivals and departures of personnel throughout the season, the information provided greater detail than was previously discoverable in box scores contained within archived newspapers.
Having Joe Cronin’s signature is the icing on the cake.
Perhaps one of the most intriguing aspects of the game is when it took place. Presumably after 120 minutes of game time, it was near (or past) four-o-clock in the afternoon. Three thousand, four hundred miles east of Sampson, the men of the 101st Airborne Division were boarding their Douglas C-47 Skytrain aircraft as they were preparing for the largest airborne and amphibious assault in history of warfare, providing a stark contrast in events. That next morning, newspapers and radio broadcasts would be covering the events of D-Day at Normandy. Joe Cronin and his Red Sox had the day off.
Chevrons and Diamonds 