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Morrie Arnovich: Breaking Ground for Branch Rickey’s Bold Move
In a time of great trial faced by all of the nations of the globe, there was considerable uncertainty and doubt as to whether freedom and democracy would survive the tyrannical shroud that was surrounding and pulling tight. Europe, North Africa, the Far East and South Pacific were under siege and embroiled in genocidal mania of madmen leading up to December 7, 1941. Though the American public was being reminded of the events around the globe in the months leading up the Pearl Harbor attack, the nation was operating with the mindset of business as usual.
Challenges to the Validity of Records
Within the major league baseball sphere, players, press and fans were gripped by the offensive records being broken by two young outfielders playing for New York and Boston; Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams, respectively. Throughout two first-half months of the 1941 season, all eyes were on “Joltin” Joe DiMaggio as he progressed through American League pitching, extending his hitting streak game-by-game until it concluded on July 17th when he grounded a pitch from Cleveland’s Jim Bagby Jr. into a an eighth-inning double-play (the Yankees won, 4-3). Once “The Streak” concluded, the eyes of baseball stared at Ted Williams who was in the midst of an incredible season at the plate on his way to establishing the final single-season batting-average above the .400 mark (at .406).
Many arguments are contained within the discussion of the 56-game streak attempting to discredit it or perhaps relegate it to the realm of the asterisk as was applied to Roger Maris’ single-season home-run record in 1961 (he had 162 games while Ruth, the previous record-holder had only 144 games to reach the superseded record of 60) due to DiMaggio’s not hitting against the best pitchers in the game (he saw only American League hurlers). Others gravitate to one of the more challenging debates regarding baseball’s more upsetting pasts.
Joe DiMaggio once stated that the best pitcher he ever faced (though not in a major league game) was the great Satchel Paige. Due to the owners’ unwritten Jim Crow rules banning black players from the major and minor leagues, black baseball players such as Paige, flourished within the Negro National League that was established in 1920 at the direction of Rube Foster (though organized black baseball had existed off and on since the mid-1880s). With the absolute exclusion of some of the game’s greatest players, the argument against the merits of DiMaggio’s streak cannot be dismissed.
Legalized Discrimination
As the United States began gearing up for its newly declared war on the Axis powers, the sad reality of segregation and Jim Crow laws still plagued the nation yet few considered it an injustice. As baseball’s color barrier would be breached until 1947, first by Jackie Robinson (with the Dodgers) and later that season by Larry Doby (with the Cleveland Indians), the U.S. Armed Forces would not see an integration order until an executive order was signed by President Truman in the summer of 1948. It is a sad irony that both Robinson and Doby enlisted to serve and to fight and potentially die for their nation and yet they were not afforded the same freedoms as white troops.
Cleveland Indians’ pitching ace, Bob “Rapid Robert” Feller is credited as the first major leaguer to enlist following the Pearl Harbor attack (on December 9, 1941) and yet, it seems that the first negro-league player to enlist is unknown. Perhaps the first was Leroy Bridges a veteran of the Black and Tan club from 1938-1941 who left baseball and ultimately pursued a career in the Army having served at Fort Bragg and in the Pacific Theater? Further research is clearly required to give credit where it is due.
Nearly two years ago, we published an article about the color barrier that existed within the military game during World War II (see: Breaking the Color Barrier in the Ranks and on the Diamond) and how the game was used to pierce the segregation wall. Without question, the segregation rules applied in all facets of the armed forces though there are several examples of integrated baseball teams in the offshore theaters. One of our earliest pieces of evidence of the color barrier’s breakage is within the Hawaiian Territory service leagues in 1944.
The rivalry between the Army and Navy that exists at present and is on full display with each annual Army/Navy service academy football game also existed within the service baseball leagues domestically and in the war theaters. With the Navy dispersing talented former professional ballplayers throughout their base team rosters (at that time, dominated by regular sailors) in the Hawaiian Islands, the level of competition overshadowed the Army teams prompting several generals to be more competitive. In 1944, major and top minor league talent was assembled from domestic Army teams with the nucleus of the highly successful McClellan Field (California) team was combined with a handful of Army players in the islands from the previous season along with Joe DiMaggio (pulled from the Santa Ana Air Base team) to form Hickam Field’s 7th Army Air Force squad. The 7th AAF team dominated the field and easily secured all of the Island’s league championships, sending the Navy to defeat.
As plans were drawn for the 1944 Service World Series, the Navy outdid the Army and gathered some of the best major leaguers who happened to be serving in Navy uniforms, dispersed around the world. Army leadership assembled their squad from players in the islands – the bulk of their squad came from the 7th AAF team – and added one player whose presence on the roster was in violation of existing segregation rules. Right-handed, pitcher, Hal Hairston was added to the Army roster having been a 1944-season pitching force for several Hawaiian League teams including the Athletics (a city league squad) and two Air Forces units; Wheeler Field and the 7th AAF. At present, there are no details surrounding the decision to add Hairston to any of the Army rosters (including that of the Service World Series).
In his very detailed and well-sourced baseball player profile for Sam Nahem, scholar Peter Dreier wrote, “A few African Americans played on racially integrated military teams in the South Pacific,” his piece prominently states, referring, no doubt to Hal Hairston, “but not in other military installations.” Dreier concluded. One of the most significant aspects of Nahem’s baseball career and life as an activist was the ballplayer’s sense of justice. Serving in the U.S. Army in the European Theater during World War II, “Subway Sam” assembled a post-VE Day team, the Oise All-Stars, which fought their way through a competitive field of teams that were made up of former major and minor leaguers. Perhaps Nahem was motivated by his altruism and quest for justice, Sam’s squad was rich in talent that included Willard Brown and Leon Day (two Negro Leaguers who would wind up enshrined in Cooperstown) defeating the best Army teams in Europe. Perhaps Nahem was equally motivated by his drive to win as he was at upsetting the racial status quo?
