Zee-Nuts and Zee-Numbers

In 1912, the Collins McCarthy Candy Company issued its second series of Zee-Nut baseball cards. That same year, the confectioners produced another series of cards, these packaged with a candy called Home Run Kisses. With the release of these two sets, the San Francisco-based company unwittingly documented an important, but generally overlooked moment in baseball history. More about that in a moment, but first a bit about the candies.

Zee-Nut

Introduced in California in 1908 and invented by William P. Chase, Zee-Nut candy was something like a coconut version of Cracker Jack, the popular candy that was first introduced a dozen years earlier. Zee-Nut consisted of popcorn, peanuts, and coconut, all mixed together with a sugary syrup. Chase (who later sold out to Collins McCarthy) worked hard to market the candy, and in March of 1908 it quite literally exploded on the scene:


Advertisement in the Los Angeles Herald of March 1, 1908

As noted in the Los Angeles Herald of March 1, 1908, “THE HERALD will ‘explode’ a bomb up in the air about a thousand feet above the W.P. CHASE Zee-Nut Factory, 420-422 South Broadway, and as it explodes 1030 coupons will be set loose and fall to the street below. Each of these coupons will be good for free presents.” The presents listed included silver dollars, boxes of candy, fountain pens, watch fobs, and, of course, packages of Zee-Nut.

There were even coupons for sheet music of the “Zee-Nut Waltz-Song and Chorus,” with music and lyrics by Chase, and published by Chase. In short, William Chase was all in on promoting his candy.



In 1911, Collins McCarthy enticed kids to purchase Zee-Nut by inserting pictures of Pacific Coast League players in packages of their candy. Apparently the scheme worked well, because they continued the baseball card promotion the following year ... and for many years afterward, their last set being issued in the late 1930s.

The 1912 Zee-Nut cards (each 2⅛" × 4" in size) once again featured pictures of PCL minor leaguers. The complete set numbered 158 cards in total (some sources say 159) and is known to modern-day collectors by the designation E136.


Advertisement in the San Francisco Call of May 11, 1912

Highlights from this set include:

A card of Sacramento pitcher John Williams, who two years later played four games with the Detroit Tigers to earn the distinction of being the first native of Hawaii to play in the major leagues.



A card of 18-year-old Joe Gedeon, who spent the 1912 season with the San Francisco Seals, batting .263 and stealing 26 bases. Though he eventually made the big leagues, Gedeon’s mark in baseball history came about off the field, when he admitted in the fall of 1920 that a year earlier he had learned from White Sox shortstop and insider Swede Risberg that the 1919 World Series was “fixed.” Gedeon, then the starting second baseman for the St. Louis Browns, won $600 betting against Chicago. On November 3, 1921, Commissioner Kenesaw M. Landis permanently banned Gedeon from the game.

And perhaps you have heard of Gedeon’s nephew, Elmer Gedeon, who had a “cup of coffee” with the Washington Senators in 1939, taking part in five games with the club in his brief major league career. On April 20, 1944, Gedeon’s B-26 Marauder bomber was shot down over France. Of the over 500 major leaguers who served during World War II, only Elmer Gedeon and Harry O’Neill, who played a single game with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1939, were killed during action.

Home Run Kisses

Hardly anything is known about Home Run Kisses, a confection that was apparently something like salt-water taffy. Introduced by Collins McCarthy in 1912, each five-cent package of the candy came with a PCL player card similar in size to the Zee-Nuts, though the set numbered just 90 cards. Highlights include:

An early card of future Hall of Fame shortstop Dave Bancroft when he was a member of the Portland Beavers.



A card of Los Angeles Angels outfielder Heinie Heitmuller, who captured the 1912 PCL batting championship with a .335 mark, but contracted typhoid fever and passed away weeks before the season ended.



But the truly wonderful thing about both the 1912 Zee-Nut and Home Run Kisses cards is that many of the pictures showed ballplayers wearing numbers on their left sleeves. Here are just a few examples that clearly shows the numbers:









What gives?

At their annual winter baseball meeting in January of 1912, the directors of the Pacific Coast League adopted a league-wide rule mandating that all six clubs add numbers to the sleeves of their uniforms, both home and abroad.


Akron Beacon Journal, January 16, 1912

Early Uniform Numbering

The idea of numbering players had been tried by various clubs, both in and out of Organized Baseball, years prior to the PCL’s 1912 rule, but never before had it been agreed upon by an entire league.

