1945 World War II "Marianas League" Signed Baseball Enos Slaughter PSA DNA
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$1,495.00
$1,249.00
1945 World War II "Marianas League" Signed Baseball from The Enos Slaughter Collection. During World War II, the Mariana Archipelago (which includes the islands of Guam, Saipan, and Tinian) and the Island of Iwo Jima were the sights of the some of the Pacific Theatres most intense battles as they held strategic military importance for the U.S. Air Force and Navy due to their close proximity to Japan.
In mid-1944 to late August 1945, in order to build up the morale of the troops, a series of baseball games, featuring Major League and minor league players, were played on those islands. The Seabees (U.S. Navy Construction Battalions) cut ball fields into the sides of hills and bleachers were created out of bomb crates to accommodate the games.
The ball on offer here dates from one of the Marianas League's three-game round-robin series played between Birdie Tebbetts' 58th Wingmen, Lew Riggs' 313th Flyers, and Buster Mills' 73rd Wing Bombers in late-July and early-August 1945. The games were played on Tinian, which, in two weeks' time, would serve as the departure point for B-29 bombers Enola Gay and Bockscar, which carried the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively.
Wilson "Official Pacific Coast League" baseball with league president Clarence Rowland's facsimile signature is signed by twenty-nine, including Major Leaguers Enos Slaughter (sweet spot), Joe Gordon, Ferris Fain, Tex Hughson, Nanny Fernandez, Chubby Dean, Howie Pollett, Joe Marty, Bobby Adams, Max West, Walt Judnich, Stan Rojek, and Dario Lodigiani. The ball is off-white while the autographs are even in strength and grade an overall 8.5/10. Presents in exemplary condition. An important relic linking baseball with the war effort. Full letter PSA DNA COA and Letter of provenance from the Slaughter family.
#327579827
D#42
