WWII baseball items

[esiason14]

Would love to see some cool pieces of players who served during WWII...pictured in uniform, letters, cool inscriptions...anything with a WWII tie-in. Doesn't have to be a big name. Here's a few random things:

[Scott Garner]

Here is one of my favorites:
An original 1944 Sampson NY Naval Base graduation photo featuring Johnny Vander Meer. It's signed by all of his graduation class and came with a letter from the wife of one of his classmates.

[Scott Garner]

Here is one other cool WWII related item that I have to share.

This is a 1942 Norfolk, VA US Naval training base team baseball that featured 4 former ML players including HOF Bob Feller, Fred Hutchinson, Sam Chapman and one year player Ace Parker.

I once brought this to a Bob Feller signing in DET about 15 years ago and asked him about it. He told me something about everybody on the ball, "this guy was one of the best catchers that ever caught me", this guy was TERRIBLE", etc., etc. Mr. Feller, R.I.P., was never without an opinion and his memory surrounding baseball was truly remarkable well into his 90's. What a great guy to discuss baseball with. I miss him...

I purchased this ball almost 20 years ago in So Cal for an AMAZING price.

[esiason14]

Very nice. I have a photo signed by Feller, Parker, and Sam Chapman in uniform....but no Hutchinson or others. I'll try to dig some more stuff up. Thanks for sharing.

Haha. Who did he say was terrible? Bob was one of the best. I never got the chance to meet him, but he did respond to one of my TTM requests with a detailed letter about his service teams.

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by esiason14

Very nice. I have a photo signed by Feller, Parker, and Sam Chapman in uniform....but no Hutchinson or others. I'll try to dig some more stuff up. Thanks for sharing.

Haha. Who did he say was terrible? Bob was one of the best. I never got the chance to meet him, but he did respond to one of my TTM requests with a detailed letter about his service teams.

Kyle,
At this point I honestly don't remember who Feller said was terrible, but I do remember the amount of color commentary that he added to his discussion about each player. He asked me where I got the ball? He stated that it was a great ball and he really enjoyed looking at it. FWIW, at the time it made me happy that I remembered to bring it and ask him about it...

[HexsHeroes]

. . . that would be appropriate here:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthr...4558&highlight

[earlywynnfan]

Right in my wheelhouse! Here are some of my faves:

Some of my team-signed balls; some have MLB players, some don't. Right above the Great Lakes ball with Mickey Cochrane (center) is one with Joe DiMag and Joe Gordon.

My display case with some of my programs, tix, photos, and a couple autos.

A binder with various papers, plus a letter from Creepy Crespi written from his Army Hospital bed and Dan Bankhead's discharge paper. Sitting on an Army trunk from a minor league player.

15 service-team baseball jerseys, including one worn by Jack Phillips (yankees.) A few service team softballs; the one from the Galapagos is my favorite.

3 others: on the left is a ball from a service game pitched by and auto'd by Red Evans. On the right is a ball brought back from a USO tour led by Birdie Tebbets (CBI items are, IMHO, the toughest.) And in the center is my pride and joy: a ball pitched by Bob Feller in 1942.

Ken

[earlywynnfan]

And as much as Scott's Vander Meer photo makes me teary, it's only a matter of time before Richard posts and really makes me cry with his Hank Greenberg letter! Someday it will be mine, Richard, someday...

Ken

[Scott Garner]

Originally Posted by earlywynnfan

Right in my wheelhouse! Here are some of my faves:

Some of my team-signed balls; some have MLB players, some don't. Right above the Great Lakes ball with Mickey Cochrane (center) is one with Joe DiMag and Joe Gordon.

My display case with some of my programs, tix, photos, and a couple autos.

A binder with various papers, plus a letter from Creepy Crespi written from his Army Hospital bed and Dan Bankhead's discharge paper. Sitting on an Army trunk from a minor league player.