With the Armed Forces color barriers being perforated in the Pacific and Europe, it wouldn’t be until after President Truman’s 1948 desegregation order when the armed forces and, consequently service athletic teams, would finally be unified. That was the last word on the subject until we secured a fantastic piece of evidence that countered what previous evidence and Dreier’s Sam Nahem biography seemed to indicate. Through our process of curating vintage military baseball photography, we located a photo that depicted not only a wartime domestic Army base team but one that is local to us. The one area that we have been unable to source photographs was of those teams that played in our own backyard. As exciting as the discovery was, the make-up of the team proved to be an important discovery both in U.S. Military and baseball history.
The photo, clearly marked with the base, the team name and the date; “Fort Lewis Warriors, 1943 Champions” along with the (mostly legible) hand inscribed names of the personnel shown, prominently featured two African American ball players lined up with their teammates, proudly wearing their Warriors flannels. The photo of the 15 men flanked by two officers includes two African American players though only one of the men’s inscribed names was discernible (most of the players have been subsequently identified).
Since the spring of 1942, the Fort Lewis Warriors had been managed by a six-year veteran major league outfielder who last played for the 1941 New York Giants. Born and raised on the shores of Lake Superior, 150 miles north of Minneapolis in a small city named for the large lake, Superior, Wisconsin, Morris “Morrie” Arnovich was the son of hard-working orthodox Jewish parents. By 1935, Arnovich’s baseball prowess in the class “D” Northern League with the Superior Blues captured the attention of major league scouts from the Philadelphia Phillies resulting in a contract and promotion to the club’s class “A” Hazelton (Pennsylvania) Mountaineers of the New York – Pennsylvania League. In the mid-1930s, Jewish major leaguers were still relatively few in numbers and anti-Semitism made life for these players a considerable challenge.
The Pioneer from Superior
Only a decade and-a-half had elapsed since the 1919 “Black Sox” scandal with Abe Attel and Arnold Rothstein, two well-known members of the organized crime underworld, at the epicenter. The backlash against Jewish Americans was continual for the ensuing as the glowing embers of anti-Semitism were being fanned by baseball players, fans and even the media as a result of the dark cloud surrounding the 1919 World Series. Arnovich, no doubt, saw first-hand the glares and heard the grumblings and outright discriminatory epithets sent in his direction. Hank Greenberg, the most notable Jewish ballplayer of that era, faced a torrent of hatred and bigotry in virtually every ballpark that he played in. Michael Beschloss wrote of Greenberg’s experiences in, Hank Greenberg’s Triumph Over Hate Speech (NY Times, July 25, 2014) though it did not compare to what black Americans faced, “Greenberg had to know that there was always the lurking danger that one of those fevered anti-Semites in the stands might someday turn to violence against him.” No doubt that Arnovich had to contend with the same concerns during his time in the game.
In the 1941-42 off-season, Morrie Arnovich’s contract was sold to the Indianapolis Indians of the American Association and on February 17, reported for his induction physical despite his previous deferment due to a minor physical disability. Almost three months to the day following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Morrie Arnovich was inducted into the U.S. Army at the rank of private despite having a year of college and several seasons of professional baseball under his belt. Upon completion of basic training at Fort Sheridan (just 10 miles south of the Great Lakes Naval Training Station), Private Arnovich was assigned to Fort Lewis, a massive 87,000-acre based cut into land covered in tall Douglas Fir forests and glacial-cut prairie near Tacoma, Washington. Upon his late-March arrival, Arnovich was named manager of the base’s baseball team.
Fort Lewis’ Secret
The addition of the 1943 Fort Lewis Warriors team photo to the Chevrons and Diamonds library generated significant excitement as it demonstrated that not only was there an example of an integrated service baseball team preceding those in the Pacific and European Theaters but also that it was within the Continental United States. The fact that this took place in our own backyard gave us a sense of pride knowing that the integrated Fort Lewis Warriors not solely competing against other service teams but they also faced professional minor league squads as well (Tacoma, Victoria, Spokane from the Western International League and Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and Hollywood from the Pacific Coast League) which, no doubt help to pave a pathway for black players to the major leagues.
1943 Fort Lewis Warriors:
| Rank | Player | Position | Previous Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| PVT | Morrie Arnovich | MGR/OF | Phillies/Giants |
| Lt. | Bill Beard | C | Seattle Rainiers |
| Joe Brizer | OF | Northern League | |
| Bill Brown | P | ||
| SGT | Charles “Chuck” Cronin | ||
| CORP | Bill Diehl | ||
| SGT | Paul Dugan | ||
| Eddie Erautt | P | Hollywood Stars | |
| “Pee Wee” Handy | NY Blank Yankees/Harlem Giants | ||
| Jack Knott | P | As, White Sox, Browns | |
| Bob Kubicek | C | Cincinnati Org. | |
| Sig Langsam | P | Kingsport (APPY) | |
| Hal Lee | OF | Texas League | |
| John Mauer | SS | III League | |
| McGale | |||
| Oscar “Red” Miller | P | San Francisco/Seattle | |
| Moore | 2B | ||
| Mrowczynski | RF | ||
| SGT | Wynn Joseph Pinterell | IF | Lincoln (Neb. State League |
| Herm Reich | 1B | WIL/Portland (PCL) | |
| Rodriguez | OF | ||
| Steve Sakas | P | AA | |
| SGT | John Stepich | Coach | |
| Earl Torgeson | 1B | Seattle/Spokane | |
| Aldon Wilkie | P | Pirates |
In performing due diligence, we reached out to Gary Bedingfield (baseballinwartime.com) to share our findings and the photo. Gary’s reply was simple and seemingly nonchalant as he attached an image of the 1943 Salt Lake Army Air Base “Wings” team featuring three black players. Our revelation of integrated service team baseball in the continental U.S. was a fact that he was well aware of. Due to the limited legibility of the hand-inscriptions on each of the men in our photo, we pressed onward in our research in an attempt to positively identify each of the men.
