Nice Catch!
Baseball and the US Navy go together like a hand in glove.
And right now, there’s a fly ball reminder of this on display at the NJ Maritime Museum in Beach Haven, NJ in the form of a Navy issued World War II leather baseball mitt.
The owner of that mitt, Joseph Vogel, was a veteran of WW II and the father of Jim Vogel, a former commercial fisherman who lives in Beach Haven, NJ today.
Three initials are stamped at the bottom of the glove.
“USN, that stands for U.S Navy,” Vogel said. “The glove was Navy issue. My father was a machinist mate in the Pacific. And when they were on an island, the men were issued baseball equipment.”
“They were in a life-threatening situation. They were so far away from home, and they didn’t get much in the way of a break, so baseball was a little bit of fun for them.”
-Jim Vogel
Baseball and the U.S. Navy go back as far as the late 1800’s. The sport was introduced into the Navy as a way of keeping sailors in shape and out of trouble. During both World Wars baseball boosted morale among servicemen who used the game as a recreational distraction.
“They were in a life-threatening situation,” Vogel said. “They were so far away from home, and they didn’t get much in the way of a break, so baseball was a little bit of fun for them.”
Vogel said he found the glove among some of his father’s possessions after he died. “I thought well, with the section of military things here in the museum it would fit right in.”
Joseph Vogel’s lightly padded mitt would not fit in baseball today. In the 1940s baseball mitts were made from full grain leather and were much heavier and stiffer than the high quality, easily moldable modern mitts of today.
“My father’s glove is certainly not even close to what baseball players use today,” he said.” But that was the equipment they used in the forties.”
Vogel said his father’s connections to Long Beach Island, NJ go way back. “When I was born in 1952, my father had a charter boat at the Beach Haven Yacht Club”, he said. “And when I was two, he moved up to Barnegat Light. He was one of the original 13 owners of Fisherman’s Marina on 15th St.”
Although Vogel played baseball as a boy on the island, he never thought about using his father’s mitt. ‘No, not really, he said “We used to play a little baseball in Barnegat Light. Where the dog park is today, there was a baseball field. We used to have pickup games. No big deal. Back in the day it was just something to do.”
Vogel also said he never entertained any dreams of being a baseball player. “I always preferred fishing, he said.” I don’t even like spectator sports. But it is interesting to look at the mitt, especially on Memorial Day. My father was a veteran. The men then and the men of today, they’re the ones who help keep the world safe.”
One baseball game at a time.
Images: Marjorie Amon
Contact Information
NJ Maritime Museum
528 Dock Road, Beach Haven, NJ 08008
609-492-0202
Email: info@NJMM.0org
Instagram @njmaritimemuseum