The collecting mind knows no bound. We'll chase after anything as long as its related to something we enjoy. This even includes scraps of paper for a onetime event.
Found on eBay is the below dinner invitation celebrating the 1947 2nd Annual "Brooklyn Against the World" Amateur Baseball Series. Dodgers President Branch Rickey and Brooklyn Eagle Owner/Publisher Frank D. Schroth presided over the event. The series featured a group of all star sandlot nines and equivalent squads from as far away as Montreal in a game of ball. I am unsure how long this lasted, but appears to have at least gone on well into the 50's.
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Checkout the pic below that I found at the Brooklyn Public Library featuring a group of players from this tournament visiting the USS Juneau in Brooklyn Navy Yard. I had initially thought this was a youth tournament, but based on this pic that appears to be wrong.
(Pic Link)Below is a advertising sign for this exact 2nd Annual tournament. It had previously sold at Leland's for $115.00 in 2001.
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I have been doing research on Brooklyn Against the Work as part of a project focused mainly on the hearst Sandlot Classic. The real force behind the games, which continued in various formats from 1946 through 1950, was Lou Niss, the sports editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.
ReplyDeleteIn 1946 and 1947 the World players came from all over the country as well as from Hawaii, Cuba, and Montreal. Of those who played in these games, 10 made it to the majors including Whitey Ford. In 1948, the Brooklyn squad played a home and home series with a team from Washington, DC and then traveled to three Canadian cities and Providence, RI before returning home. In 1949 and 1950, Brooklyn and Montreal played a home and home series.
By 1950, the Brooklyn event had lost its steam, Branch Rickey was overextended financially with his sports interests. Also, by then the Hearst Game was the pre-eminent kids All-Star game.
I interviewed one player from the 1947 Brooklyn team and have corresponded with children of two of the 1946 World team players.
My father (Moe Savransky) pitched 7 shutout innings for the World All-Stars in 1947. Brooklyn tried to sign him to a contract, but he eventually played for Cincinnati after first going to Ohio State to play baseball & basketball for a year.
ReplyDeleteAl,
DeleteHere is what i have written about the game in which you dad pitched.
Manager Pepper Martin chose Moe Savransky to pitch the climactic third game for the World team against Brooklyn’s Victor Barbella. Moe was up to the task. The skies were threatening again and the crowd was only 5,376. He took a no-hitter into the fifth inning when Ralph Gebhardt legged out an infield single on a slow roller to Savransky. Moe allowed only one other hit, a solid single by Jim Felton, in his seven innings of work, as the World won 4-0. Felton did not play professionally. Barbella, who fell victim to defensive lapses by his mates, was charged with three second inning runs and absorbed the loss. Feel free to contact me at adc0317@comcast.net.
My wife's Uncle died and I found a handout from the 1950 Official Dinner for Brooklyn against the world in his belongings it has signatures that included Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Carl Erskine, Ralph Branca and several other Dodgers from 1950. Not sure if it's a print or if the signatures were gathered at the event. My wife's Uncle grew up in New York and was a life long Dodger fan he once told me that his father took him to a dinner on the roof of the St. George Hotel and he met some of the Brooklyn Dodgers. He never mentioned getting any autographs and he had the official dinner handout framed but tucked away in a closet. It's interesting to see the names and realize that it's almost 70 years old. I'm happy that I was able to nab, it I have it on display in my office, it might be worth something it might be worth nothing but it either way it's a nice keepsake to remind me of uncle Don.
ReplyDeleteThe last year for "Brooklyn Against the World" was 1950. 13 players from the Brooklyn team played professionally, but none made it to the majors. That year the "World" was a team of Montreal youngsters, and it was a home and home series. I was privileged to speak with one of the Brooklyn players, Mike Napoli. He made it as high as Triple-A.
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