Military members were treated to a complimentary outing of Southern Miss baseball on Sunday as the Golden Eagles donned special uniforms paying tribute to the Camp Shelby All-Stars of World War II.
As part of the team’s military appreciation weekend, military members, both active and retired, were given free tickets to watch USM face off against Louisiana-Monroe for the final matchup of the three-game series. Spectators were able to see the commemorative jerseys in action.
“This new jersey that we have recreated thanks to the support of Southern Miss, is designed to honor and remember those important baseball players who served in our military during WWII and also the games that they played to help take our minds off of war for a little while, at a time when our country was involved in the greatest global conflict in history,” Mississippi Armed Forces Museum director Tommy Lofton said. ”
Eighty years later, we are excited to recreate the jersey as a salute to our service members of the past, but also those of the present.”
Baseball was brought to Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg in 1917 as a means to give soldiers an escape from their training and impending deployment. Across the country, different military camps like Camp Shelby hosted baseball games. In 1918 alone, over 50,000 baseball matchups were played in the southeast department with nearly 700,000 men participating and over 2.5 million spectators attending games.
In the 1940s, soldiers at Camp Shelby created an all-star team that consisted of many current and future major leaguers. The Camp Shelby All-Star team won the 1941 Mississippi Semi-Pro State Title at Hattiesburg’s Kamper Park and the 1946 District Title.
Notable pro players stationed at Camp Shelby at one point, or another include:
- George Archie (Detroit AL/Washington AL/Saint Louis AL, 1938-41, 46)
- Zeke Bonura (Chicago AL/Washington AL/New York NL/Chicago NL, 1934-40)
- Al Brazle (Saint Louis NL, 1943, 46-54)
- Boo Ferriss (Boston AL, 1945-50)
- Al Flair (Boston AL, 1941)
- Ken Heintzelman (Pittsburgh NL/Philadelphia NL, 1937-42, 46-52)
- George Scharein (Philadelphia NL, 1937-40)
- Harry Walker (Saint Louis NL/Philadelphia NL/Chicago NL/Cincinnati NL, 1940-43, 46-55 as a player; Saint Louis NL/Pittsburgh NL/Houston NL, 1955-72 as manager)
Southern Miss (25-15, 11-7 Sun Belt) took games one and two of the series against the Warhawks but dropped the final outing 5-1. The Golden Eagles are currently in fourth place in the conference.
