Researching a Photo of Mickey Mantle: A Lot More Information Makes a Lot More Desirable

In their Spring 2020 Premium Auction, Goldin Auctions offers this composite photograph as Lot #1430:



The photo comes with this description:

Offered here is a composite 8 x 10 photograph of the great Mickey Mantle. This black and white photograph shows Mantle in his home white Yankees’ uniform in two poses – the first image on top is of Mantle loading up his right-handed swing and the bottom image is of Mantle and his swing right at impact. The image can be dated to 1951, the season he wore number “6”, which is clearly evident from the bottom photo. The back has “M. Mantle” and the number “1168870” handwritten in pencil with the “International News Photo” stamp in faded red ink on the bottom. This composite photograph has been encapsulated and authenticated by PSA (84188301) and classified as Type III.

While the description is correct when it states that “the image can be dated to 1951,” the folks at Goldin Auctions missed a rather important fact about these pictures that would probably be of interest to potential bidders and certainly would be advantageous to both the seller and auction house. With a little research, the exact date of the pictures can be determined, and given this more detailed information the photo undoubtedly becomes far more desirable and valuable.

Here’s the step-by-step research:

Who’s at bat?

That’s an easy one. It’s clearly Mickey Mantle.

Not only does the batter look like Mantle, but he is wearing a Yankees cap and Yankees pinstripes, the uniform number 6 is on his back, and his left sleeve is adorned with a 1951 American League Golden Anniversary patch.


Yankees Bobby Brown and Billy Martin wearing jerseys with the American League Golden Anniversary patch, 1951

Only two Yankee players wore number 6 in 1951: Bobby Brown and Mickey Mantle. Not only does the batter not look like Bobby Brown, but Brown batted exclusively left-handed. Our right-handed batter is most certainly Mickey Mantle.

Of course, Mantle is best known for wearing number 7. After all, that is the number the Yankees retired on June 8, 1969, to honor the beloved Yankees slugger.


Mickey Mantle in the Yankee Stadium clubhouse on the day his uniform number was retired, June 8, 1969.

But when Mantle first made the big league club, famed clubhouse manager Pete Sheehy gave the 19-year-old the number 6, the number previously that had been worn by third baseman Bobby Brown since 1948. On July 15, the struggling Mantle was optioned to the American Association Kansas City Blues and Brown regained number 6.

Brown flourished wearing his old number. During Mantle’s nearly six-week stint in the minors, Brown boosted his average from .244 on July 15 to .280 on August 25, the day that Mantle rejoined the Yanks. Understandably, Brown kept his good luck number 6, so Sheehy gave Mantle number 7. The rest is history.

As far as the photo goes, we have thus far established that:

• the year is 1951, because he is wearing the American League 50th Anniversary patch;
• the location is Yankee Stadium, because the batter is wearing home pinstripes;
• the batter is Mickey Mantle, because he is wearing uniform number 6 and bats right-handed.

Who is the opposition and when did they visit Yankee Stadium?

Turning our attention to the catcher, we see that his stockings are dark with a pair of broad, white stripes. This particular style was worn by just one major league club in 1951: the Boston Red Sox


The 1951 Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park

A quick look at the schedule of games played at Yankee Stadium reveals that during Mantle’s stint wearing number 6 (from the beginning of the season through July 13), the Boston Red Sox played at Yankee Stadium just five times: April 17, April 18, June 29, June 30, and July 1. And of these games, Mantle participated in just three: April 17, April 18, and June 30. But we can additionally eliminate the date of April 18, as the Red Sox pitchers that day were Harry Taylor and Ellis Kinder, both right-handers. As such, the switch-hitting Mantle would have batted lefty the entire day, not righty as seen in the photograph.

Thus the pictures of Mantle batting must have been taken on one of two dates: April 17 or June 30, 1951. The former was Opening Day at Yankee Stadium and marked the major league debut of the highly touted rookie. The latter was a run-of-the-mill contest in which Mantle pinch-hit for starting pitcher Bob Kuzava in the eighth inning, grounding out to second base for the first out.

What is the date?

So which date is it: April 17 or June 30?

One might hope that identifying the catcher would help out. After all, the Red Sox used no fewer than seven different catchers during the 1951 season. But for both the April 17 and June 30 games, the catching duties were exclusively performed by former Yankees backstop Buddy Rosar, playing in the last of his 13 big league seasons.