Most people credit the 1929 Yankees as the first baseball club to place uniform numbers on the backs of their jerseys, but this was simply not the case. In fact, the Yankees weren’t even the first club to don numbers that season. That distinction goes to the Cleveland Indians, who beat the Yanks to the punch because the New Yorkers were rained out on Opening Day, while Cleveland remained dry that same day, April 16, 1929. A photo ran in the Cleveland Plain Dealer the next day, showing Indians catcher Luke Sewell wearing uniform number 8 in that historic game:


Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 17, 1929

While the 1929 Indians were the first major league baseball club to wear numbers on their backs, they weren’t the first in the big leagues to wear numbers somewhere on their uniform. That distinction goes to these same Indians, but 13 years earlier. On June 26, 1916, Cleveland took the field wearing numbers on their sleeves. As noted by the Zanesville (OH) Times Record the next day, “The numbers corresponded to similar numbers set opposite the players’ names on the score cards, so that all fans in the stands might easily identify the members of the home club.”

This photo of the Indians with their short-lived numbers ran in the 1917 Spalding Guide. Note: Don’t confuse the numbers on the sleeves with the numbers that were hand-drawn on the photo to help identify the players.



Cleveland’s experiment in 1916 lasted just a short while (as did a brief revival of the scheme by the 1923 St. Louis Cardinals), but the PCL’s uniform numbers of 1912 lasted the entire season. Prior to the 1913 campaign, however, the league dropped the sleeve-numbering rule. Some league officials wanted to keep the numbers, but most were against continuing the practice, complaining that the numerals were too small to be easily seen by fans in the stands and, as reported by the Portland (OR) Oregonian, “numbering the men did not help the sale of score cards, as was expected.”

One additional note: A few cards from the 1913 Zee-Nut set featured photos taken of PCL players in 1912, as they can be seen with numbers on their left sleeves. Here are a few examples of those 1913 cards:





Thanks to the Collins McCarthy company and their 1912 Zee-Nut and Home Run Kisses baseball cards, today we have a visual record of this important moment in the history of baseball uniforms.

List of 1912 Pacific Coast League Uniform Numbers

While there is no complete list of each PCL club’s uniform numbers from 1912, an article in the Oregon Daily Journal of March 27, 1912, did list the numbers initially assigned to members of the Portland Beavers. Combining this information with a few notes from other contemporary newspaper accounts, closely examining some team photos, and scouring numerous Zee-Nut and Home Run Kisses baseball cards from 1912 (as well as a few from 1913) allows us to create a partial list of 1912 PCL uniform numbers.

Additions to the list are most welcome. Just drop me a note by adding a comment below. (Note that some players on the same club may have been issued the same number.)

Los Angeles
1 - Ivan Howard
1? - Joe Berger
1 or 2? - John Core
4 - Heinie Heitmuller
5 - Babe Driscoll
8 - Hugh Smith
9 - Walter Boles
18 - John Halla
20 - Charlie Chech
22 - Jack Flater
23 - Elmer Gober

Oakland
4 - Bud Sharpe
6 - Al Cook
7 - Gus Hetling
13 - Harry Ables
15? - Tyler Christian
16 - Bill Malarkey
21? - Cy Parkin

Portland
1 - Bill Rapps
2 - Jack Gilligan
3 - Dave Bancroft
4 - Dan Howley
5 - Bill Rodgers
6 - Walt Doan
7 - Bill Lindsay
8 - Art Kruger
9 - Chet Chadbourne
10 - William Temple
11 - Spec Harkness
12 - Ben Henderson
14 - Fred Lamlein
15 - Ward McDowell
16 - Heinie Steiger
17 - Mickey LaLonge
18 - Elmer Koestner
18 - Leo Girot

Sacramento
8? - Al Hiester

San Francisco
1 - Jesse Baker
1 - Willard Meikle
2 and 7 - Claude Berry
2 - Harry McArdle
4 - Chick Hartley
7 - Walter Schmidt
14 - Otto McIvor
17 - Kid Mohler
18? - Watt Powell

Vernon
1 - Walter Carlisle
2 - John Kane
4 - Ham Patterson
6 - George Stinson
7 - Franz Hosp
7? - John Raleigh
8 - Lou Litschi
11 - Wallace Hogan
12 - Drummond Brown
19 - Dolly Gray
22 - Sam Agnew

The Dangers of Collecting Baseball Cards

In the spring of 2018, I was asked by Mark Armour and Chris Dial, the founders and co-chairs of SABR's Baseball Card Committee, to give a presentation at their committee meeting as part of the 2018 SABR Convention in Pittsburgh. This is a slightly-updated version of that presentation.

