Old, Unidentified Baseball Postcard?
Vintagehoarder1986
Posts: 137 ✭✭✭
Any help will be appreciated in identifying this old postcard. It appears to be a baseball team, but I'm unable to tell if it's a big league team or minor league team. It's very old and faded. Theres a letter "C" on the uniforms. I originally thought it could be the Cleveland Naps, but I cannot verify this with 100% certainty.
2
Comments
Cleveland Naps used a different C, at least they did in 1907
Post this over on the net54 forums. Lots of great vintage knowledge over there.
Yeah, I seen that photo. I noticed a few that were very similar, if not exact, in some player photos such as mine, such as Joe Jackson. Although rare to come across, I have noticed this same "C" in a few of the Cleveland Naps photos. I'm stumped on it, but the one on the far right in the middle does resemble Addie Joss. Not saying its him, but its possible. Alot of resemblance in the structure of the face.
Thanks, I might check over there if I cant figure it out sooner or later.
The guy in the middle I believe is Larry Merchant. Donald Trump upper far Right. Guy at bottom far left is Joaquin Phoenix . Guy far left of Larry Merchant is Craig Biggio.
Guy top far left is Roger Goodell
Guy next to the right of Roger are two actors, Josh Lucas, Gene Hackman.
Middle far right is Christian Yelich.
Guy at the bottom far right is some Looney guy in the movie Green Mile.
I hope this helps!
I don't know whether to laugh or be annoyed. I'll probably go with laugh because you pretty much nailed those names. Nice job. You guys keep it interesting!
😂 I'm sorry
Are you thinking the guy below the price sticker in your postcard might be Joss? He was 6'3", he's the center guy in the top row of mine. Way bigger than anybody else in the row.
Checking in at n54 probably is the best bet. Those guys are pretty sharp on old stuff.
3 of the players are wearing some very unique style of pants and dont see any type of baseball equipment in the photo…
First thought the guy sitting on the ground on the left had a glove on his right hand, but probably is some kind of cap like the guy in the chair on the right has on his knee.
Looks like the guy sitting on the ground on the right has an arrow drawn towards him with the name of Roger written on the photo. Don't suppose there is a last name?
Longoria Collector. Love the Longo!
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Nice call on the no baseball equipment being shown. Possibly an old Hurling photograph. I'd never heard of Hurling but looking at old vintage sports photos, this could be a possibility. One photo had pants similar to those shown in the Ops photo. Found another photo (not linked here) that had uniforms similar to those shown as well. (not exactly the same)
https://whowerethey.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/vintage-sports-2.jpeg
Longoria Collector. Love the Longo!
600+ PSA Graded 4,700+ unique Longoria cards scanned on TCDB 800+ different Longo autograph cards Jeff
Is this another clue? Can’t figure out what this is on the far right guy’s knee:
Maybe a pad? I sometimes hang my cap on my knee when driving, but there aren’t any caps here so I don’t think that’s what that is. A ball somehow hovering in place? Odd looking, whatever it is.
Jim
I thought it was a cap, but I've been known to be wrong. If I stare and squint long enough, I can sort of make out the same pattern on both objects.
Longoria Collector. Love the Longo!
600+ PSA Graded 4,700+ unique Longoria cards scanned on TCDB 800+ different Longo autograph cards Jeff
I did a little research to see if anyone played on Cleveland Naps by that name. Had not found anyone at first, but then I discovered the name Roger Peckinpaugh who played and debuted for Cleveland. I read somewhere that Lajoie got him on the team. Dont recall where I read it. It's possible this isnt a baseball photo at all. I do think that is a cap on the guys knee. Not sure what else it could be.
In my opinion, this looks like the guy in the middle that's dressed all in black.
There are literally 1000’s of RPPC’s of factory teams, city teams, jr college, etc. of those 1000’s, 1000’s will remain unidentifiable for ever. Chalk it up as a moment in time capturing an era when baseball was king.
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
Yes. +1 for the cap worn on the knee instead of his head for the photo.
Very true. I've noticed there are tons of these, and discovering the true team is like finding a needle in a haystack. It could very well go unidentified like the thousands before it and after it, but I'm just going off some research I made. My opinion hasn't changed about the guy in black being Deacon McGwire, and the baldish guy behind him looks alot like Terry Turner, who also played for the Cleveland Naps in that same timeframe that Deacon was manager. Of course, not alot here to go by. The caps are also similar to what Cleveland Naps wore. The noted "Roger" can only be linked to a Roger Peckinpaugh, who also played for the Naps within that same timeframe. Although, matching the two "Rogers" to me is questionable at best. I kinda see resemblance in some photos, but in some others, I dont. I'm not 100% confident that's who it is, but it's all I could come up with for now. Theres no denying some similarities here, in my opinion.
Whatever it is, I assume maybe the photo was taken at a time when the manager first came onto the team. For that to be Deacon Mcgwire, it would have taken place sometime in 1909 when he first arrived as manager to replace Lajoie. Who knows? We may never know. The only guy who would look anything like Lajoie, in my opinion, is the guy sitting front to the left of "Roger".
Definitely some resemblance, in my opinion. Doesnt mean this is him at all, but it does make it interesting. It kinda makes sense to have him up front, as well, since the team is named after him, and also makes sense for Roger to be seated across from him, who was freshly brought onto the scene as a rookie by Lajoie. Again, just my opinion, based off some research I made and trying to find any similarities in appearance.
A couple things:
Andy
Actually, there is a similar "C" that the team wore somewhere between 1910 and 1920. It's not seen as often, but it does exist and it is similar in font. I'm not sure about the padded pants. Those dates could vary from 1800s on into an unknown exact date of the early 20th century. I'll definitely take everything in consideration. Again, I'm not saying this is the Cleveland Naps, Im just saying that some research I made does hint to it.
I'm pretty sure my T200 Fatima Cleveland also shows Shoeless Joe Jackson. Which one is probably him?
If hes present, my best guess would be one of the two in the back row on the far right or the guy in the middle behind the manager I thought to be Terry Turner. I say if hes present, because this could've been taken before his arrival to Cleveland. Cannot say for certain he is here.
Change your focus up on this one - in particular, the hairstyles in the photo put this in the late 1890’s to the early 1900’s, as well as the photo itself.
Next, look at the pants. Here’s some comparable photos to these pants:
Plus, let’s look at the sitting guys. That’s not a hat on his knee, those are pads! They all have that big bulge on the knee.
Now, focusing on the team, there’s 8 (9 including the guy second from the left in the back). This is an awfully SMALL team photo, not mention just ONE manager. This leads me to believe that your looking at an early college team, not a major league one.
Now, back to the C. The closest one I found is Jim Thorpe’s college football team, the Canton bulldogs.
Jim Thorpe photo is c.1919. I believe your postcard photo pre-dates this at minimum 10, maybe 20 years. The C’s are almost identical. I believe your postcard is the one of the first teams of some college, before baseball became extremely popular in college/universities.
Thanks for the response. This is some good insight and definitely something to take into consideration. You might very well be correct. I've contacted the Cleveland Indians team to confirm or deny, in hope's they might have some archives of some kind to go by. If they dont know, then it's most definitely a college team of some kind. Alot of similarities in the college teams for sure. Again, it being a college team is the most probable answer, but it's still fun to speculate.