1930s Legion Baseball uniform found, returned

Members of American Legion Francis Scott Key Post 11 in Frederick, Md., were recently rummaging through old boxes in the post’s attic when they came across an early 1930s Legion Baseball uniform. With history in their hands, the post had the uniform specially framed and returned it to its owner: Joe Price, a 96-year-old World War II veteran, a longtime Post 11 member and a well-known baseball figure in the community.

Price was surprised when Post 11 Legion Baseball committee members presented him with a piece of his past during a dinner at the post. For Price, seeing his uniform for the first time in nearly 80 years was bittersweet.

He recalled playing Legion ball at the young age of 16 and being a part of one of the top teams in the state of Maryland, but "the one memory it (the uniform) brought back, and I wish it didn’t, was our team’s 14-1 loss against Fort Cumberland Post 13" during the state championship game in 1934. Post 13 went on to win The American Legion World Series in Chicago, and Price went on to serve as an Army medic during World War II at Mitchel Air Force Base in Long Island, N.Y. Afterward, he had a successful career as a Baltimore Orioles scout from 1954 to 1981, and he served for many years on Post 11’s Legion Baseball committee. But Price said his No. 1 fan for the past 71 years has been his wife, Caroline.

Price’s Legion Baseball uniform will reside at the post in a glass cabinet that features memorabilia from all wars.