Timeless Tales of Phoenixville - Baseball in WWII

I’m always looking for hidden treasures in thrift stores, flea markets and antique stores, especially those that can provide a story. Last month I went out to one of my favorite thrift stores and thrown on a shelf of toys, I found a baseball. When I picked it up and looked closer, I noticed this was no ordinary baseball! I could see it was an older ball and there was writing all over it and I started to notice that there was a common theme happening, WW2 battle locations in the Pacific. I could make out the following… Pearl Harbor, Guam, Mog Mog and Eniwetok. These were all location of our US Military during WWII, and it most likely relates to the US Navy.

The “Official 97 League” baseball was made by a company called MACGREGOR GOLDSMITH in the 1940s. Early baseballs can often be identified by the color and style of stitching, material and maker. This ball was either brought to war from home or purchased at a PX to use for games, which were very popular amongst the US Troops during WW2. Those games were played just amongst friends or in official US Army/Marine/Navy regulated games. Baseball was extremely popular but suffered greatly due to a lot of their players going to war like, Ted Williams, Bob Feller, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Warren Spahn and many more.

There are two names written on the baseball stating that the ball was being gifting from one buddy to another. I’m currently trying to research those names, and I hope to piece this treasure together.