1945 Navy All-Star Game Pictures
 

Hey all,

A while back I purchased a 1945 team signed baseball from the Navy Series at Pearl Harbor. The baseball originated from Jack Phillips and he also included a program from the game and a couple of postcards. The program is an item I've seen elsewhere, but I've never seen these postcards anywhere else.

I know the knowledge on this board is unsurpassed so was hoping someone could provide some insight.

(One interesting note, the NL actually won 4 of the first 6 games, so there was no real need for the 7th game, but since the series was as much about entertaining the troops as anything else, they played the 7th game.)

Thanks!

Edit: I had assumed they were postcards but the consensus seems to be that they are pictures. I edited the title but have not gone through every mention in the listing, so please substitute picture when it says "postcard"

Neat postcards. I collect them. Not sure if I understand the question, if there is one? If it is, has anyone seen them before, for me the answer is no. But there are millions of postcards of baseball teams so new ones (that I haven't seen or don't remember seeing) pop up every day. I like the backs too!!

ps...btw what size are these? They don't have postcard backs....though I have some "blank backed" postcards and these, depending on size, certainly might be like those..

Thanks for the response.

I really know nothing about them or about postcards in general (or if they are even postcards), so I guess I was wondering whether they were rare (which if I understand correctly is basically like asking if a photograph is rare in that the specific one may be, but there could be millions of "rare" postcards.)

They are roughly 4.5" x 6". The name in the corner Tai Sing Loo was the official Navy photographer, so maybe they are pictures and not postcards?

I don't plan on moving them as they fit nicely into my WWII-related baseball collection, but am curious about whether they have any value as well.

I collect a fair amount of premiums and postcards. Since these aren't normal postcard size (about 3 x 5 or a bit bigger) I wouldn't consider them to be given out to be used as postcards. If it were me I would call them a premium possibly given out by the teams. Can you read the logo at the bottom, precisely? That might be a clue as to how these were distributed. There is no doubt they are scarce or rare or whatever you want to call it. But then again so are most 1900s RPPCs...

Do you mean on the bottom left of the front of the pictures?

If so, it says "Tai Sing Loo: who was the official Navy photographer. (If something else, let me know and I can check.)

Have you ever seen any other photos or postcards of the Navy All-Star game?

This did originate from one of the players (Jack Phillips), if that means anything.

Thanks again for the help!

WWII Navy World Series- 1944 & 1945
 

Hi Jeff,
Yes, because of my interest in Johnny Vander Meer I know a fair amount about the first WWII World Series in 1944 that pitted the Navy squad vs. the Army Squad. The Vander Meer & Co. Navy squad crushed the Joe DiMaggio & Co. Army squad in this series.

BTW, I've posted on this topic before, but it's been probably 2-3 years. I actually was unaware that there was a 1945 series & I love the photo postcards that you posted & wish that I had the 1944 version of these.
At least it gives me something else to look for. BTW, I believe that they are possibly postcards as you suspect, but know that this photographer also did individual photos with no typing on the back. The same Navy photographer took this original photo of Vandy warming up prior to his second win in the series. The photo was also taken at Furlong Field and came out of Vandy's personal scrapbook & I do believe that photos and postcards like these are quite rare and not mass produced, FWIW. I haven't ever seen others, but maybe someone else has that can chime in.
EarlyWynnfan5 Ken on net54 has an EXTENSIVE WWII collection. You may want to reach out to him, because he certainly may be able to add more detail about the 1945 series.

Here are some of the artifacts that I collected surrounding the 1944 WWII World Series.

Those are amazing! Thanks for sharing.

It wouldn't surprise me if the pictures are pretty rare because as I understand it, mine (like your Vander Meer) came from a player in the game.

I think Scott helped out more than I could dream of. Not sure about them being postcards and would like to know why they are thought to be? Technically they definitely are not. If they were PC sized I would be more in that camp. Heck, they could have had postcard printed backs but don't. Great photos and might be blank backed pc's but I would want to see some others first...

I changed the title of the thread. I don't have any good reason to assume they are postcards, it was just an ignorant guess.

All this is good info, Leon. My first impression was that they were photos, but all of the typed info on the back made me second guess myself. No matter what they are, they are very cool regardless! :)

Thanks!

Where did the autograph sheets come from? Those are amazing!

Thanks Jeff.
FYI, they were an eBay purchase from FL and belonged to one of their relatives that served in the Navy in Hawaii during the 1944 1st WWII World Series.
I recall that they were a relative bargain considering how many great baseball names were represented on the sheets. I love how several Navy friends from upstate NY signed the sheets as well.

The people that sold these to me were ecstatic that they went to someone that cared about their historical significance. I think they are exceedingly cool. Dimensions: 8" x 11" :)
It's amazing that something like this survived WWII and is still in reasonably good shape considering it's been 73 years...

Remarkable!

I've found somewhat similar in that the people I've bought items from are thrilled to find someone who cares about the story. The individual who sold me the postcards told me how the baseball it came with (which originated from the 1945 game and includes guys like Ted Williams and Stan Musial [in what I believe was the first time they played against each other] but is also super shellacked so the eye appeal is a bit less).

Anyways, he was thrilled to share the story of how his Dad was buddies with Jack Phillips who gave him the ball, postcards and a program from the game (which is incredibly beaten up, but still pretty cool). He also shared a conversation his Dad had with Stan Musial.

Ironically because of the communication I prefer when I can find items on eBay over items at auction houses because of the option to communicate and hear some of the story. I was able to pick up Bob Scheffing's program from the 1945 series along with the last ball used in the series-winning game 6 at auction which was super cool, but wish there was someone on the other end who would have shared some of the stories with me...

1945 Navy
 

awesome "cards"! Those would fit nicely in any collection. I particularly like the early pics of Musial and Lemon!

Here's a photo of the Naval Sub Base baseball team from the Service League that featured Yogi Berra. Games were played at Cassini Young Field in New London, CT. Certainly not as awesome as playing in Hawaii!

http://photos.imageevent.com/derekgr...0Berra3311.jpg

I couldn't agree more!
The back story pedigree/ provenance is what can singularly make a neat, extra cool and meaningful IMHO.

I like it Derek! Sweet!

Jeff, sorry I haven't replied to this earlier, the start of school has me almost overwhelmed. Here is Phillips' uniform from those games.

I'd love to see pics of your WWII collection sometime!
Ken
earlywynnfan5@hotmail.com

This is a fantastic piece! I'd love to see more details of the jersey - tags, embroidered name, etc.!

1945 envelope from Duke Snider to Branch Rickey. I traced the envelope back to the original letter which recently sold at auction. The letter that duke wrote was to inform Mr. Rickey that he wouldn’t be able to play for the Dodgers during the 46 season due to service responsibility.

If anyone knows who bought the letter...would love to get in touch with the buyer.

That's pretty cool! Interesting that he stamped the enveloped when postage was free for service members when sent from active, non-training units.

That's pretty cool! Interesting that he stamped the enveloped when postage was free for service members when sent from active, non-training units.

Link to the letter sold at auction. Never tried posting a link...so hopefully it work.

https://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball-c.../50002-50167.s

Have you attempted to reach out to the buyer to see if offers would be entertained?