WTB: Pre-war basketball cards

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by Gorditadogg

I did not realize they played outside 90 years ago. That's neat to see.

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At the 1936 Olympics the games were played at the tennisplätze, Reichssportfeld in the tennisstadion. The Mühlen Franck card (color one, bottom row) shows the first game of the quarterfinals played on August 12 at 5 p.m. Joe Fortenberry of the U.S. is making a layup He was the leading scorer in the game with 21 points. Jesús Marzan is #8 for the Philippines. He scored two points in the game. The U.S. team back then was picked by a tournament. The winning team Universal Pictures, had 7 players on the team. The runners up, Globe Oil Refiners, had 6. Ralph Bishop, a center from the University of Washington was chosen as the 14th player. The rules allowed each country to suit 7 players for each game. The U.S. alternated between squads mainly of the Universal team and the Globe team. Due to byes in the first and third rounds the U.S. only played 4 games. The gold medal match, played in the rain on a muddy court, saw them beat Canada 19-8. Fortenberry was the leading scorer and the team was 4 members of Globe, 2 from Universal and Ralph Bishop. The members from the gold medal game were also the only ones allowed to participate in the medal ceremony. Bill Wheatley stood on the podium to accept the gold medal while the team stood behind him.


Fortenberry, Joe (6128).jpg
Joe Fortenberry

Wheatley, Bill (7354).jpg
Bill Wheatley

I acquired a 5 pound box of papers related to his basketball career from the son-in-law of Bill Wheatley. It included a lot of items on the Oakland Bittners and the original A.B.A.