George Handy
Aside from the very obvious names and faces such as major leaguers Arnovich and Eddie Erautt, a few minor league names were distinguishable such as Herm Reich, Hal Lee, Joe Brizer and Steve Sakas. Of the two black team members names, only the name of the man seated in the front row was fully discernible; “Pee Wee” Handy. Of the remaining names that were legible, “Col. Johnson” and Bill Brown stood out but required research to determine their prewar status. The undetermined names that remained were going to require a greater effort in order to fully identify each of the men shown in the photo.
Searching through archives of newspapers and the Sporting News from 1943 yielded fantastic results in terms of uncovering significant games from the Warriors’ season and the level of competition was significant. Bringing to bear online baseball almanacs helped to nail down a roster of players that were not shown in our 1943 photograph (perhaps due to the personnel turnover of players being reassigned or deployed to combat theaters). To date, we have compiled a roster of 21 players from box scores, game recaps and articles that either provide great detail or at least mention the names of Warriors during the season and yet, three of the men (wearing their flannels) remain unidentified (and the partially-discernible names don’t match those found in our research) which raises the total to 23. In addition, there are two officers (again, with nearly illegible inscribed names) who can’t be aligned to what we have sourced. As with many of our photo-identity projects, time and perseverance will deliver success in this endeavor
Our 1943 Fort Lewis Warriors photo shows “Pee Wee Handy” and the player (“McGale”) in the back row (far right), both in their tam flannels among a team of Caucasian men. Though there is some mention of Handy’s pre-war Negro League play in newspaper archives, his documented career commences after the war with the Memphis Red Sox of the Negro American League. Handy was not the most challenging person we have researched, however there were multiple challenges that left us to make both informed decisions and best estimations in our attempt to document his baseball and army pathway. We sourced several documents and news articles that, without a visual reference, lacked definitive proof. The first step (and perhaps what amounted to the catapult into the right direction) was Handy’s page on the Negro Leagues Database (Seamheads.com) which included an image (taken from a newspaper article) that clearly matched the man in the Warriors photo and he was wearing a Memphis Red Sox ball cap. That Seamheads.com site provided data that cross-referenced what was listed for Handy on Baseball Reference as well as additional detail. We were on our way for further sleuthing.
George William Handy Jr. (also listed as George Junior Handy) was born on December 5, 1924 in Wilson County, North Carolina. Soon after his 17th (or 22nd or 14th, depending on the source) birthday, Handy registered for the Selective Service (on December 28, 1942). On June 13, 1942, George William Handy enlisted into the U.S. Army. According to the William J. Weiss baseball questionnaire (completed by the player), Handy, perhaps stretching the truth, listed his birth date as December 26, 1927 however precisely detailing his dates of Army service (June 13, 1942 – January 1, 1946). On the same questionnaire, Handy listed his previous professional baseball experience with the Knoxville Giants and Kansas Stars (most likely, the St. Louis Stars).
The documentation also provides conflicting details surrounding his place of birth (either North Carolina or Tennessee) and yet there is (almost) no doubt that all of the research points to the same man and yet there were far more aligning data points that allowed us to correlate the information.
After his wartime service, George Handy was signed to and played two seasons with the Memphis Red Sox in 1947 and ’48. With the color barrier in the major leagues finally broken with Jackie Robinson’s ascension from the Montreal Royals to the Brooklyn Dodgers and his major league debut on April 15, 1947, other major league clubs began to follow suit. Handy made his professional debut with the Bridgeport Bees (Class “B” Colonial League) on April 8, 1949 (the league’s first black player) and elevating his level of play to the upper echelons of the league’s batting categories (batting average, slugging percentage, home-runs), attracting the attention of major league scouts.
As the Colonial League’s season wound to a close, Handy’s contract was purchased by the National League Boston Braves on September 27, seemingly Boston’s first move to integrate the Braves. Three days after Boston singed Handy, the club purchased another former Negro Leaguer, Sam Jethroe from the Dodgers organization. Both Handy and Jethroe were at the Braves’ spring training camp in February of 1950. Jethroe, having spent 1948-49 with Montreal, was seasoned and ready for a call up to the big leagues in 1950 and would go on to secure the National League Rookie of the Year award. Meanwhile, Handy continued in the minor leagues until 1955, his last season in organized ball with Winston-Salem (class “B” Carolina League) when he was released on July 31.
Though he never attained his goal of playing in the major leagues, Handy was a pioneer in the Army and in organized baseball. Before the great Satchel Paige was signed and brought up to the Cleveland Indian’s roster, he tapped George Handy to play on his barnstorming squad where he hit .326 and crushed 23 homeruns in just 60 games. Beside Hall of Fame pitcher Satchel Paige serving as his manager on the barnstorming squad, Handy played for Jimmie Foxx (at Bridgeport), Pepper Martin (Miami Beach) and Ken Silvestri (Winston-Salem). Throughout his career, he played alongside several major leaguers including Dan Bankhead, Ed Erautt and Arnovich. To my surprise, Handy was not the first black baseball player at Fort Lewis.
