Baseball in the Armed Forces

[67Rally]

2 hours ago, jeeplover said:

 i think this is Korean war. the buttons on the ww2 ones are a different set up. i looked at the Ebbets Field Flannel's reproduction USMC jersey. it looks the same but is not the same. mine could be a repop not sure that is why i am posting here. let me know what you guys think. thank you.

https://www.ebbets.com/products/us-marine-corps-1943-road-jersey?currency=USD&variant=27734780552&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=Google Shopping&gclid=CjwKCAjwzaSLBhBJEiwAJSRokmHEOjdKxXopiRxH_1eVQ7_zfhHWoQuoDUy4TLJ2-U7UZisJdn7o-RoCWjcQAvD_BwE

 

That flannel pattern dates from the late 1940s to early 1950s. It is every bit a genuine jersey. The EFF is a reproduction of the 1943-44 pattern Marines baseball flannel. You can see that the original numeral was "9" and the "1" was merely added on after the fact (it looks pretty odd).

 

[jeeplover]

1 hour ago, 67Rally said:

That flannel pattern dates from the late 1940s to early 1950s. It is every bit a genuine jersey. The EFF is a reproduction of the 1943-44 pattern Marines baseball flannel. You can see that the original numeral was "9" and the "1" was merely added on after the fact (it looks pretty odd).

 

now i look i do see it was added. funny thank you for your help nice to know it is original.

[jeeplover]

cant edit my post? i suspect both numbers were added i will try and get good closeups of the stitching. someone did mention they had not seen these with numbers. makes sense now.

[jeeplover]

ok i took pictures close up .the numbers were added later you can see different gage of thread used on the letters.

[mikie]

I was at the bookstore the other day and noticed this book.  This subject isn't especially in my ballpark. But thought I'd share this book I spotted that may be of interest to you here.  No idea if it's a good book or not, but the blurbs were intriguing. I was tempted to get it.  Just taking a swing at letting you know about it.  Anyone read it already?  

 

Mikie

 

 

 

 

[67Rally]

1 hour ago, mikie said:

I was at the bookstore the other day and noticed this book.  This subject isn't especially in my ballpark. But thought I'd share this book I spotted that may be of interest to you here.  No idea if it's a good book or not, but the blurbs were intriguing. I was tempted to get it.  Just taking a swing at letting you know about it.  Anyone read it already?  

 

Mikie

 

 

 

 

 Anne is a friend and colleague. This is a book that, at its base, is a story about her father who is the little boy in the main photo on the front cover. This is an in-depth study of the Navy Pre-Flight schools (focused on the first one at UNC Chapel Hill) with a central theme of the baseball players who joined up to become naval aviators. Anne's grandfather was the CO of the school at Chapel Hill and so his son, a huge baseball fan, was the team's batboy and mascot. It is a fantastic story that touches on many major leaguers, future presidents and other legends of sport that all were there.  I have several artifacts from Johnny Pesky's estate that include photos from his time at Navy Pre-Flight, UNC,

https://chevronsanddiamonds.wordpress.com/2019/01/03/navy-pre-flight-round-up-the-growth-of-the-cloudbusters-collection-takes-flight/

[Niemannn]

From Wikipedia  picture of the Baseball team of the USS MAine:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maine_Baseball.jpg

 

 

 

[patches]

Knocking a Baseball around, an unidentified AAA unit, Spring 1944 Italy, either in the Cassino area or up at Anzio.

[Garandy]

[67Rally]

58 minutes ago, patches said:

Knocking a Baseball around, an unidentified AAA unit, Spring 1944 Italy, either in the Cassino area or up at Anzio.

This IS wartime baseball! Fantastic!

[67Rally]

On 10/15/2021 at 7:42 PM, jeeplover said:

ok i took pictures close up .the numbers were added later you can see different gage of thread used on the letters.

I just saw your photos. The numbers were added at different points after the jersey was made. It is a nice piece. I have a similar Marines jersey but I can't recall if mine has numerals.

[67Rally]

Nice softball bat and ball group. I've had a few service softball bats in my collection and a few softball gloves but never pursued a.ball before. I landed this one.a few months ago and was astonished to see the ink on this one.

 

https://chevronsanddiamonds.wordpress.com/2021/07/31/a-hall-of-fame-softball-greeting/

[Garandy]

Love the ball 

[patches]

23 hours ago, 67Rally said:

This IS wartime baseball! Fantastic!

Yeah, talk about a Batting Helmet 

[67Rally]

2 hours ago, patches said:

Yeah, talk about a Batting Helmet 

No kidding. How about "stands" filled with GIs on some remote Marianas island?

 

Max West drives one deep on Tinian.

 

[General Apathy]

On 3/7/2016 at 9:55 PM, 67Rally said:

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I have been wanting to start this topic for quite some time and my reluctance was merely due to not knowing the best location to host on this forum.
 

