Baltimore (CA 68) - Naval Cruise Book

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The soTTball Team opened The season during March, while The ship was in Cuba. WiTh The sun beaTing down Tull power The Team quickly molded iTseIT inTo a winning com- binaTion and aT The conclusion oT our Three week sTay had nailed down six wins in eighT aTTempTs ThaT included a vic- Tory over The baTTleship Wisconsin. The diamond demons sTarTed Their regular 6Th I3IeeT compeTiTion one sunny morning in May againsT The cruiser NewporT News. STar hurler Ronnie PorTeous blanked 3-O, and Trom There To The end oT The cruise in OcTober The Orioles conTinued To rack up win aTTer win, and evenTually capTure The 6Th FIeeT championship wiTh a lvIediTerranean record oT 35 wins and 3 seTbacks. PreTTy Tair record, in- deed!!! Led by hurlers PorTeous and Bill lvlercurio, The Orioles knocked over all compeTiTion which included, among oTh- ers, The Coral Sea lsix Timesl, Salem ll95I champs and I952 runners-upl, Casa Grande Marines and ship's company, Juneau IGalIoping GhosT oT The Korean CoasTl and The Tanker champion, The I-Iyades, which had compiled a rec- ord oT 25 and 6 previous To engaging The Orioles. Bill Goldernor, Leo Kaczor, Rodger Long, Bill Capra and player-manager Dave RaTcliTTe held up The air-TighT defense oT The inTieId, while in The ouTer gardens were Ron- nie AshworTh, Bill Shroeder, Charlie Willis, Sal Pimpinelli and Dick Walker. Lou Bloom and PaT Doyle were The Team backsToppers who held down The posiTion wiTh ample abili- Ty and Timely hiTTing. Red Swyers was number one man in The Oriole bullpen. The baseball Team, because oT The lack oT TaciIiTies, had a limiTed number oT games, buT played a good brand oT ball on The Tield when called To acTion. ln The ship's inTer-divisional soTTball league, which was played wiTh gruelling compeTiTion, The FourTh Division emerged The evenTual winner when They deTeaTed The L and Third Division in a round-robin playoTT, and Then wenT on To deTeaT even The mighTy ship's Team by a score oT I2 To 9. The aThIeTic gear locker, operaTed very eTTicienTIy by Pedro Caballero, was The sTowage place Tor Th.e equip- menT oT The golTers, who Took every opporTuniTy To cover all The holes possible, I-Iere again, however, The TaciliTies were limiTed. , The bowling Team couldn'T Tind any adequaTe TaciliTies in The MediTerranean area, ouTside oT TriesTe where They engaged a Tew Army Teams. The pin-spliTTers will be in ac- Tion back in good old BosTon Though. The boxing Team engaged in six smokers ouT in The blue waTers oT The lvled, and wone Tive oT Them. Included among The vanquished were The Coral Sea, Franklin D. RoosevelT, Salem, Allagash and The Casa Grande.'Our lone loss came aT The hands oT a sTrong amaTeur conTingenT Trom ATh- ens, Greece. Bobby Jones, George STeele, Johnny WaTkins, Charlie Willis, Eddie Parsons, Joe I-lall and Don ETTner did mosT oT The boxing, under The supervision oT Allen Gordon and ChieT Meadows, who worked in The BalTimore corner. Jones was The ouTsTanding boxer, winning Three one- round knockouTs, one Two-round knockouT and a Three- round decision Tor a ToTal oT Tive wins. RIGHT, Top: Touche. CenTer: The Rock. BoTTom: NorToIk Troop.

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l - x O AE? ,361 ' '1P' X :I LSI hi 1 1 : if L F 5 I 1 Q if - . .5 Ri-'1?S.-2 Two more- S .-dz During The year oT I952 The sporTs program aboard The BalTimore was as compleTe as any ship aTloaT in Uncle Sam's Navy, which includes The Tour baTTelships and many air- craTT carriers operaTing on The high seas. Boxing and soTT- ball dominaTed The aThleTic schedule wi+h baslceTball, base- ball, bowling and golT playing a secondary role. Division soTTball in The MediTerranean supplied lceen compeTiTion Tor all hands who parTicipaTed. From January Through The early parT oT March The win- Ter sporTs program held sway in The BosTon area. The box- ing and baslceTball squads were acTive pracTically every day and compiled worThy records againsT all compeTiTion. STarTing on January IOTh, aT Lowell, lVlassachuseTTs, TiT- Teen members oT The boxing Team, wiTh ChieT CoaTes in charge made weelcly Trips up To The Golden Gloves Tourna- menT, which was sponsored by The Lowell Sun ChariTies. AT The conclusion oT six acTion-paclced weelcs BalTimore emerged wiTh I7 vicTories in 30 bouTs as well as Two indi- vidual champions, lighT heavyweighT Johnny WaTlcins and heavyweighT George STeel. The Oriole Squad capTured The Novice Team Trophy aT The TournamenT which now siTs proudly in The ship's Trophy case. Meanwhile, aT The CharlesTown YMCA, The hoopsTers were racking up vicTory aTTer vicTory over civilian and Navy Teams. The BalTimore hoop squad Traveled To Nor- Tollc in March Tor The BaTCrul.anT TournamenT buT losT To The New Jersey TBB-64l in The semi-Tinals. In The iVlediTerranean area The dribblers didn'T Tare Too well, breaking even in 24 games played. Included in The sTarTing Tive were Bud l-lusTedT, Wayne Wallace, Joe Ben- neTT, Earl Reas, and Dick Basey, a Team which gave all iT had in eTTorT buT lacked in heighT and Time To pracTice. CongraTulaTions 1.3

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' INTER l T ln mid-November oT I952 a new experience occurred in The liTe oT The USS BALTIMORE, a visiT To her namesake ciTy, BalTimore, Maryland, aT The head oT Chesapeake Bay. l-ler arrival on SaTurday morning was greeTed by TugboaTs spraying Their saluTes, crowds along The banks, and The ComCruDiv 4 band on The pier. The nexT Three days were busy ones indeed Tor The oTTicers and men oT her crew wiTh many oTTicial calls To be made and received and parTies and recepTions aTTended. BuT Sunday was The biggesT day Tor The BalTimore herselT, and Tor The ciTizens oT The ciTy oT BalTimore. IT was a beauTiTul, glorious day wiTh open visiT- ing aboard, and iT seemed as iT every person in and around The whole ciTy came To have a look around, making The decks and passageways look more like Macy's basemenT on The aTTernoon oT December 24Th Than Those oT a TighTing ship oT The Navy, The visiTors included everyone Trom Tull Cub ScouT Troops To The Governor oT Maryland himselT, who came guiTe unoTTicially iusT To look around like every- one else. Monday broughT wiTh iT iTs share oT show and ceremony, Too, wiTh all hands aTT To wiTness The presenTaTion oT a pic- Ture oT The ship by CapTain Caswell To Mayor D'Alesan- dro, and The Mayor's giTT To The ship oT a Tlag oT The ciTy oT BalTimore, and a plague oT The ciTy's seal. Tuesday morning brighT and early, aTTer all Too brieT a visiT, The BalTimore slipped her lines, backed ouT inTo The sTream, and headed back down The Chesepeake Toward BosTon, leaving behind her a new Tound Triend . . .The ciTy PresenTaTion of The plaque OT BalTimOre, 6 a , T I 5 A welcome of SPMY -The dance ThaT nighT i i l E E I 2 T l