1943 MICKEY COCHRANE'S GREAT LAKES NAVAL TRAINING STATION BASEBALL TEAM PENNANT

Hello, I have this pennant and would like to know about it and it's value.

You have quite a rare pennant. In 1942, baseball great, Mickey Cochrane was asked to manage The Great Lakes Naval Training Station Baseball Team. He was given the rank of Lieutenant and put together a team of major and minor league players who joined the Navy for WWII. Cochrane managed the team for 3 seasons (1942-1944) and was replaced by Bob Feller for the 1945 season. The Bluejackets played Collegiate, Minor League, Major League, Industrial and Semi-Pro teams. Money raised from these games went mainly to Army-Navy Relief Funds. Cochrane's teams went 63-14 in 1942, 52-10-1 in 1943 and 48-2 in 1944. They famously met the winner of the 1942 Major League All-Star game (losing 5-0). 

No less than 68 major leaguers played for the GLNTSBT in the 4 war year seasons. Players such as Schoolboy Rowe, George Dickey, Gene Woodling, Bob Feller, Johnny Mize, Billy Herman, Barney McCoskey, Virgil Trucks, Benny McCoy, Johnny Lucadello, Joe Grace, Don Padgett, and Eddie Pellagrini made the Bluejackets a formidable team. 

The pennant you have is from a game they played against the Ford Rouge League All-Stars in 1943. The GLNTSBT played the Ford All-Stars at least 4 different times. This game in 1943, twice in 1944 (Ford beat them 2-1 for one of their 2 losses) and once in 1945 when Bob Feller threw a no-hitter).  

Souvenirs from these games are scarce. Programs do not pop up very often and can bring up to $100. Pennants? Try to find one. Your pennant is game specific and could not have been made in any kind of large numbers. The game was held on July 14 at Rotunda Field and arrangements were made to house 6,000 fans. There are collectors who would covet this pennant as a WWII Baseball, Mickey Cochrane, Ford, Baseball Pennant or Detroit Tiger collectible. I cannot imagine it bringing less than $200. It is conceivable that it could bring significantly higher $600-800. 


Comments

Anonymous said…
Still availble?

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