Baseball, one of America's oldest and best loved sports, and certainly one of the most establish in the 1940s. As war loomed and the number of men in the armed services grew, the number of military baseball teams also grew. A way to pass the time, keep fit, encourage a little rivalry between the services, and with an influx of league players into the military, the 1940s really were a golden time for military baseball.
Despite the popularity of the sport and number of teams, the number of original 1940s & 50s baseball jerseys that are named to service units is extremely small, and these rare pieces are very much sought after. There is an excellent blog just on this subject that can read read here.
This particular jersey is likely dated to from the late 40s - early 50s, and was used by a team from the 315th Signal Battalion. I actually can't find much on this unit bar it served in WW1, and then appears again in Germany in the early 50s.
Condition
Excellent vintage condition, used but good. There is no damage bar a missing button, but there is some light fading and staining throughout. A few of the lines of stitching around a couple of the letters have come loose, but this doesn't seem to cause any issues, these could be restitched if desired.
Size
- Tagged a size 38, and fits like a modern medium/large
- Pit to pit 23"
- Shoulder shoulder 19"
- Collar to hem 27"