The Real McCoy's
MS26010
Cotton Flannel
WHITE
The BASEBALL UNIFORM SHIRT / MARINES is constructed from cotton flannel and finished with MARINES detailing at the chest, and team number applied at the rear, both in traditional felt lettering. Finished with a urea button fastening, this example recreates a wartime variant in which the second button is red, positioned through the “I” of the team name where the buttonhole is cut.
In 1944, organized baseball in Hawaii reached a peak. Multiple service leagues operated across Oahu, including the Honolulu League, Hawaii League, Central Pacific Area League and the 14th Naval District League. Among the most competitive teams were the Pearl Harbor Marines, who finished first in the East Division of the Honolulu League with an 8–1 record and went on to win the 14th Naval District League title.
At the same time, the 7th Army Air Force also fielded a team that would become one of the most talent-laden military squads of the war. In early June 1944, Brigadier General William J. Flood confirmed that Joe DiMaggio would join the 7th AAF in Hawaii. DiMaggio arrived alongside Walt Judnich, Dario Lodigiani, Jerry Priddy, Mike McCormick and Ferris Fain.
On June 4, 1944, DiMaggio made his first Hawaii appearance before 21,000 spectators at Honolulu Stadium, hitting a 435-foot home run against the Pearl Harbor Submarine Base team. Days later he hit a 450-foot drive that cleared the left-field bleachers and left the park entirely.
The 7th Army Air Force went on to dominate the Hawaii League, finishing 31–4 and winning the championship. Later that year, Army and Navy all-star teams clashed in the 1944 Army–Navy Service World Series before crowds of up to 20,000 servicemen in Pearl Harbor and across the islands.
Within this environment, Marine Corps teams such as the Pearl Harbor Marines competed directly against units containing major league talent. Baseball functioned as organized recreation, morale building and inter-service rivalry at a time when tens of thousands of servicemen were stationed in the Pacific theatre.
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