Professional Base Ball Fund

CIRCA - 1942
MANUFACTURER - Goldsmith
SIZE - 9 inches - 9" - 5 ounces
PRICE GUIDE - $400.00 - $500.00
Excellent-Near Mint Condition
Because of the scarcity of this baseball and lack of sales data the value is estimated based on selling prices of baseballs with similar history and age.

Information Provided by:
Keymancollectibles.com

NOTES:

This is a Goldsmith No. 97 "Professional Base Ball Fund" baseball that was made for the WWII "Baseball Equipment Fund" headed by Clark Griffith in 1942. The No. 97 Official League baseball was the highest quality baseball in the Goldsmith catalog, made in compliance to the specifications of organized baseball. This Goldsmith "Preferred Product" logo was used around the 1936-1943 period. In 1944 Goldsmith added the MacGregor name to their products and became known as "MacGregor Goldsmith" Then in 1952, the Goldsmith name was dropped entirely and the company was simply called MacGregor.

With the onset of the U.S. involvement in WWI in 1917, Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith launched a plan to support our troops by raising money to purchase athletic equipment, mainly baseball gear, to outfit every U.S. military training camp. Baseball was considered essential to morale. The Y.M.C.A. shipped 144,000 bats and 79,680 balls to the troops overseas with the money raised by Griffith.

Since its inception in 1933, All-Star game profits were funneled to a relief fund benefiting retired indigent ballplayers. In 1941, the profits were sent to the USO, to buy athletic equipment for servicemen. Four days after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, baseball executives established the WWII version of the Bat & Ball Fund, renamed the "Baseball Equipment Fund" Once again Clark Griffith took charge along with National League President Ford Frick.

With $25,000 raised by Major League baseball, contributions by the writers association of America, and all the proceeded generated by the 1942 All-Star game Clark Griffith contacted several Sporting Goods companies. Griffith obtained a discounted price for equipment from Louisville Slugger, Goldsmith, Spalding and the Wilson Sporting Goods Companies.

The first order was for 18,000 baseballs and 4,500 bats. The equipment was to be distributed among military camps at the discretion of the joint Army and Navy Committee on welfare and Recreation. There were two types of Kits put together during WWII. Kit-A included a dozen baseballs and three bats; Kit-B contained the catchers gear, a mitt, mask, chest protector and shin guards. It was reported by the Sporting News that 6,000 kits were shipped over seas, but 35 kits were lost at sea as a result of a submarine attack.

MORE PHOTOS

Goldsmith No. 97 WWII "Bat & Ball Fund" Baseball

Goldsmith No. 97 Professional Base Ball Fund Baseball

KEYMAN COLLECTIBLES RELATED RESOURCES

Official Major League Baseball Dating & Price Guide

	Official National League & American League Baseball Dating Guide - Spalding manufactured National League Baseballs, and Reach manufactured American League Baseballs, for about 100 years until Rawlings took over in 1977. Rawlings has been been making major league baseballs ever since.
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	References: Excerpt from Clark Griffith: Baseball's Statesman by Brian McKenna, and the 1943 Sporting News Baseball Guide & Recordbook.