15 service-team baseball jerseys, including one worn by Jack Phillips (yankees.) A few service team softballs; the one from the Galapagos is my favorite.

3 others: on the left is a ball from a service game pitched by and auto'd by Red Evans. On the right is a ball brought back from a USO tour led by Birdie Tebbets (CBI items are, IMHO, the toughest.) And in the center is my pride and joy: a ball pitched by Bob Feller in 1942.

Ken

Geez Ken, what a WWII collection. I had no idea. WOW!

[esiason14]

Wowsers, Ken. Now that is a collection. Just awesome.

Kyle

[Scott Garner]

Here are two pretty remarkable items that I just acquired related to Johnny Vander Meer's Naval Service in WWII:

- Vandy's Honorable Discharge Certificate from the US Navy.

- Vandy's official signed Notice of Separation from the US Naval Service dated December 1945. Note that Johnny's true last name is spelled Van Der Meer (3 words, not 2 the way he typically signed).

Pretty unique and certainly a great fit for my advanced Vander Meer collection!

[jerseygary]

During the war Gene Hermanski of the Brooklyn Dodgers (and later the Cubs) was stationed on Long Island with the Coast Guard. On weekend leave he'd play with the Brooklyn Bushwicks semi-pro team under the name Gene Walsh so he wouldn't get in trouble with the Coasties. This is probably the only known autograph of "Gene Walsh" which comes from a 1944 autograph album put together by a teenage girl in Brooklyn that I was lucky to pick up.

[esiason14]

Very interesting and very cool. I didn't know he played under an different name.

[Den*nis O*Brien]

Originated from the Ralph Winnie collection

[Topnotchsy]

This is an old thread, but WWII items are one of the my areas of interest, so I hope no one minds me bringing it back from the dead.

I have a few signed baseballs from WWII teams. A couple of them come from Stan Musial's personal collection. Recently picked up a 1945 Navy AS Game signed ball (which apparently is the first time Musial and Ted Williams played each other...) Thinking it would be a pretty cool project to get Navy AS Game balls from each year they held them...

Here is a pic from one of the balls from Musial:

Edit: And I still can't figure out how to properly post pictures here... if anyone can help me, the links are all below but they don't seem to be showing up.

https://flic.kr/p/icabmq
https://flic.kr/p/icarja
https://flic.kr/p/ic9MRB
https://flic.kr/p/ic9MRB

[egri]

One of my neighbors was a LCDR in the Navy during the war. I don't have pictures of it, but he has a postcard signed by a bunch of members of the Gashouse Gang who came through with the USO. I remember Dizzy Dean was on there, and I think Joe Medwick was as well, and a few others.

[RichardSimon]

Another chance to show off my Hank Greenberg letter.

[holybull]

http://www.sgccard.com/registry/cards/um32310.jpg

[earlywynnfan]

Cochrane letter to his wife and a neat Creepy Crespi note written while convalescing from his broken leg, I believe. I love the "Hello, Postman" on top.

[earlywynnfan]

Originally Posted by RichardSimon

Another chance to show off my Hank Greenberg letter.

Did Captain Greenberg censor his own mail??
OT: Friend of mine's father was a censor. I guess it was a pretty unpopular job, but he always remembered the time he rejected a guy's letters. When the guy stormed in to confront him, he calmly showed him how he had put a letter meant for his wife into the girlfriend's envelope and vice versa!

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by earlywynnfan

Did Captain Greenberg censor his own mail??

I have always assumed that as an officer he could do that.