Red Sox catcher, Buddy Rosar

To determine which date was correct, it was necessary to scour contemporary newspapers in hopes of finding these pictures of Mantle in print. It turns out that on April 20, 1951, the Des Moines (IA) Register (as well as a number of other newspapers) ran these very Mantle pictures, as well as a third in which Mantle is seen completing his follow through, the number 6 prominently shown. This effectively eliminates June 30 as a possibility, clinching the date as April 17, 1951.


Des Moines (IA) Register, April 20, 1951

In fact, the Register’s caption reads: “Here’s a three-picture sequence of the highly publicized rookie getting his first big league hit.” Assuming the caption is indeed correct, we are seeing Mantle hitting a sixth-inning single.


Scorecard from Opening Day Game at Yankee Stadium, April 17, 1951

The Conclusion

Any photograph showing Mickey Mantle during his rookie season is likely to be of great interest to a baseball fan, let alone a collector. And as far as Goldin Auctions notes in its lot description, that is what you’d be getting with this composite photograph. But by digging a bit deeper, the story behind the pictures becomes far more engaging, for we now know that the photograph offered shows one of the greatest baseball players of all time in his major league debut.

An Important Moment in Baseball History Captured in a Panoramic Photo

This panoramic photograph, one that I had never seen until just a few months ago, captures an important moment baseball history, but it took some research to reveal its story.



In early September of 2018, Andrew Smith of Andrew Smith Gallery in Tucson, Arizona, contacted me regarding the photograph. He informed me that the original, a 14.5" × 47" gelatin silver print, came from a group of Detroit Publishing photographs he has owned for decades and was likely taken with a Cirkut panoramic camera. Other than the information written at the bottom left-hand corner, which reads “Boston Washington Opening Game,” basically nothing was known about the image. Andrew asked if I could identify the date and location the photo was taken. I set to work.

First, given the general appearance of the photo and the attire of the fans, there’s little doubt the shot was taken sometime during the first two decades of the 20th century.

A quick examination of the players’ uniforms reveals that the team in the field is wearing home whites, while the team at bat is clad in their road grays. A closer look at the uniforms allows us to learn even more. Here are details from the photo showing the center fielder (top) and left fielder (bottom):





Note that their uniforms are rather bland. The jersey and pants are solid white. The belt, stockings, and cap are dark. There do not appear to be any distinguishing marks on the sleeves.

As for the rest of the players in the field, every one (save the catcher, who is so far away as to be of no use for our research) is facing away from the camera, so any helpful markings that may be on the front of their jerseys are hidden.

Now let’s turn our attention to the team at bat. Take a look at the batter leading off first and his first base coach:



Even though they are far in the distance, we can see that the club’s jersey, pants, and cap are gray, the belt is dark, and the stockings are gray with a thick dark stripe. Additionally, the coach is wearing a dark sweater-jacket with a light-colored placket.

Working under the assumption that, as the title suggests, the game is between Washington and Boston, it quickly becomes apparent that the team in the field cannot be the Red Sox. Not only did the club not wear dark caps at home until 1933 (as noted above, this photo was clearly taken well before that time), but the ballpark doesn’t match either Fenway Park (which opened in 1912) or its predecessor, the Huntington Avenue Grounds (Boston’s home from 1901 to 1911).

Here’s what Fenway Park looked like in 1914, just two years after it opened:



And here’s a wonderful photo of Boston’s Huntington Avenue Grounds from 1903. (Incidentally, I blogged about back in 2011.)


Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-USZC2-6131 DLC

As seen above, both of these parks featured a covered grandstand behind home, but our mystery photo shows a park in which not a single seat is covered. Indeed, it was this detail that confused me the most, as I was unaware of any big league park from this era that lacked a roof over at least some of its seats. As it turns out, however, this wholly “unprotected” seating would be the clue that ultimately solved this baseball mystery. But more about that later.

Having eliminated Boston as the home team, I looked for seasons in which Washington wore a home uniform as described above. Consulting the Hall of Fame’s Dressed to the Nines database, I found that the club’s duds in both 1907 and 1911 matched up well with what is seen in the photo. The Senators would not again wear such uniforms until the late 1930s, but (as previously noted) the photo was most certainly taken much earlier than that. Here are the home uniforms of the Senators for 1907 and 1911:



Note that while the 1911 Washington caps had thin vertical stripes, this feature does not show up in the panoramic photo. However, it is quite common for such subtleties to be “washed out” in images of this quality.

