I don't think that this is how the New York Yankees got that nickname, but it sure is a great shot that I highly doubt you'll ever see again. This B-17 Flying Fortress makes a low fly over of Yankee Stadium at the start of Game 1 of the 1943 World Series. Note that painted on the grandstand is "Buy U.S. War Bonds" and the even funnier "See Score Card for Alert Instructions".
click on the image for a larger version
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Saturday, July 5, 2008
PointNiner Heritage File: the real "Bronx Bomber"
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11 comments:
That's Steve McQueen at the controls ("The War Lover").
Where did this picture come from? I have heard of this story before from a World War II veteran that was the ball turret gunner in that plane. I would love to get a copy of the picture for him.
He says they were being shipped out the next day for a mission, so they buzzed the stadium and then up and down the east coast.
I actually found that through a sublink from another site that gets you to baseball-fever.com. The picture was associated with post #1487 in a thread about Yankee Stadium. It doesn't mention where the pictue came from, uless I missed that. Hope that helps.
here is the link
Correction, here is the link.
Thank you for the info, I'll see what I can find!
My father was the ball turret gunner aboard the "Aloha" piloted by John Lawlor. There were detained in Nova Scotia and the almost arrested. Mayor Laguardia was furious, but a later headline read "Mayor Forgives." My father told me (still alive) that he could looked into the pitcher's eyes.
Thanks, Ken. Sounds like a great story.
My father was a navigator in one of the B17's that buzzed Yankee stadium. He flew with pilot Elmer Young. He said the MP'S were waiting for them when they landed in Maine. They were detained for approx. 10 days then they were sent overseas.
My dad (Bob Sheets) was flying one of those B-17's. Everytime the subject came up he got a little twinkle in his eye. I daresay he and the others were rather proud of their little stunt. All of them went on to fly numerous missions over Europe. Dad had Walter Cronkite as a passenger in his plane on D-Day. Still have his scrapbook with details of every mission he flew, with aerial photos, etc. I recently corresponded with one of his fellow pilots who said that before every World Series game played at Yankee Stadium they replay the buzzing. Anyone know anythng about that?? Is it just a photo or is there film footage of it?
My uncle was one of the pilots that flew over the stadium. They came form Walla Walla Wa. He said they were going to get leave in NY and they were almost to NY and they got orders not to stop so they said they were going to at least see the game anyway and when they landed in Newfanland they spent a day in the brigg and were told they would never make captin and after a week over seas all of the them made captin and he said there were three B-17 that flew over. His name was Bill Young
My Dad was Elmer Young(Bill). He piloted the plane that buzzed the World Series. There was always a twinkle in his eye too when people talked about it. Where does Sheets live now? Is he still alive. He flew with Sheets on many missions. I also have his diary of the missions and the bomb pins for each one. They were told to go on their way to England and were fined $75.00.
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