The Dingley Act of 1897, a massive tariff law that was put into effect under the McKinley administration, included a provision that made it illegal for companies to give away coupons (including things such as baseball cards) in packages of tobacco. The exact legalese reads:

None of the packages of smoking tobacco and fine-cut chewing packages of tobacco and cigarettes prescribed by law shall be permitted to have packed in, or attached to, or connected with, them, any article or thing whatsoever, other than the manufacturers' wrappers and, labels, the internal revenue stamp and the tobacco or cigarettes, respectively, put up therein, on which tax is required to be paid under the internal revenue laws; nor shall there be affixed to, or branded, stamped, marked, written, or printed upon, said packages, or their contents, any promise or offer of, or any order or certificate for, any gift, prize, premium, payment, or reward.

Why do this? Because the monopoly known as the American Tobacco Company tried to quash its competition (independent tobacco companies) by giving away goods through this coupon system, something that smaller companies did not have the wherewithal to do.

This effectively halted the creation of baseball cards until the act was usurped by the Payne-Aldrich Tariff Act of 1909, which removed the ban on tobacco inserts. With this new law, baseball (and other cigarette) cards returned ... and with a vengeance.

Today, well over a century later, the various baseball card sets of 1909-1911 — the sets known as T204, T205, T206, T207, etc. — are prized and celebrated. But, as you might expect, baseball card collecting was also quite popular at that time. What you may not know is that nearly just as popular was the press expressing great concern that baseball card collecting was dangerous. Dangerous to children, dangerous to business owners, and dangerous to society in general.

I’ve found dozens of articles detailing dangers (or perceived dangers) of baseball card collecting at and around the time of the return of baseball cards in the 20th century, and these dangers fit into six main categories.

1) Baseball card collecting created a nuisance.

From the Washington (DC) Evening Star, June 30, 1912:

 




And from the Greenville (SC) News, March 15, 1910:



Wagner, Cobb, Evers, Mathewson, Collins ... and Bugs Raymond? Well, Bugs did have a decent season in 1909, but wouldn't you think they'd tab someone a bit more obvious, like Three Finger Brown or Ed Walsh?

2) Baseball card collecting promoted the illegal purchase of cigarettes by minors.

According to the Lexington (NC) Dispatch, September 29, 1909:

3) As a consequence of purchasing tobacco, children were enticed to become smokers.

This article was published in the Raleigh (NC) News and Observer, August 15, 1909:



"Nude or near-nude picture of a woman?" Perhaps they were thinking of the N166 "Occupations for Women" series? (There were other "tempting bait" series, as well.)



And this from the Raleigh (NC) Times, August 25, 1909:

 

4) Baseball card collecting promoted gambling.

As published in the Wilmington (DE) Morning News, July 21, 1909:



Additionally, according to the Fort Mill (SC) Times, October 21, 1909:

5) Baseball card collecting brought about physical injuries.

Read this from the Washington (D.C.) Post, May 8, 1910:

6) And, thanks to baseball card collecting, children became criminals.

The Los Angeles (CA) Times, August 10, 1911 wrote:



This report appeared in the Winston-Salem (NC) Twin-City Daily Sentinel, August 6, 1909:



Finally, the Wilson (NC) Daily Times, August 23, 1910 reported:



In doing this research, I found these complaints about card collecting in numerous newspapers during the period of 1909 through 1912, with most occurring in 1909 and 1910. It seems that by 1911, the furor over the evils of baseball card collecting had subsided considerably. Additionally, the majority of newspapers that railed against the practice were based in major tobacco-producing states, particularly North and South Carolina.

Identifying Baseball Cards in a Pair of Non-Baseball Photographs

Baseball is everywhere ... even where it isn't. Let me explain.

The incomparable Prints and Photographs Online Catalog of the Library of Congress includes a treasure trove of baseball images. Go to the site's search page, enter the keyword "baseball," and the massive database will return over 7,200 results. While that sounds like a lot of baseball images, it's a drop in the bucket when you realize that the Library has digitized well over a million images ... and that there are more than 14 million items in their Prints and Photographs Collections in total.

