Celebrate a rich baseball history with this vintage-style ringer tee, featuring the Cleveland Birdies mascot. Crafted from mid-weight 100% cotton, it ensures comfort and style, making it perfect for any casual outing. The distinct burgundy ribbing and hand-printed design add a nostalgic touch, celebrating legendary player-manager Birdie Tebbetts. Made in Japan, this tee merges heritage with contemporary flair, ideal for fans and fashion enthusiasts alike.
From the brand: A Ringer Tee for the Cleveland Birdies, the Little League Baseball Team named for Cleveland Indians’ legend “Birdie” Tebbett, who played for and managed Cleveland following his service with the USAAF and a long stint at BUCO’s home team, the Detroit Tigers.
Despite holding a deferment from the draft, Birdie voluntarily joined military service with the Army Air Corps in August 1942, following a parade of professional ballplayers into the armed forces - and was assigned to Waco Army Flying School when Waco Army Air Field welcomed its first basic training pilots.
Tebbetts lost three years of his baseball career to military service but was able to hone his skills as player-manager for the Waco Army Flying School’s Baseball Team.
(link to Waco Longhorns Tee)
After graduating, Birdie was sent to Tinian and Saipan, the sights of the some of the Pacific Theatres most intense battles as they held strategic military importance due to their close proximity to Japan. In order to build up the morale of the troops, a series of baseball games, featuring Major League and minor league players, were played on those islands. The
Seabees
cut ball fields into the sides of hills and bleachers were created out of bomb crates to accommodate the games, where Tebbetts managed the 58th Wingmen, based at West Field, Tinian.
On Saipan, Captain Birdie Tebbetts thought he recognized the voice of an Air Force Pilot who used to heckle him from the crowd when he played in Cleveland. When Tebbetts came to bat in the seventh inning, he spotted his tormentor and hollered back to the bench: ‘That fellow, has followed me all the way from Cleveland to give me the works.’
Service players, including Birdie, also participated in war-benefit games, perhaps the most famous being American League All-Stars vs. Service All-Stars, itself played in Cleveland Stadium in July of ‘42.
Following the War, many who had served harbored a strong desire to set aside the rigors and traumas of wartime experiences, this catalysed a huge uptake in attendance at professional games and participation in amateur leagues, with a notable growth in the Little League game, which had been formed just a few years prior to War, where many Vets became coaches at newly formed teams throughout the U.S.
With a slightly cropped vintage style fit, the ringer tee bearing the Cleveland Birdie’s mascot is cut from a mid-weight 8oz. 100% cotton fabric. Featuring burgundy ribbing and printed by hand in our Kobe-based factory.
Cotton Fabric, 8 oz.
Cotton Sewing Thread
Print on Front
Made in Japan