Assembling the Fort Lewis Warriors
With our attempt to properly document the Fort Lewis Warriors baseball team, our research had to encompass the entirety of the War, especially considering his arrival at the base in late-March, 1942 and his immediate assignment to take the helm of the base’ team. Along with our attempts to fully-document the Warriors, one of our objectives was to determine who may have played a role in assigning players and building the roster and who had the final decision-making authority. As we waded through the information regarding the team, it became apparent that we were far away from answers to our questions. Instead, we have to make our best determination and hope that such an answer will surface in the future.
With our attempt to properly document the Fort Lewis Warriors baseball team, our research had to encompass the entirety of the War, especially considering his arrival at the base in late-March, 1942 and his immediate assignment to take the helm of the base’ team. Along with our attempts to fully-document the Warriors, one of our objectives was to determine who may have played a role in assigning players and building the roster and who had the final decision-making authority. As we waded through the information regarding the team, it became apparent that we were far away from answers to our questions. Instead, we have to make our best determination and hope that such an answer will surface in the future.
Baseball competition existed at Fort Lewis prior to Arnovich’s arrival however, rather than the existence of a top-level base team such as the Warriors, the tenant commands fielded their own unit-based teams (such as the squad from Company “L” of the 161st Infantry or the 41st Division All-Star, both of which played their way into championship tournaments in 1941), competing within regional semi-professional leagues. We have concluded that the appointed manager, Private Morris Arnovich was charged with assembling the Warriors from the ranks of soldiers assigned to the base.
For the 1942 season between the months of March and July, little documentation exists regarding the Warriors on-field performance. On June 6, 1942, Fort Lewis’ new stadium was dedicated and christened soon after with a three-run Arnovich homerun against the Western International League team, the Tacoma Tigers. By late July, news of Arnovich’s squad’s success is considerable as the team was dominant in both the regional semi-pro and budding service baseball leagues. For a few weeks spanning from late June until early July, Arnovich was pulled from Fort Lewis by Lieutenant Mickey Cochrane to serve on the 1942 Service All-Star team (which faced the 1942 American League All-Stars at Cleveland’s Municipal Stadium) on July 7th and were on the losing end of the fund-raiser event, 5-0.
A Second Discovery: Ford Smith
Aside from the success of Arnovich’s 1943 campaign and the diverse team make-up with Handy and McGale on the roster, we were even more astounded to find that 1943 was built upon a desegregated foundation that was laid in 1942 at Fort Lewis. Aside from the well-stocked roster of former minor leaguers (many of whom were stars of the local Western International League), Arnovich’s pitching rotation included a tall, young and untested right-handed pitcher who previously occupied roster spots on the Chicago American Giants (1939), Indianapolis Crawfords (1940, the team’s only season) and the Kansas City Monarchs (1941). John Ford Smith was used sparingly with the Monarchs but shared the roster with greats such as Satchel Paige, Willard Brown (a key player on Sam Nahem’s Oise All-Stars in Germany in 1945) and Hilton Smith (all Cooperstown enshrinees).
1942 Fort Lewis Warriors:
| Rank | Player | Position | Previous Experience |
|---|---|---|---|
| CORP | Joe Albanese | P | Tacoma |
| PVT | Morrie Arnovich | MGR/OF | Phillies/Giants |
| Lt. | Bill Beard | C | Seattle /Spokane |
| Bellows | SS | ||
| PFC | Harv Clutter | IF | Stockton |
| PVT | John DeGrazio | IF | Sheboygan |
| PVT | Al Eull | RF | |
| PVT | Cy Greenlaw | P | Vancouver |
| Lt. | Val M. Kirk | Athletic Officer | |
| SGT | Ruben Litzenburger | C | Amateur (Portland) |
| Joe McNamee | C | Spokane | |
| PVT | Lewis Moses | Trainer | |
| CORP | Ray Nordell | OF | Albuquerque |
| Charlie Norton | P | ||
| SGT | Wynn Joseph Pinterell | IF | Lincoln (Nebraska State League |
| CORP | Herm Reich | 1B/Capt | Portland/Tacoma |
| PFC | Billy Scheske | IF | Fon Du Lac |
| PFC | Billy Sewell | WSC (WSU) | |
| CORP | Hank Shuback | ||
| PFC | Al Shultz | OF | WISSL |
| SSGT | Ford Smith | P | KC Monarchs |
| SGT | John Stepich | Coach | |
| CORP | Don Wymer | P | Cal League |
As was the case for George Handy, Ford Smith broke down barriers when he became the New York Giants first pitcher signed from the Negro Leagues. Signed on January 28, 1949 together with former Newark Eagles outfielder and first baseman (and future Hall of Famer), Monte Irvin (who served in the Army’s all-black 1313th General Services Engineer Regiment in the European Theater during WWII, including the Battle of the Bulge), Smith was assigned to the New Jersey Giants for the 1950 season
Fort Lewis hosted the Portland Beavers on 20 July 1942, a day after taking on the Seattle City League leading squad from Universal Printing. The Printers were a force to be reckoned with having taken down the Naval Air Station Sand Point Fliers. In the tune-up against Universal, Fort Lewis’ bats tallied 18 hits against three different pitchers racking up 11 runs in the second inning.
The Warriors team attracted a lot of attention drawing more than 4,500 in a game against the Tacoma Tigers at their ballpark. The Warriors defeated the Tigers 5-1 in the 14-inning contest. In the August 9, 1942 Spokesman Review, Ford Smith was billed as Fort Lewis’ star hurler,” mentioned with other stars such as Arnovich, Herm Reich, Billy Sewell and Cy Greenlaw.
On Sunday, August 30, the Warriors traveled to Oregon to face the Portland Air Base All-Stars to in a Bat and Ball Fund benefit game at George E. Waters Park. In the Capital Journal (Salem, Oregon), the game was in high demand as there was an “incessant demand by fans to see the famous colored pitcher, Smith, in action.” The Portland fans were disappointed as Smith pitched a four-hit shutout on the previous day as he faced an Oregon state all-star team. In the August 30 game, Arnovich assuaged the fans with a ninth inning home run in the 2-0 victory over the Portland Air Base nine.