Obviously, most of these images are not related to baseball at all. This means that the overwhelming majority of these items are not tagged with the keyword "baseball." And yet, some of these "non-baseball" images actually feature baseball content. One such image, part of the Library's National Photo Company Collection, is seen here:


Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-npcc-30803

(All photos in this blog are best viewed at full size. To do so, click on an image to enlarge it, then right-click on this larger image and choose "View Image." You may have to click one more time to get the full size)

At first glance the photo doesn't appear to have anything to do with our national pastime. But take a careful look in the background and you'll notice that amid the clutter of postcards and calendars, dozens of baseball cards are affixed to the busily-decorated walls.

Little is known about this photograph and this is reflected in the minimal metadata that accompanies the image. Other than a non-contemporary title devised by the Library's staff ("Young man in dormitory room") and a rather broad estimate that the photo was taken sometime between 1910 and 1920, the Library of Congress provides no other details.

Thankfully, a few members of the wonderful Shorpy photo blog have made a bit of headway researching the photo. Most significantly, one eagle-eyed researcher noted that a crest seen at the end of the young man's bed frame resembles the insignia of the Quartermaster Corps.



The photograph below of General Carroll A. Devol (the Library of Congress mistakenly identifies his surname as Devoe) shows this insignia affixed to both sides of the subject's collar:


Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division,LC-DIG-npcc-19825

Compare a detail from the above portrait to a detail from our dormitory photo:



The insignias are essentially identical: an eagle with its wings spread perched on a wheel over which a sword and a key are crossed diagonally. (More information about the Quartermaster insignia can be found in Encyclopedia of United States Army Insignia and Uniforms.) This suggests that the photo may have been taken at the Quartermaster Corps School in Philadelphia, its location from 1910 through 1917.

As for the baseball cards, there are well over six dozen of them adorning the wall in this young man's room. Who knows how many may be hidden from view or attached to the other walls?

Every one of the baseball cards that is visible comes from one of two well-known sets that were issued as premiums in cigarette packages: T205 (Gold Borders) and T206 (White Borders). The T205 set of over 200 different cards was produced in 1911, while the T206 set that numbers well over 500 cards was produced between 1909 and 1911. Given the presence of cards from the T205 set, we can now establish that the photograph was taken no earlier than 1911.

Additionally, two calendars in the background also provide clues. One of the calendars is titled "A Rose Among Roses" (seen below, at left) and is displayed showing May of 1910. The other calendar (seen below, at right) is showing March of 1911.

 

Of course, neither calendar provides a definite date for the photo, but it certainly suggests that the photograph was taken no earlier than March of 1911.

The baseball cards are grouped together in six distinct areas in the background, highlighted below:



Though most of the cards are slightly out of focus and some do not reveal unique features, the vast majority of these cardboard mementos can be definitively identified.

Group A
The small group of four cards at top left are quite out of focus and were a bit of a challenge to identify. The cards are (top to bottom; click on the linked player names below to see their corresponding baseball cards at the Library of Congress web site): T205 Mickey Doolan (Philadelphia NL), T206 Tom Downey (Cincinnati NL), and T205 Cecil Ferguson (Boston NL). The fourth card is a rather generic T206 portrait with hardly any details whatsoever. While I cannot state for certain, I think it is a good possibility that the card may be of Ty Cobb (Detroit AL).



The Downey card is particularly interesting in that it depicts the Reds shortstop wearing an all-blue uniform. But that is historically accurate, as the Cincinnati club wore that seemingly incongruous color scheme on their road duds from 1900 to 1903, 1909 to 1911, and 1913.

Additionally, the card shows Downey wearing a red armband on his left sleeve:


Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-bbc-0750f

That's somewhat historically accurate. Following the death of National League president Harry Pulliam in late July of 1909, the Reds, along with every other National League club, honored the memory of the executive by wearing black armbands. The artist for the T206 cards, however, took some liberties and opted to paint the armband a more artistically arresting red.

Group B
The lone card seen directly below Group A is clearly a portrait from the T205 set, but it is extremely difficult to state for certain exactly who is depicted. A best guess is that the card shows third baseman Bobby Byrne (Pittsburgh NL).



Group C
Below the topmost calendar is a group of 11 cards. These can be identified as follows:
Top row (left to right): T205 Chief Wilson (Pittsburgh NL) and T206 Admiral Schlei (New York NL).
Second row (left to right): T205 John McGraw (New York NL) and T206 Ed Konetchy (St. Louis NL).
Third row (left to right): T205 Art Devlin (New York NL), T205 Larry Doyle (New York NL), T205 Cecil Ferguson (Boston NL), T205 Frank Chance (Chicago NL), and T205 Bill Foxen (Chicago NL).
Fourth Row (left to right): T205 Deacon Phillippe (Pittsburgh NL), and T205 Ed Konetchy (St. Louis NL).



