I'm incredibly excited about this acquisition. For a while I was unsure if one of these existed like this one.
This program is from the GI World Series, played in Nurmberg in September 1945 at Soldier Field. The field was previously a site for made German rallies, and Hitler had a large complex on the site.
Highly significant for its symbolism from a military perspective, the significance extended in another direction. The series was played between the OISE All Stars and the 71st Infantry Red Circlers’. The OISE team was integrated and included former Negro League HOFers Leon Day and Willard Brown.
The programs had to make it back from Europe safely, making them exceedingly rare to begin with, but a few copies of these programs have surfaced over the years (roughly 6-7 in my estimation).
Until recently though, I was unaware of a copy that existed that had been scored. Given the circumstances, I imagined that the copies that survived were the ones that were thrown in soldiers' luggages, rather than taken to the ballpark and scored.
Recently a scored copy popped up and I was able to acquire it. Significantly, the starting pitcher for the OISE squad was Leon Day. And fortuitously, this program was from Game 2 of the series, when Day pitched 8 innings, gave up just 1 run and struck out 10 on the way to a 2-1 victory. The other game that Day pitched was Game 4, and in that game, Day came out on the losing side. The OISE team had a surprise upset, winning the series 3 games to 2.
One other interesting tidbit from the program was that HOF outfielder Willard Brown played shortstop in this game.
Here is an extensive link to items associated with the tournament in general and this series in particular.
https://chevronsanddiamonds.org/2019...ies-scorecard/
12-09-2023, 10:52 PM
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