As reported on Jin the Olean Times-Herald:įORT NIAGARA NINE TO PLAY PITLERMAN HERE - Second in a series of games for the war effort will be held at Bradner Stadium Monday night when the Oilers tangle with Fort Niagara. Regional newspapers in New York and Pennsylvania also took notice of the powerhouse team at Fort Niagara. He’ll do his hurling this summer for the Fort Niagara (N.Y.) baseball team - at $21 per month. Newspaper accounts of the time heralded Peek’s entry into the military, as recounted in this Mareport in the Pittsburgh Press:įALL IN! SERVICE MEN AND SPORTS - Coaches and athletes alike are entering the Armed Forces daily, willing to let Uncle Sam run their team for the duration … Yankee pitcher, Steve Peek is one player who isn’t holding out. Steve Peek, a right handed pitcher, played for the New York Yankees in 1941 before coming to Fort Niagara after his induction into the U.S. Although Fort Niagara was still a “powerhouse” team, the squad now participated in the PONY League (Pennsylvania-Ontario-NY), which included New York teams in Lockport, Batavia, Hornell, Olean, Jamestown and Wellsville, as well as in Bradford, Pennsylvania and Hamilton, Ontario. Army recruit) Stephen George “Steve” Peek, who had been a star athlete at Saint Lawrence University and in the minor leagues before signing with the Yankees, who won the World Series in 1941. In early 1942, the championship team added former New York Yankees pitcher (and new U.S. (Photo credit- Old Fort Niagara Association) Although none of these 1940-1941 uniforms are known to exist currently, they are believed to be grey wool flannel with red pinstripes navy and white trim on the sleeve ends, around the collar and edging the front button plackets FORT NIAGARA lettered in white and edged with navy and with red caps and stockings. Jim Moody, Coach, Union City, PA Robert Nugent, Syracuse, NY Joseph Petrella, Groton, NY George Vittle, Kenmore, NY and Capt. Rizzo, New York City John Kuryla, Elmira Heights, NY Carmine Liguori, Bronx, NY Augie Macali, Ithaca, NY Sgt.
The 1941 champion baseball team at Fort Niagara, shown at Dexter Field, Queens( Kneeling, L to R): William Ahern, Hamburg, NY Herman Broska, Lancaster, NY Adam Czaya, Lancaster, NY Orval Cott, Buffalo, NY Alfred Cervi, Buffalo, NY Peter Dashuski, Auburn, NY Cecil Herner, Fulton, NY. Army First Corps Area Champions, Fort Adams of Newport, Rhode Island, to become the Army’s “Inter Corps Area Champions” for 1941. Then, at Dexter Field in Queens on October 11, 1941, the Fort Niagara team swept a best-of-three series against U.S. They were crowned Courier-Express Suburban League Champions and U.S. 300, and finished the season with 43 wins to only five losses. In 1941, behind coach and pitcher, Technical/First Sergeant James Moody of Union City, Pennsylvania, the team had more than eight members with a batting average over. This year marks the 80th anniversary of a high point in the team’s record.
#Forts game group professional#
What is far less commonly known is that at least 150 minor league players lost their lives while serving their country.īefore these soldier-athletes at Fort Niagara started getting shipped to other posts and overseas, they won two consecutive league and regional Army championships, and even faced off twice in dramatic duels against the legendary African American pitcher Satchel Paige and his Kansas City Monarchs during an era when professional baseball was still segregated. And that, of course, included many baseball players.Īccording to the website, more than 4,500 professional players swapped flannels for military uniforms, including future Hall of Famers like Bob Feller, Hank Greenberg, Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams. What happened at Fort Niagara was part of a story that happened across America, which instituted the military draft in September 1941 and by the end of that year already had two million men in uniform.
military began ramping up its manpower, events fell into place at Fort Niagara for assembly of a formidable baseball team made from professional and semi-professional players, even including a former pitcher for the championship New York Yankees. (Photo Credit – Old Fort Niagara Association)īut starting in 1941, as the U.S.
The baseball team practices near their barracks at Fort Niagara in 1942.
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