Coast Guard & Merchant Marine’s Football History at Baseball Stadiums

Next year, the Secretaries' Cup between the Coast Guard Academy and the Merchant Marine will look more like its FBS counterpart, the Army-Navy Game, when it moves to Fenway Park. Next year’s game marks the first neutral site game in the 53-game history of the rivalry. This is a tremendous milestone and a huge publicity boost for the overlooked rivalry. While both schools have not played in ballparks for years, they have intriguing histories at the ballpark.

The Coast Guard Academy has a more limited ballpark history, with just three appearances on the diamond. A year later, Coast Guard played Long Island at Queens' Dexter Park, home of the Brooklyn Royal Giants, a famed semi-pro Negro League team, and the Brooklyn Bushwicks, a well-known semi-pro club. Coast Guard beat Long Island 12-6 thanks to a late touchdown in a game held to benefit charity during the Great Depression.

Their next ballpark appearance was arguably its most memorable. The Coast Guard played in front of 18,000 against Villanova at Philadelphia's Shibe Park, the iconic, long-time home of the Philadelphia Athletics and Phillies. The Bears left Shibe Park with a 21-13 win over the Wildcats, throwing for 199 yards in the process. Over four decades passed before Coast Guard played in a ballpark again, but in 1989, the Bears played Siena at Colonie, NY's Heritage Park. Heritage Park hosted the Albany-Colonie A's and Yankees of the Eastern League before both teams relocated. The Bears beat Siena 46-0, outgaining the Saints 307-134.

The Merchant Marine Academy has a much more robust ballpark history than the Coast Guard. The Mariners have games at three of Major League Baseball’s classic “jewel-box” ballparks. In 1946 and 1947, Merchant Marine played at Fenway Park, Boston’s Braves Field, and Washington D.C.’s Griffith Stadium.

The games did not go well for Merchant Marine. In 1946, the Mariners lost 56-7 to Boston College in front of 21,000 fans at Braves Field. The following year, they lost sparsely attended games against Boston University at Fenway and George Washington at Griffith Stadium. Only 1,987 fans attended the Mariners’ 33-6 blowout loss to Boston University, while under 4,000 fans witnessed a previously winless George Washington team beat Merchant Marine 40-0 on Thanksgiving.

Eighteen years later, the Mariners played the first football game at Shea Stadium when they faced Colgate. Once again, poor attendance marred the day, with just 7,435 fans showing up at 55,000-seat Shea Stadium. Merchant Marine lost 21-0 despite outgaining Colgate 209-162

These stops at Major League ballparks bookended a pair of games at more obscure ballparks. In 1948, Merchant Marine defeated Hartwick 26-0 at Neahwa Park, the longtime home of the minor league Oneonta Indians and Red Sox of the Canadian-American League. Two years later, the Mariners lost to Adelphi 9-6 at Valley Stream, NY’s Firemen’s Memorial Field, home of American Legion Baseball.

Although the Secretaries’ Cup has never hit the diamond, ballpark football has unique contributions to both Coast Guard and Merchant Marine’s football histories. From jewel-box parks to cookie-cutter stadiums., the Mariners and Bears are no strangers to the ballpark.