 

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Hi 67Rally.

 

I have been reading this thread since you started it and have made a couple of posts during the period,  never thought about adding these two shots I have before . . . . . 

 

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regards lewis.

 

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[67Rally]

4 hours ago, General Apathy said:

.

Hi 67Rally.

 

I have been reading this thread since you started it and have made a couple of posts during the period,  never thought about adding these two shots I have before . . . . . 

 

.

 

 

regards lewis.

 

...

 
This is a fantastic group of images as they capture the recreation crates as received. The top photo shows the private inventorying the softball equipment with a wonderful stack of leather on the shelf behind him in addition to the short stack of mitts and gloves on the table. The softball masks and what I believe are chest protectors next to him are great to see.

Below, we see the gents on the left with a set of baseball bat, glove and ball standing over an array of boxed softballs and baseballs and laid out bats towards the wall. In Steven Bullock's book, "Playing for Their Nation," he lays out the configuration of contents found in these crates and how the monies were raised to purchase everything that wasn't donated by manufacturers, major and minor league teams and even players themselves (who were 4F).

I am glad that you remembered and shared these!!

[67Rally]

This thread has been an absolute thrill to read through each of the posts and see what you all have collected. Baseball militaria was something that I latched onto not to long after I joined the USMF. I acquired my first military baseball flannel uniform from a forum member soon after and it has been an incredible ride ever since. With a growing number of service-marked bats and gloves and more than two dozen flannels (full uniforms or just jerseys), close to a thousand vintage photographs, championship medals, service decorations, documents along with programs, scorebooks and scorecards, the collection has been mobile and shared at regional events. It has been very rewarding to see WWII and Korean War veterans pause and remember the days when they played for their unit teams or just played during the downtime as they soak in the artifacts (I always allow them to feel the vintage gloves and pick up a bat).

Here are a few shots from one summer showing of selected treasures.

[67Rally]

On 2/17/2021 at 10:20 AM, kammo-man said:

I was told along time ago this was an issue bat but maybe it’s just an old one I don’t know as it’s not my collection knowledge.

owen 

I don't see any markings to indicate that it went through any of the branch morale and welfare arms. If you have the veteran's provenance, that would help as not everything that reached the troops was marked.

 

[General Apathy]

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Hi 67Rally.

 

A few of the pieces I auctioned off in 2018, there was another front pad guard and shin guards sold but not shown, I kept my U.S. Army marked bats though. 

 

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regards lewis.

 

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[67Rally]

5 hours ago, General Apathy said:

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Hi 67Rally.

 

A few of the pieces I auctioned off in 2018, there was another front pad guard and shin guards sold but not shown, I kept my U.S. Army marked bats though. 

 

.

 

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regards lewis.

 

..

Love the pieces! The one aspect that I have not pursued is in catcher's gear. I haven't attempted to acquire the pieces due to their storage space requirements but as I look at the number of gloves, mitts, bats and uniforms, I can see the folly of my decision. 

By the way, that small mask is for another sport (not baseball or softball).

[General Apathy]

2 hours ago, 67Rally said:

Love the pieces! The one aspect that I have not pursued is in catcher's gear. I haven't attempted to acquire the pieces due to their storage space requirements but as I look at the number of gloves, mitts, bats and uniforms, I can see the folly of my decision. 

By the way, that small mask is for another sport (not baseball or softball).

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Hi 67Rally,

 

Thanks, we can try but as we all know no one person can have EVERYTHING  . . . . . . . . . 

 

thanks for the comment on the small mask, I have no idea only that they were stamped ' Special Services, U.S. Army 1941 ' 

 

regards lewis.

 

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[67Rally]

2 hours ago, General Apathy said:

.

Hi 67Rally,

 

Thanks, we can try but as we all know no one person can have EVERYTHING  . . . . . . . . . 

 

thanks for the comment on the small mask, I have no idea only that they were stamped ' Special Services, U.S. Army 1941 ' 

 

regards lewis.

 

..

So true. I have spent the last dozen or so years pursuing so much baseball militaria and researching the equipment and personnel to the nth degree and yet I have only begun to scratch the surface. However, I have found that the depth of knowledge that I have accumulated, as useless as it may be to the greater populace, has opened the doors to many opportunities and has developed into countless consulting encounters for many entities including the BBHOF.

It is quite an endeavor that keeps me smiling and aghast at what continues to surface.

[67Rally]

After acquiring more than a dozen WWII service bats marked with "U.S." and "U.S.N.", I was finally able to sneak in a "U.S. Army" marked bat for the collection. 

[General Apathy]

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hi 67 Rally

 

here's a high hitter for you . . . . . . . . 

 

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regards lewis.

 

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