Many of the T205 images are based on photographs taken by the Paul Thompson agency in 1910. As an example, I've overlaid Thompson agency photographs of rival managers John McGraw and Frank Chance atop their corresponding baseball cards. (Click on the linked names of these managers to see their corresponding Thompson agency photographs at the Library of Congress web site). Note that while the faces match perfectly, portions of the uniforms have been altered by the baseball card artist.



Group D
To the right of Group C is a trio of cards that includes (top to bottom): T205 Art Fletcher (New York NL), T205 Gabby Street (Washington AL), and T205 Tom Needham (Chicago NL).



Group E
Below Group D are seven T205 cards (left to right): Al Bridwell (New York NL), Fred Clarke (Pittsburgh NL), Christy Mathewson (New York NL), Bob Ewing (Philadelphia NL), George Gibson (Pittsburgh NL), Frank Chance (Chicago NL), and Tony Smith (Brooklyn NL).



Group F
Directly behind the young man's head is a solid block of baseball cards, over 50 of which are identifiable. All but two of these cards are from the T206 set:
Top row: Howie Camnitz (Pittsburgh NL), Danny Murphy (Philadelphia AL), Jeff Sweeney (New York AL), Patsy Dougherty (Chicago AL), Bill Bradley (Cleveland AL), Orvie Overall (Chicago NL), Hal Chase (New York AL), Heinie Berger (Cleveland AL), Rube Geyer (St. Louis NL), George Bell (Brooklyn NL), Red Ames (New York NL), Christy Mathewson (New York NL), Cy Young (Cleveland AL), and Jimmy Sheckard (Chicago NL).
Second row: Fred Payne (Chicago AL), Ed Konetchy (St. Louis NL), Joe Tinker (Chicago NL), Harry Davis (Philadelphia AL), Harry McIntire (Brooklyn NL), Rube Oldring (Philadelphia AL), Vic Willis (St. Louis NL), Bill Bradley (Cleveland AL), Frank Chance (Chicago NL), Josh Devore (New York NL), Hugh Duffy (Chicago AL), and Chick Gandil (Chicago AL).
Third row: Ed Reulbach (Chicago NL), Orvie Overall (Chicago NL), Joe Tinker (Chicago NL), George Bell (Brooklyn NL),  Mickey Doolin (Philadelphia NL), Doc Crandall (New York NL), George Bell (Brooklyn NL), Fred Payne (Chicago AL), Gabby Street (Washington AL), and a card to be discussed below.
Fourth row: T205 Frank Chance (Chicago NL), Joe Lake (St. Louis AL), Josh Devore (New York NL), John Hummel (Brooklyn NL), Ed Reulbach (Chicago NL), Heinie Berger (Cleveland AL), Doc Crandall (New York NL), Doc White (Chicago AL), and Hal Chase (New York AL).
Bottom row: T205 Davey Jones (Detroit AL), Frank Chance (Chicago NL), John Frill (New York AL), Kid Elberfeld (Washington AL), Vic Willis (St. Louis NL), George McQuillan (Philadelphia NL), Zack Wheat (Brooklyn NL), Charley O'Leary (Detroit AL), Ed Foster (Charleston, SC, South Atlantic League), and Johnny Evers (Chicago NL).



Some of the card identifications were quite simple. For example, in the detail below, the trio of images are easily matched to their T206 cards: Christy Mathewson, Cy Young, and Jimmy Sheckard.



But other cards, either greatly out of focus or significantly obscured, proved quite challenging to nail down. For example, the detail below includes a number of cards for which only small portions are visible:

• Some cloth overhanging the bed obscures all but the bottom right-hand corners of the top two cards on the left, but careful research revealed matches with T206 cards of Howie Camnitz and Danny Murphy.
• The young man's head obscures all but the top left portion of the card at far right in the second row and the bottom left-hand corner of the card at bottom right. Still, just enough of these images were visible to match them to known cards of Rube Oldring and Mickey Doolin.

One of the cards in Group F did not match any known T206 or T205 baseball card. It is the far right-hand card in the third row.



After a good deal of research, however, the mystery was solved. The card was not of a baseball player, but of a young woman, part of a series issued in 1910 and today designated as the T106 set of "State Girls." In this case, the card was "Alaska Girl." Just why Alaska was featured as a part of the series is unknown, since it would not be until 1959 that the territory would gain statehood.



