Cool WWII photo

[bbcard1]

A friend of mine's father in law was football hall of famer Bullet Bill Dudley. He was stationed in Saipan in World War II and when the base team heard about him, he was recruited as a utility player.

Quite a bit of big league talent on that team. Story posted subsequently for those interested.

First row, left to right:
Al Lien, Pacific Coast League: Taft Wright, Chicago White Sox; Buster Mills, Cleveland Indians; Dario Lodigliano, Chicago White Sox; Stan Rojek, Brooklyn Dodgers; Charlie Silvera; Johnny Mazur; Bill Dudley

Second row:
Mike McCormick, Cincinnati Reds; no name; Tex Hughson, Boston Red Sox; Sid Hudson; Herm Reich, Pacific Coast League; Bill Schmidt, Pacific Coast League; Bob Dillinger, Toledo AA; Chet Kehn, Brooklyn Dodgers

[bbcard1]

Excerpt from the book:

The Army Air Force had put together three teams representing bombardment wings. The 58th Wing was based at West Field on Tinian, the 313th Wing at North Field, Tinian, and the 73rd wing on Saipan. It was a morale booster. The airmen could watch and be in the company of some of their favorite players. And what favorites.

Future Hall of Famer Enos Slaughter and three-time All Star Howie Pollet of the Cardinals, future Hall of Famer Joe Gordon and teammate Johnny Sturm of the Yankees, All-Star Birdie Tebbetts and Billy Hitchcock of the Tigers, Chubby Dean and Buster Mills of the Indians, Stan Rojek and Chet Kehn and All-Star Lew Riggs of the Dodgers, Taft Wright and Dario Lodigiani and Stan Goletz of the White Sox, Nanny Fernandez and Max West of the Braves, Mike McCormick of the Reds, and Tex Hughson of the Red Sox, along with 28 other AA pro and college players. They were there to play ball and do double duty as flight and ground crewmen.

When the 73rd Bombardment Wing Bombers found out that football star Bill Dudley was on the island, they brought him on as a utility player.

It was a snap for the same engineers who built the world’s largest air strip to construct a few ballfields. All they needed was someone to give them the specs. It was like having a portable stadium. Carve the field out of the jungle, build up a mound, lay down some bases, and play ball.

The fields were dirt. Seats were made of bomb crates, of which there were plenty. Bomb crates also made good fences. The teams realized quickly that the crate fences could be adjusted, depending on who was pitching and which team got to the field first.

The three teams played a 27 game round-robin series. There were 12,000 spectators at the opening game in July. Games were played on Saipan, Tinian and Guam. One early series was played at Iwo Jima.

All three teams had good, major league pitching. The games were played all out, like a pennant was on the line. There was the occasional fight. The boys played hard.

Bill: “Enos Slaughter and I got along fine. He played full steam. He stole second base in a game and came in spikes high. Joe Gordon was playing second. Gordon says, ‘Dammit, Enos, what’s wrong with you? Coming in here spikes like that?’ Enos says, ‘Joe, when I steal a base it’s mine. I don’t care if it’s in New York, St. Louis or here in the islands. If you don’t like it, get the hell out of the way.’ Gordon just shook his head and went back to position.”

Bill played the same game he played back in Bluefield. He got on base. Bill’s unorthodox playing style extended to baseball. When he played the outfield, he fielded fly balls with a running basket catch, taking in the ball waist high, a decade ahead of Willie Mays

Bill: “I’d catch a fly ball and the other dugout would start yelling ‘Run with it, Dudley! Run with it!’”

Baseball was especially popular on Saipan and Tinian. The locals were introduced to baseball in World War I and they played the game. All told, the league played before about 180,000 soldiers, sailors and Marines. The Japanese stragglers who watched from the surrounding jungle – and they were there – weren’t counted. The spectators were all male.

Bill: “I don’t recall seeing a single woman on Saipan, Tinian or Guam.”

[aelefson]

Todd, that is a great photo and good stories/information! I have a small group of items related to this team (see below). I also have two autographed baseballs, a broadside/poster, 30+ snapshots and a few other items that I have not scanned/photographed yet from with the same group of players featured.

Alan

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Originally Posted by bbcard1

A friend of mine's father in law was football hall of famer Bullet Bill Dudley. He was stationed in Saipan in World War II and when the base team heard about him, he was recruited as a utility player.

Quite a bit of big league talent on that team. Story posted subsequently for those interested.

First row, left to right:
Al Lien, Pacific Coast League: Taft Wright, Chicago White Sox; Buster Mills, Cleveland Indians; Dario Lodigliano, Chicago White Sox; Stan Rojek, Brooklyn Dodgers; Charlie Silvera; Johnny Mazur; Bill Dudley

Second row:
Mike McCormick, Cincinnati Reds; no name; Tex Hughson, Boston Red Sox; Sid Hudson; Herm Reich, Pacific Coast League; Bill Schmidt, Pacific Coast League; Bob Dillinger, Toledo AA; Chet Kehn, Brooklyn Dodgers

It will be a long time before I see anything this cool again. I love baseball and WWII. Thanks for sharing.

[dealme]

Incredibly cool…thanks for sharing!

Mark


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[icollectDCsports]

In the midst of such horror, some joy. Thanks for sharing.