By September 12, the Warriors’ record was 30-6 heading into a decisive three-game championship series against Edo Vanni’s Naval Air Station Pasco’s “Fliers” at Ferris Field in Spokane having lost the first game in Tacoma, 11-8. Arnovich made the decision to start Cy Greenlaw over Ford Smith (perhaps saving his ace for the third game) in game two of the Northwest Service League championship series. Unfortunately for the Warriors, Greenlaw lost his effectiveness in the third inning and the offense was stymied by Pasco. Vanni’s Fliers captured the series and the league championship with an 8-0 shutout.
Fort Lewis’ All-Around Athletes
With the conclusion of the 1942 baseball season, changes were afoot for the Warriors. Arnovich took a bad fall sending his throwing arm through a window resulting in serious lacerations. The damage was so severe that his professional baseball career was in question awaiting the outcome of his recover. During baseball off-season, several of the ballplayers were tapped to play for the Fort Lewis basketball team including Bill Diehl, Paul Dugan and Herm Reich with Morrie Arnovich taking the reins. Arnovich guided the Fort Lewis Warriors to the top of the Northwest Service Basketball taking on service, college and industrial league teams. The Warriors matched up against the Harlem Globetrotters on three separate occasions with at least two wins (the results of the third game are yet to be uncovered). Ahead of the 1943 season, Arnovich lost his top starting pitchers as Cy Greenlaw was reassigned and Ford Smith entered an officer training program on his way to earning his commission. With the loss of several players in addition to the two aces of his pitching staff, Arnovich pulled together another competitive roster.
(Chevrons and Diamonds Collection)”
For two years, Private Morrie Arnovich fielded two baseball clubs that dominated the competition and secured championships while attracting large crowds. Arnovich’s clubs energized baseball fans of the Pacific Northwest who, no doubt, understood that history was being made with the integrated team club from Fort Lewis, Washington. It is unknown what Morrie Arnovich’s motivations were but his decision to field an integrated team underscored what having the best players, regardless of their ancestral heritage, provides the best opportunity to win. Perhaps it was this example that the future commissioner of major league baseball witnessed during a January 1943 visit to Fort Lewis. Kentucky Senator, A. B. “Happy” Chandler, while visiting Fort Lewis’s Commanding Officer, Colonel Ralph R. Glass, requested a meeting with the former Phillies and Giants outfielder, describing Arnovich as, “One of my favorite ballplayers.” Not only did Chandler take the opportunity to enjoy the company of a major leaguer but, no doubt, Arnovich shared the success of his club and the make-up of the team and praising the talents of his players such as Ford Smith.
Following the 1943 season, Arnovich was reassigned for duties overseas, landing in the South Pacific, serving as an Army postal clerk in New Guinea where he connected with Hugh Mulcahy and Ken Silvestri. In 1945, his assignment took him to the Philippines where he was with the Army Replacement Depot and played baseball in Manila. Lacking in the points to rotate home following Japan’s surrender, Tech Arnovich remained in the Philippines until returning to the U.S. for discharge in December. With nearly four years of Army service, Morrie Arnovich was discharged as a Technician fifth grade, better known as a “Tech Corporal” (T/5).
Resuming Careers After the War
After the war both Handy and Smith both continued their baseball careers back in the Negro Leagues. Even before the war’s end, changes were afoot in major league baseball with Kansas City Monarchs infielder and former Army officer, Jack Roosevelt Robinson met with Dodgers President Branch Rickey met to discuss the torrent of anger and hatred the first black major leaguer would surely face. The outcome of that August 28, 1945 meeting was an agreement between Robinson and the Dodgers setting in motion the integration of what, until that moment, was known as “white” baseball. At the time of the October 23, 1945 signing of Robinson to a contract with the Montreal Royals (for the 1946 season), most of the United States’ wartime overseas forces were awaiting their return trip home for discharge including Morrie Arnovich who was in the Philippines.
Ford Smith returned to the Monarchs for the 1946 season and launched into the best years of his baseball career. George Handy resumed his career with the Memphis Red Sox in 1947. As both players’ careers were on upward trajectories, Arnovich’s baseball career was heading in a different direction. Instead of resuming where he left off, Morrie Arnovich played in his only and final major league game on April 21, 1946 as his Giants were hosted by Brooklyn. Arnovich’s last game saw him start and finish the game with the same batting average as he managed three infield groundouts for his three plate appearances. Arnovich spent the rest of ’46 with the Jersey City Giants (class “AA” International League).
Morrie Arnovich continued to participate with history-making integration of baseball his club faced Robinson’s Montreal Royals early in the 1946 season. As Jersey City faced the Royals on May 2, 1946, Arnovich had quite an offensive showing as he went 2 for 6 with a homerun, two runs scored and three RBI. Meanwhile, Jackie Robinson was 1-3 in the 12-inning, 9-9 tie as the game called due to darkness. The following day, May 3, 1946, Arnovich was 1-2 with an RBI in the top of the fourth which was the final tally for the Giants. Though he was listed as injured and did not start the game, Robinson batted in the pinch-hit in the seventh inning for the pitcher but was hitless as Jersey City secured the victory, 4-3 over the hometown team.
When Robinson was called up to the Dodgers for the 1947 season, breaking the game’s long-standing exclusionary barrier, Arnovich could have taken pride knowing that his efforts at Fort Lewis during 1943 and ’43 played a foundational role in righting a wrong in the game that he loved.
