Cliff Stewart donates handmade WWII bat and ball to museum
Captain Clifford “Cliff” Stewart has donated a baseball and a bat to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. The relics are over seven decades old, from World War II, when Stewart was a merchant seaman in the Forgotten Convoy, a fleet of ships that sailed into Molotovsk, Russia in 1943. The crews expected the formation of a new convoy for the return trip within days. That didn’t happen, and the fleet was stranded in Russia for almost nine months. They received mail once during their stay.
The fleet turned to baseball to pass the time. The White Sea League was formed, one team from each ship.
The baseballs were made out of boot leather stitched over string wound around a rubber core. The crew used a lathe to craft a bat out of a piece of wood. Townspeople helped to level a field, and attended games to see “what those crazy Americans were doing,” Stewart said. Everyone on the league signed the bat, which Stewart then varnished.
When asked why he chose to give away the artifacts, Stewart responded, “I’m 99 years old. The Hall of Fame wanted them, and so that’s where they’re going.” He added that he hopes people who see the baseball and bat enjoy them.
Stewart’s neighbor, Brian Gallaway, was the catalyst for the ball and bat’s new home. He contacted the Hall of Fame and Museum to spread the word about Stewart’s prized possessions. Erik Strohl, vice president of exhibitions and collections at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, was captivated immediately.
Strohl traveled 13 hours to retrieve the pieces of baseball history, picking them up in Healdsburg on June 24. He said the trip was well worth it.
“Baseball and America have grown up together, and there’s a wonderful history where those two things cross over,” Stohl said. “We don’t have too many artifacts that are of this caliber, and what this shows you is that no matter where Americans are, and no matter what trials and tribulations they’re going through, we can always look to baseball to find some sort of solace and connection to home.”
Stewart was born in Missouri on June 30, 1916. Prior to the Navy, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and then worked for the U.S. Forest Service. Stewart’s career in the Navy spanned over 32 and a half years. The last conflict he served in was the Vietnam War. His duty in the Navy came to an end when the base he was stationed at, Hunters Point, closed in 1974.
Stewart and his wife, Dorothy, who died in 2013, purchased property in Healdsburg in the early 1970s and built the house that Stewart lives in now. While living in Healdsburg, Stewart spent 15 years as a Sonoma County planning commissioner.
Stewart’s daughter, Anita, lives with him and his son, Phil, is close by in Santa Rosa.
Strohl said that the Hall of Fame and Museum plans to put the bat and ball on display in August or September.