My lone WWII item is a 1945 (approx) US Navy multi-signed ball. From my research it has the following signers:

Sweet Spot: None
Panel 1: Mickey Vernon (Senators, Indians, Red Sox), Del Ennis (Phillies, Cardinals), Mike Budnick (Giants)
Panel 2: Lou Tost (Boston Braves, Pirates), Sherry Robertson (Senators, A's), Fred Chapman (A's), Manny Fernandez (catcher, NAS Honolulu Crossroaders Hawaii 1945), Gil "Gibby" Brack (Brooklyn Dodgers, Phillies)
Panel 3: Connie Ryan (Giants, Braves, Reds), Steve "Red' Tramback (5 ABs for 1940 NY Giants)
Panel 4: Bud Blattner (St Louis Cardinals, Giants, Phillies, later announcer for Browns, Cardinals, Angels, Royals), Red McQuillen (St Louis Browns), Frank Wolf (?), Dick West (Reds)
Ball: Official League; has U.S.N. stamping

[earlywynnfan]

Pretty sure that's Nanny Fernandez, the Boston Brave. Nice ball! Is it part of your sale?

ken

Originally Posted by earlywynnfan

Pretty sure that's Nanny Fernandez, the Boston Brave. Nice ball! Is it part of your sale?

ken

Hi, Ken. Of course you could be right on Fernandez, but seems like quite an ornate "N", thus why I thought it was an "M".

And yeah, I do have it up for sale; though I wasnt trying to plug it as part of this thread, lol. If you have some interest, feel free to PM me.

Thanks.

Jim

[Topnotchsy]

1944 Navy Hospital vs Air Force signed by Pee Wee Reese, Joe Gordon and Red Ruffing among others.

[JoeDfan]

Joe D. at Camp Cooke...

[btcarfagno]

I have a signed ball that I have researched that turned out to be of the 1943 Long Beach Ferry Command team.

The best signature on the ball is the super tough Wimpy Quinn. It also has Red Ruffing, Vince DiMaggio, Lou Novikoff, Berly Horne, Cliff Dapper, Nanny Fernandez, Chuck Stevens, etc.

Tom C

[Topnotchsy]

Originally Posted by btcarfagno

I have a signed ball that I have researched that turned out to be of the 1943 Long Beach Ferry Command team.

The best signature on the ball is the super tough Wimpy Quinn. It also has Red Ruffing, Vince DiMaggio, Lou Novikoff, Berly Horne, Cliff Dapper, Nanny Fernandez, Chuck Stevens, etc.

Tom C

Do you have a scan(s) you can share? I'd love to see.

If you would consider moving it please let me know. I have WWII related items along with many others that I'd consider moving, and would consider buying if we worked out a price.

[Topnotchsy]

Thanks to Tom C (btcarfagno) for an assist on this one.

Baseball comes from Bob Scheffing and is inscribed "Last ball pitched in Navy League National (4) American (3) October 6, 1945." Based on the score it seems like it was the last ball pitched on October 5th (in the second to last game, which was the series clincher, but not the final game of the series which was on the 6th but had a different score.)

I had known the baseball was signed by Musial, but had not noticed any other important signatures.

Tom C mentioned how rare Wimpy Quinn's signature was, and so I was pretty pleased to find his signature on this ball.

[Topnotchsy]

I feel bad, as it seems half my posts are asking for help with information, but this board has so much it is hard not to

Anyone know what exactly these are? Are they postcards? Pictures? They originated from Jack Phillips who played in the game and the backs list the rosters.

Edit: Also a little confused by what it says on the back "The Nationals Won the Series 4-3". In other places I have seen indicated that they played 6 games, and in others 5 games?

[earlywynnfan]

No help on the origins of the postcards, but here's Phillips' uniform!

[Topnotchsy]

Originally Posted by earlywynnfan

No help on the origins of the postcards, but here's Phillips' uniform!

That is incredible!

I picked up a number of items from the son of a close friend (and Navy comrade) of Phillips including a signed ball from the game, the postcards and a very beaten up program.)

Interestingly, this was the first time that Musial and Williams met on the field. The ball I have is extremely toned, but coming from Phillips and being signed by roughly 30 players including Musial and Williams, I think it's a really cool piece.

[esiason14]

Just saw that postcard of Joe D at Camp Cooke. Awesome!...and the jersey isn't bad either