Keeping Score at Nuremberg: A Rare 1945 GI World Series Scorecard
Taking stock of the past three months’ worth of Chevrons and Diamonds articles, it is easy to discern a few emerging content trends that reflect the types of artifacts that are continually being added to our collection. In that span of time, three separate Chevrons and Diamonds articles have documented some of our recent acquisitions of noteworthy scorecards or programs originating from rather historic service team games that were played during World War II. Just as most parents can’t choose a favorite among their own children, none of the scorecards, programs or scorebooks within our collection receives such prized status, though there are some genuine stand-outs among the pack.
Collecting historic baseball military ephemera is far more rewarding than similar pieces from the professional game (or, at least that is our admittedly biased opinion). In terms of scarcity or rarity of items, those that were distributed at a major league game are of the most common by comparison to items distributed at a wartime service league or exhibition game. During the 1940s major league ballparks had seating capacities that ranged from the mid-30,000s in the smaller markets to 57,000 for the crown jewel of the big leagues, Yankee Stadium. One would have to assume that scorecards and programs printed for each game numbered in the range 30-50% of the capacity for each game, if not more. By WWII, teams employed the practice of limiting printing runs to a handful of editions throughout the season (changing only the actual scoresheets and specific rosters pages inside the booklets to reflect the current visitors and lineups). Despite these production factors, the sheer numbers of those individual-game scorecards that were printed increase the odds of having more surviving pieces to collect. In contrast, the pieces printed for a military game would number in the hundreds at best, resulting in far fewer surviving examples.
Survivability of military baseball ephemera (just as with those from the professional game) can vary dependent upon a few factors such as paper quality, modes of transporting the pieces home or just general handling (folding or being stuffed into a pocket). There is a notable difference in the quality of paper used by professional teams and the very rudimentary medium used to produce the service team pieces, especially for those printed in the overseas theaters. Due to these factors, the surviving military items are far outnumbered by their wartime major and minor league counterparts. Locating and acquiring a military scorecard, scorebook or program in excellent or better condition is next to impossible solely based on the the aforementioned factors.
Scarcity due to production, handling, transportation and storage are only part of the story to consider. Recognizing that as the last of the World War II veterans are passing, their heirs are often saddled with determining the disposition of the accumulation more than 70 years since their family member returned from the war. To the untrained eye, a piece of military baseball ephemera might appear to be nothing more than smelly old paper falling victim to a quick purge during a home clean-out and subsequently ending up in the trash. Those pieces that escape all of these situations and make their way into collections (such as ours) or to a museum are exceedingly scarce.
For the select few collectors of baseball militaria, items from notable games don’t typically slip past our watchful eyes undetected very often which is not to suggest that it never happens. However, when it does occur, the sheer joy of being the one to land such a piece with minimal (or without) competition from other collectors means that the acquisition costs are minimized. What determines the notability of a service team game and subsequently impacts the rarity (and collector-value) of military baseball scorecards?
The cover of the Third Army Baseball Championship series games score card. The 71st ID Defeated the 76th ID in five games that were played in early August, 1945.
During World War II, many significant service team games (or series) were played and were well-documented in the press by sportswriters (for domestic games) and war correspondents (for overseas games). Contests such as the 1943 exhibition game played between a combined team of Yankees and Indians (coached by Babe Ruth) versus the Navy Pre-Flight (UNC Chapel Hill) “Cloudbusters” or the 1944 Army versus Navy Championship series in the Hawaiian Islands have garnered significant attention both at the time of the games and, more recently, over the last decade. Scorecards from these games tend to surface on occasion though not nearly as much as their major league counterparts.
In more than a decade of researching, collecting and observing the baseball militaria market, we have been diligent in documenting and tracking artifacts (such as scorecards) that are listed for sale (or at auction) along with monitoring the corresponding pricing trends. During that period of observation, we have seen only three examples (two of which we acqired) of the scorecard (shown at right) originating from the 1945 Third Army Championship series played in Nuremberg, Germany. The August 11-13, 1945 (originally scheduled from August 7-9) series amounted to a preliminary play-off round in the run up to the overall championship of the European Theater of Operations (ETO) and pitted the “Onaways” of the 76th Infantry Division against the “Red Circlers” of the 71st Infantry Division (see: Authenticating a Military Championship Baseball and Third Army – Baseball Championship Series). Led by the dominant pitching performance of former Cincinnati Reds phenom Ewell Blackwell, the Red Circlers eliminated the Onaways in five games.
The pitcher (possibly Earl Ghelf) starts his windup in one of their US Army Ground Forces Championship Series Games against the 7ist Inf. Red Circlers.
Next up for the Third Army Champion-71st Infantry Division “Red Circlers” was the US Army Ground Forces Championship Series against the 7th Army Champion “Blue and Grays” of the 29th Infantry Division. This best of five games-series was played in both Nuremberg and Manheim, Germany with the ‘Circlers’ starting pitchers Ewell Blackwell and Bill Ayres dominating the opposing batters. The 71st swept the 29th in three straight to advance to the ETO World Series. While we have yet to uncover a scorecard or program, a significant group of photographs and other associated documents (along with a 7th Army Championship medal) originating from one of the 29th’s pitchers, former minor league pitcher, Earl Ghelf surfaced in early 2018 (see: Metal Championship: Two 7th Army Victors of the 29th Division and European Theater Baseball: the 29th Infantry Division Blue and Grays at Nurnberg for more details) which we were able to secure.
