Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Baseball and the USS Arizona

Here are some more photographs from my Grandfather's collection of navy photographs from when he was in the Navy from 1916 to 1922. These photos are from a baseball game, apparently some sort of championship game played in 1917 between the team from the USS Arizona and another team. I believe that the game was played at the US Naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Although my Grandfather's naval record is incomplete, we believe that he served on the Arizona around this time. Please click on the photos to get a larger view.

"AT 'EM ARIZONA". I have another photo showing a large crowd of people carrying this banner to the field. The Arizona had a crew of over 1,000 men, so a large crowd could be mustered.

It's impossible to say but I believe this is either the second baseman or the shortstop waiting for a throw at second base. Maybe the start of a double play.

This my favorite photograph of the set. You thought that Pete Rose invented the head-first slide? The best part is that the base runner has raised a great cloud of dirt but he's still at least a foot from the plate, and the catcher already has the ball and is waiting to apply the tag. Notice also that there is no umpire in sight, and there is a batter standing there. Was this an attempted steal of home? A botched hit and run?

This picture is what makes me think it was a Championship game. Unfortunately, I can't tell who won. The large banners in the background just say "Championship Baseball" on them.

1 comment:

Dinged Corners said...

My brother is a Park Service archaeologist who did a great deal of work setting up the USS Arizona museum in Hawaii. I will send this link to him...very cool.