The Sinatra Swooners

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a Rockford Peach.

Don’t mistake me: I didn’t want to play baseball for the local team (though I did for a spell between elementary school and junior high, playing catcher, like Dottie Hinson, because I was the only one who dared to squat in front of a ball one day at practice).

I wanted to be a Rockford Peach. I wanted the ‘dirt in the skirt’ uniform. I wanted the ‘40s glam, not the ‘90s sweat. I wanted to be great, but the truth is, I sucked. You know in A League of Their Own when Jimmy Duggan says, “If it was easy, everyone would do it”? He’s right. I’m a prime example.

Anyways! All this to give you a cooking blog-length intro to today’s topic: baseball. Specifically, Frank Sinatra’s baseball team, the Sinatra Swooners.

via eugene-my-love

The Sinatra Swooners was a local Hollywood baseball team sponsored by Frank Sinatra in the late ‘40s. Its roster was entirely Hollywood stars. Its cheerleaders Hollywood starlets.

Stars like Burt Lancaster, Peter Lawford, and Robert Mitchum were players; and the cheerleaders were ladies like Ava Gardner and Shelley Winters. Bat girls included Esther Williams, Jane Powell, and Betty Garrett. Their bat girl in 1949 was, no joke, Elizabeth Taylor.

But don’t let the impressive roster fool you: they actually played baseball. They had jerseys and everything. You can even buy a replica Sinatra Swooners jersey today: it’s grey with red piping and ‘Swooners’ written in blue on the chest. I know what I’m asking for for Christmas!

via alluringavagardner

It’s not hard to guess why the team was called the Swooners. By the late ‘40s, Frank had many a fan club, and some of them were called the Swooners. And lest you think this was a vanity project, something to slap his name on, he played second base.

The Sinatra Swooners, as near as I can tell, was only active in the final years of the 1940s, between 1947 and 1949 (which coincided neatly with Sinatra’s film, Take Me Out to the Ball Game, a musical co-starring Esther Williams and Gene Kelly). Please correct me in the comments if I’m wrong!

And they only played other Hollywood teams for charitable causes, like supporting the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, or youth welfare funds. Another team the Swooners played often was The Russell Sprouts, named after its captain, Andy Russell.

The Sinatra Swooners played their games at their home field, Gilmore Field, which was home to the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League.

In the December 1948 issue of Movieland magazine, the Sinatra Swooners were subject of a story called “Play Ball!”

Screenshot by me, Movieland (December 1948)

The article says that “Sports enthusiasts would have torn out their hair by the roots had they witnessed the zany soft ball game between the (Andy) Russell Sprouts and the Sinatra Swooners.”

The umpires of this particular charity match were  Jack Carson and William Demarest, and according to the article, they had their work cut out for them, because “the only serious thing about the entire evening was the cause: charity.”

There’s a photo of Robert Mitchum and Esther Williams sharing a hug after scoring. In Modern Screen, there’s a photo of Russell Sprout Mickey Rooney berating Sinatra while the latter laughs in his face (good for him, I say). 

There’s a picture of Ronald Reagan bribing Jack Carson to call a ball fair instead of foul; there’s another of Frank Sinatra and Joan Leslie batting together while William Demarest tries to stop their antics.

The Sinatra Swooners ended up winning 18-10.