Baseball in Occupied Europe
In the weeks following the collapse and unconditional surrender of the Third Reich, U.S. Army leadership was successful in assembling one of the largest known baseball leagues featuring more than 200,000 soldiers and airmen filling rosters of bases and units stationed throughout the occupied European Theater. The autumn-1945 GI World Series was the culmination of the season-long competition throughout the continent with teams that consisted of regular soldiers playing alongside former minor and major leaguers, all of whom fought and served in the war in theater. By season’s end, some of the teams who made it to the lower level championships (such as the Seventh and Third Army series) had morphed, absorbing the top talent from their vanquished opponents within their leagues (for example, former Chicago White Sox infielder-turned-combat-medic Don Kolloway served in the 69th Infantry during the war and played for unit’s team before being tapped to join the 29th’s team after being defeated in the 7th Army Championships) as their commanders attempted to improve the odds of winning the championship for their unit.
Having eliminated the 76th ID’s Onaways and Blue and Grays of the 29th ID, the Red Circlers found themselves facing off against the The Advance Section, Communications Zone (ADSEC/COMZ) All-Stars based at Oise, France. This formidable opponent was led by a non-commissioned officer (who was a former major league pitcher), was unconventional with their roster. Named the Oise All-Stars, this group fought their way into the semi-final series that pitted them against the 66th Infantry Division and the 71st Infantry Division; three teams fighting for the two spots in the ETO World Series. This semi-final was a double-elimination contest of three games; the first of which was played on August 30 (71st Infantry Division versus Oise All-Stars) and a double-header on September 1 (71st Infantry Division versus 66th Infantry Division and Oise All-Stars versus 66th infantry Division). The 66th division was eliminated after sustaining losses to the 71st and Oise leaving the victors to advance to the GI World Series.
According to Gary Bedingfield, a military baseball historian and founder of Baseball In Wartime, there are a few questions surrounding the name of the Oise team. Bedingfield wrote in his Baseball in Wartime Newsletter Vol 7 No 39 September/October 2015, “Reims became the site of the U.S. Army’s redeployment camps, all of which were named after American cities. There were 18 of these “tented cities” scattered throughout the Reims area. This area was designated the Oise (pronounced “waz”) Intermediate Section by the U.S. Army, named after the local river and the Oise département, a French administrative division that covered much of the area.”
This scorecard was used when the GI World Series shifted for the September 6-7, 1945 games were played at Athletic Field in Reims, France (the Oise All-Stars “home field” for the series). This is the only other known example of a scorecard from the 1945 GI World Series.
The OISE All Stars baseball team was assembled by former Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher, Sergeant Sam Nahem and featured a roster populated predominantly with former semi-pro, collegiate and minor leaguers. Only one Oise player, other than Nahem, played at the major league level. Going against unwritten rules (both in professional baseball and in the armed forces), Nahem insisted on adding two former Negro Leaguers to his roster. Willard Brown and Leon Day, undoubtedly ruffling some feathers in the Army establishment. Aside from the unique composition of Nahem’s roster, the team’s name has been the source of confusion. As Bedingfield wrote, “A strange myth has appeared over the years – that I, myself, have used at one time or another – that Oise stood for Overseas Invasion Service Expedition. I can find absolutely no evidence to support this and maintain that the Oise All-Stars were named for the Oise Intermediate Section. Other Sections in France included the Loire Base Section and the Seine Base Section, home of the formidable Seine Base Clowns, a ball team operated by Pacific Coast Leaguer pitcher Chuck Eisenmann.”
The GI World Series was a five-game affair with games one, two and five being played in Soldiers Field at Nuremberg Stadium and the “road” games (three and four) being played at the (long-ago demolished) Headquarters Command (HQ) Athletic Field in Reims. Nahem’s Oise All-Stars were evenly matched with the “Red Circlers” of the 71st which resulted in a great series for the fans to witness.
- Game 1 (September 2, 1945 | Soldiers’ Field): Oise All-Stars 2 – 71st Infantry Division 9
- Game 2 (September 3, 1945 | Soldiers’ Field): Oise 2 – 71st ID 1
- Game 3 (September 6, 1945 | HQ Command Athletic Field): 71st ID 1 – Oise 2
- Game 4 (September 7, 1945 | HQ Command Athletic Field): 71st ID 5 – Oise 0
- Game 5 (September 8, 1945 | Soldiers’ Field): Oise 2 – 71st ID 1
The specifics of each game and the men who filled the rosters are laid out in great detail in Bedingfield’s September/October 2015 newsletter.
Until just a few months ago, the only scorecard that we have seen is one that was used for the two games played at the Oise All-Stars home field, Headquarters Command Athletic Field in Reims. Unfortunately, no copies of this piece have surfaced to the collector market in more than a decade of our searching. The piece (shown above) bears similarities to the hand-illustrated piece used at the 1945 Navy World Series in Hawaii. Regardless of any and all searching and maintaining watchful eyes on the market, nothing from the GI World Series has become available; not even the HQ Command Athletic Field scorecard.
A few months ago, one of our online auction searches that seldom produces results that are worthy of deeper investigation, finally listed an item that caught our attention. A strange title that read, “WWII GI Scorebook Nurnberg Field USFET W1945 Unused Baseball,” with an accompanying-yet-tiny image (that was barely discernible) was enough to prevent me from performing my routine action of deleting the results. Upon opening the link and viewing the photos of the item, we were still unsure of what was listed. Very clearly, the piece shown was a service team baseball scorecard that was printed on the typical low-grade paper that was commonly employed for this purpose in all wartime theaters but the printed information wasn’t registering as we inspected each associated image. For some reason (perhaps due the lack of documented examples), the most obvious information printed across the cover didn’t immediately stand out. The interior pages featured blank scoresheets that were devoid of commonly seen team rosters or game line-ups which offered no further clues. Returning to view the lead image in the auction listing, something finally clicked and the reality surrounding this piece suddenly materialized. For the first time in more than ten years, a scorecard from the GI World Series had finally come to market.
