Daley described how Yankee Stadium would be dressed up for the day with “extra flourishes and furbelows.” And indeed, American flags fluttered from stadium towers, and red, white and blue banners flowed from the grandstands. Captain Sutherland’s Seventh Regiment Band, which had performed at Yankee Stadium since it opened in 1923, was booked to play singalong military tunes like “Anchors Aweigh.”

Fans may not have realized that players like Williams and even coaches like Hassett were battered, bruised and exhausted from their physical training in the Navy. And the Cloudbusters, who played more than 40 games that season, did not earn a cent for making the kidney-jarring, overnight trek to New York on a bus.

Everyone paid admission that day, including Ruth and Yankees management, reporters and umpires, even the players wearing jerseys for the Yankees and the Indians.

Before the game, the Cloudbusters got to huddle in the locker room with Ruth, who nervously paced back and forth to make sure his No. 3 uniform was available. And when they took the field, they beat the Yanklands, 11-5, scoring seven runs in the seventh inning. They could say they beat some of the Yankees who went on to win the World Series that year. Hassett, the hometown boy, had two hits.

In the end, although the Wednesday exhibition was scheduled later in the day to allow factory workers to attend after their shifts at shipyards and munitions plants, many seats at Yankee Stadium remained empty. The crowd of 27,281 generated about $30,000, a disappointment compared to war bond games that raised much more. Still, some moments would leave an impact in baseball history.