Below is another photograph from the National Photo Company Collection that is not tagged with the keyword "baseball," yet contains the same baseball content as in the "dormitory" photo: baseball cards.


Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-F82-10381

As was the case with our first photograph, the Library of Congress's metadata sheds little light on the image. It is titled "Lithnan & Latham, F. Baltcry 12 Peduri," but surely much of this jibberish is a misreading of what is written on the original negative (at far right on the original photograph). For example, close examination of "F. Baltcry" reveals that what is actually written is "F Battery." And "12 Peduri" may in fact be "12 Pictures." Still, the handwritten information is difficult to decipher. Additionally, the staff's estimate for the date the photo was created is essentially useless: 1910 to 1935, a whopping 25 year span! In short, as with our previous photo, we know very little about this image ... except, of course, that there are lots of wonderful baseball cards in the background.

Each of the cards seen in this photograph belongs to the T206 "White Borders" set, and many depict players with minor league clubs from the American Association and Eastern League. The cards are found in three large groupings.



Group A
A group of cards can be seen just above the right side of the billiards table, each one identifiable except for the bottommost card, which is obscured by a dark spot (perhaps a flaw in the emulsion). The cards are (top to bottom, left to right): Del Howard (Chicago NL), John Anderson (Providence, RI, Eastern League), Harry Krause (Philadelphia AL), Jimmy Slagle (Baltimore, MD, Eastern League), George Ferguson (Boston NL), Ray Demmitt (New York AL), Miller Huggins (Cincinnati NL), Bud Sharpe (Newark, NJ, Eastern League), Harry Gaspar (Cincinnati NL), Danny Moeller (Jersey City, NJ, Eastern League), Paul Davidson (Indianapolis, IN, American Association), Jake Atz (Chicago AL), Harry Krause (Philadelphia AL), Lou Fiene (Chicago AL), Jack Hannifin (Jersey City, NJ, Eastern League), and Bob Groom (Washington AL).



Group B
At the far right is another group of cards displayed vertically. These cards are (top to bottom, left to right): Jean Dubuc (Cincinnati NL), Donie Bush (Detroit AL), Spike Shannon (Kansas City, MO, American Association), Ossee Schreckengost (Columbus, OH, American Association), Hal Chase (New York AL), Jean Dubuc (Cincinnati NL), Ted Easterly (Cleveland AL), Pete O'Brien (St. Paul, MN, American Association), Chappy Charles (St. Louis NL), Harry Howell (St. Louis AL), Dode Paskert (Cincinnati NL), Newt Randall (Milwaukee, WI, American Association), Dots Miller (Pittsburgh NL), George Perring (Cleveland AL), Deacon Phillippe (Pittsburgh NL), Ray Demmitt (New York AL), and Roger Bresnahan (St. Louis NL).



Group C
The final block of cards is found just to the left of the seated man. This group also contains two non-baseball cards, most likely cigarette premiums of actresses. I will leave it to the adventurous reader/researcher to identify those two cards. The rest are:
Top row: Oscar Stanage (Detroit AL), Ed Willett (Detroit AL), Boss Schmidt (Detroit AL), Ed Willett (Detroit AL), George Hunter (Brooklyn NL), unidentified actress?, John Ganzel (Rochester, NY, Eastern League), Sam Strang (Baltimore, MD, Eastern League), Steve Evans (St. Louis NL), Tris Speaker (Boston AL), and Jimmy Slagle (Baltimore, MD, Eastern League).
Second row: Dolly Gray (Washington AL), Jack White (Buffalo, NY, Eastern League), Jack Hannifin (Jerysey City, NJ, Eastern League), Bob Bescher (Cincinnati NL), Joe McGinnity (Newark, NJ, Eastern League), unidentified actress?, Dan McGann (Milwaukee, WI, American Association), Jack White (Buffalo, NY, Eastern League), and Jimmy Collins (Minneapolis, MN, American Association).
Bottom row: Beals Becker (Boston NL), Nick Maddox (Pittsburgh NL), Shad Barry (Milwaukee, WI, American Association), Bill Abstein (Pittsburgh NL), Jean Dubuc (Cincinnati NL), Heinie Zimmerman (Chicago NL), Ted Easterly (Cleveland AL), Deacon Phillippe (Pittsburgh NL).



Scores of wonderful baseball cards on photographs from a century ago that otherwise have nothing to do with baseball. It just goes to show that baseball is everywhere ... even where it isn't.