How could anyone not notices the substantial lettering that seemingly broadcast that this scorecard was from the 1945 GI World Series?
With only two days remaining until the auction’s close, there was a lone bid which was incredibly low for such an important piece of baseball history.The seller’s starting price was merely $7.00. Not knowing the experience level of the bidder that I was hoping to wrest the scorecard away from left me wondering if his maximum price was in the sphere of reality as to the value of the scorecard. Noting the other bidder had a feedback count of less than two hundred, we coupled that with the behavior of early bidding (perhaps one of the most common mistakes made by inexperienced bidders) and decided that we would prepare a sniped bid and hope that it was enough to supplant the competition. Anxiously awaiting the auction’s close and the bad news that we were going to miss out on this piece due to its rarity and collector value, the congratulatory email regarding our bid arrived along with the invoice for payment. Our surprise at winning the auction was immediately surpassed by the sale price: $10.50 which was just $3.50 above the listed price and, $0.50 greater than the competing bid (maximum)! The seller listed the shipping price as $4.06 which was a bit lower than what we typically encounter with these items but it wasn’t so low to cause any sort of concern…until it actually became a concern.
This scorecard was most likely printed ahead of the teams being decided (by playoffs). The date as indicated by the “2” is printed in a silver-ink leading to the idea that the dates were applied as needed .
Note: In prefacing the next sequence of events, please understand that this article was not written admonish or to chastise the seller. Sharing details regarding all aspects of the transaction is done so with the hope that our readers consider what transpired as they engage in their own selling activities (we have omitted the seller’s name and altered the listing title to preserve their anonymity).
After more than two weeks since submitting payment for the scorecard, the seller still hadn’t updated the listing with any shipping details (it was still marked as not being shipped) and was completely silent with regards to communication, an inquiry was dispatched through the auction provider’s messaging system. The brief response from the seller, “No tracking number. Mailed with a stamp which is why I gave you a partial refund,” was a little strange since I hadn’t asked for anything more than a status and a tracking number. The partial refund from the seller was $0.50 causing further confusion for us.
The beauty of this Nuremberg GI World Series scorecard lies with both covers as the interior is lacking team information. At least one can learn to score a game with this piece.
What amounts to a sponsors’ page, the GI World Series program’s back cover features adverts from AFN-Munich and the Southern Germany Stars and Stripes.
A few days following the seller’s strange message and partial refund, the letter carrier delivered the package containing the scorecard with $0.45 postage due. True to his message, the seller did exactly as was stated; the piece was stuffed into a thin and appropriately-sized paper envelope with a $0.55 Forever stamp affixed. There was no padding, backing boards or anything to protect the piece from moisture damage, inadvertent folding or from harm inflicted by postal sorting machinery which left this priceless artifact almost entirely exposed. Without purchasing postal insurance, there was no tracking. The envelope did receive damage (possibly from the sorting equipment) that tore and creased the envelope. Concern for the scorecard itself was put to rest once it was determined that the piece suffered only curling without being creased. In desiring to pass along the information regarding the arrival of the package, the condition and the additional postage that was paid to receive the envelope, we reached out to the seller. Rather than to address the concerns, the seller responded, “I will give you a full refund instead of the partial refund already provided,” closing out this intriguing saga (which included a fantastic result).
Our intention was to merely point out the issue and hope that subsequent shipments are better protected and postage is properly funded rather than to receive a refund. In the end, we received this incredible artifact without cost. Perhaps we should consider this a gift? Moving on, we were able to press the curl out of the scorecard and add it to the growing collection of baseball militaria paper.
The significance of the GI World Series scorecard (from the Nuremberg-hosted games) lies within the covers. The artwork and the two-color (red and blue) printing (the silver date appears to be applied subsequent to the initial printing) makes for stunning visual imagery on the front cover. The back was printed in three-color (adding black to the mix) and includes an advertisement for the Armed Forces Network (AFN) for radio coverage of the games. Beneath the AFN ad is a colorful advert for the Stars and Stripes newspaper (Southern Germany Edition).
One aspect of the scorecard and the GI World Series games was that it was hosted (at Nuremberg) by USFET (U.S. Forces, European Theater) which was known, during wartime combat operations, as ETOUSA (European Theater of Operations, United States Army). It makes sense that the GI World Series would be hosted at Nuremberg Stadium by the overall theater command, however prior to discovering this scorecard, this aspect was not known.
Located on the lower left edge of the program is the information detailing the date and the Army unit that produced the piece.
Confirmation of our assessment regarding the the game date being applied during a secondary printing is located at the bottom edge of the back cover. The date, 30 / Aug. 45, indicates that the scorecard was being printed as the first game of the semi-finals was being played. The date on the cover, September 2, 1945 also indicates that this scorecard was printed for Game One of the GI World Series.
The Chevrons and Diamonds trend has continued with yet another article detailing a service team scorecard however, with the acquisition of this incredible find, we are certain that our readers will be just as fascinated by the discovery if this historic piece. In shining a spotlight upon scorecards that were previously undocumented, we are perhaps effectively increasing our competition for the still-needed HQ Command Athletic Field piece. However with the circumstances surrounding the acquisition of e the Nuremberg piece, we aren’t too concerned about our chances.
Resources:
- Three Reichs, You’re Out: The amazing story of the U.S. military’s integrated “World Series” in Hitler Youth Stadium in 1945 – by Robert Weintraub
- 70th Anniversary of the 1945 ETO World Series (PDF) – Sep/Oct 2015 Baseball in Wartime newsletter by Gary Bedingfield
- Leon Day: The 1945 G.I. World Series – by Gary Cieradkowski
- When Baseball Went to War – Edited by Todd Anton and Bill Nowlin, 2008 Triumph Books
Chevrons and Diamonds 