Blue Wahoos Watch Blue Angels As Part Of Special Visit To NAS Pensacola 

A gleam flashed across Blue Wahoos infielder Cobie Fletcher-Vance’s face as he settled into one of the original fighter jets flown by the Blue Angels.

“This is awesome,” he said, during a visit Wednesday to the National Naval Aviation Museum on NAS Pensacola, where the yesteryear F/A-18 Hornet aircraft are on display.

“Cobie was talking about that all day, saying he wanted to get in the cockpit (of plane) and it’s all he wanted to do,” said Blue Wahoos’ relief pitcher Colton Hock afterward.

Wearing specialty-made U.S. Navy jerseys to be worn during the team’s Memorial Day weekend homestand, Blue Wahoos players Fletcher-Vance, Hock and outfielder Thomas Jones visited the NAS Pensacola on Wednesday with several staff members.

The group were welcomed by NAS Pensacola Commanding Officer Capt. Terrence Shashaty, who provided a tour of his office headquarters and history details of the base to the players.

The group then watched the Blue Angels practice and met with various Navy personnel stationed on the base.

The visit preceded the Blue Wahoos’ 8-2 win Wednesday night against the Rocket City Trash Pandas.

“I would go do it, if I had nothing to do with the Blue Wahoos,” Hock said. “I talked to the guys in here (team clubhouse) and I think most of them are going to (watch Blue Angels practice) with their family when they come in.

“That’s exhilarating. Guys are very routine oriented during the season. But stuff like that is very cool to go do.

“I think a lot of times kids look up to us, but we look up to those guys. They seem excited about it.”

The Blue Wahoos are celebrating a partnership with NAS Pensacola during the Memorial Day weekend with a display about the history of war-time baseball in Pensacola and the former professional players who trained at various installations in Pensacola during World War II.

The most famous player in Pensacola was Ted Williams, one of baseball’s all-time greatest players and the only player to bat over .400 for an entire season in Major League Baseball history during his career with the Boston Red Sox.

“He actually was here twice on duty tours for World War II and the Korean War,” said Jason Bortz, public affairs officer for NAS Pensacola, during his guided tour of the museum.

“Incredible,” Hock said about the Williams connection. “Just realizing there is so much history here and I know they do those tours quite a bit, but they treated us like the first people to step on the base which was cool.”

The Blue Wahoos received permission from the U.S. Navy and MLB for the uniforms they will wear for the May 28 game at Blue Wahoos Stadium.

Shashaty will be part of the NAS Pensacola contingent during that weekend.

“We are about history, especially in the Navy,” Bortz said. “We love our history. We embrace our history.

We talk about our history, so to be able to bring something back like the jerseys that Ted Williams wore and some of the other professional baseball players wore during their recreational time while they were training to go to war, that’s awesome.”

Williams played on an all-star team at Bronson Field, which was a former auxiliary base during World War II located near NAS Pensacola.

He was part of a vast number of former MLB stars who served in various branches of the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II.

In various books and publications, Williams later talked about his fondness for Pensacola and his training to be a U.S. Marine pilot during his duty tours.

In Pensacola, Williams earned his wings as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps while playing on the base’s baseball team.

Bortz showed the Blue Wahoos players a WWII fighter plane similar to the one Williams flew in training.

The jerseys the Blue Wahoos will wear that night will be auctioned and proceeds will go to a special program the Navy has for sailors in financial need.

“I didn’t start realizing (baseball history at base) until I started researching it,” Bortz said. “This is a military community and the best military community I have ever been a part, by far.

“So, when they see these jerseys they are going to love them and it’s also for a great cause too.”

In addition, the Blue Wahoos in June will honor the legacy of U.S. Air Force Gen. Daniel “Chappie” James Jr., who grew up in Pensacola and became the first African-American four-star general within the U.S. Armed Forces.

Hock said the visit to NAS Pensacola and the reaction among personnel brought perspective to the role professional players bring to a community.

“I am glad we went there to just show how we are supporting the community,” he said. “There is so much history.

“To get a bunch of people on base to come to a game and hopefully feel a little prideful about it. Definitely, it is cool for us and hopefully just as cool for them.”

Bill Vilona is a retired Pensacola News Journal sports columnist and now senior writer for Pensacola Blue Wahoos. He can be reached at [email protected].