So what did Boston wear on the road in 1907 and 1911? Two very different uniforms:



Boston’s stockings from 1907 are solid colored, but their striped stockings of 1911 are a perfect match with the uniform worn by the team at bat in our mystery photo. Additionally, a different photograph, this one taken during Boston's 1911 spring training in Los Angeles, shows the club with beautiful sweater jackets:



Note how these jackets match what the first base coach is wearing in our panoramic photo, as it is also dark with a light-colored placket. Too bad we can’t see the left side of the coach’s jacket in the panoramic photo, but I am confident that it reads “RED SOX” as seen in the spring training photo.

So, with some fairly straightforward uniform research, it certainly appears that Andrew Smith’s photo was taken in 1911. Still, it would be wise to confirm this conclusion by a different means.

Recall that the caption stated that the matchup between Boston and Washington was the “Opening Game.” Perusing the American League schedules available at the retrosheet.org web site, I carefully jotted down each season in which Boston was the visiting team for a home opener at Washington.

From 1901 through 1920, this occurred on five occasions:

• April 23, 1902
• April 22, 1908
• April 12, 1911
• April 23, 1914
• April 22, 1920

Happily, of these dates, one matches years with our prior research: the opening day game of April 12, 1911. Here’s a box score from that game:



Note that the right-handed throwing Clyde Milan is playing center field for Washington. This matches nicely with the center fielder in our photo, who is apparently wearing a glove on his left hand. And the left-handed throwing Jack Lelivelt is manning left field. Again, this matches our photo, as it certainly looks as though the left fielder is wearing a glove on his right hand.

These small details are additional clues that help confirm that the photo was taken on April 12, 1911. But there is one significant problem. Washington’s opening game of 1911 took place at National Park, later and more familiarly known as Griffith Stadium. But the park in the photograph looks nothing like that historic ballpark. Here’s a quintessential image of Griffith Stadium in 1925:



Notice that, other than the bleachers, every section of the park has a covered grandstand. How can this be the same park that we see in the photograph? Here’s how:

On March 17, 1911, fire severely damaged Washington’s home ball park, at the time generally known as “American League Park.” A few photos of the conflagration show the extent of the disaster:


Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-hec-00082


Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, LC-DIG-hec-00084

With opening day less than a month away, the club made the bold decision to rebuild the park at the same site ... and host the scheduled home opener on April 12 against the Red Sox. Working around the clock, they managed to pull off the incredible feat. As reported just a few days before the big game in the Washington, D.C. Evening Star of April 9, 1911:

Except for roof and superstructure, a splendid concrete grandstand—something better than Washington fans ever have had to support their energies when rooting for the home team—is ready at the base ball park for the opening game Wednesday.

A marvel of rapidity in construction has been accomplished in the few short weeks since fire converted into smoke the frame structure which provided in the past a vantage point for enthusiasts to view the performances of the Nationals and their adversaries in victory and defeat.

Day and night the chanting of the negro laborers has been heard in the vicinity. Like Aladdin’s palace, the structure rose as by magic. It is finished—all that is essential for that imperative occasion, the opening game.

And the day after the opening game, the Evening Star reported:

Every one who saw the new concrete stands will have a description to fit them by now. A complete stadium, that’s what the new stands are. They have a solid, well built, aristocratic appearance and inclose [sic] the field almost completely. They will have a better appearance, of course, when the roof is put on, and still better when the double-decker is completed next year.

So the park that rose from the ashes of “American League Park” and opened on April 12, 1911, was incomplete. It lacked the planned roofs and second deck (which were eventually completed), but it was good enough to host opening day. That is the park we see in our mystery photo.

The more completed park did not debut until late July, as noted in the Washington Herald of July 23, 1911:

Tuesday afternoon when the ump shouts. “batter up” at National Park, District fans will be quartered in one of the prettiest baseball grounds in the country.

A remarkable transformation has taken place while the club has been on the road, and while every minor detail will not be completed, the grand stand and two immense concrete bleachers will seat the patrons out of reach of the sun. The double-decker grand stand yesterday lacked only a few finishing touches, and the contractors state that all will be in readiness by Tuesday [July 25].

... The diamond has been shifted to its permanent place, and has been drawn considerably nearer the stand.

So, not only was the ballpark incomplete when the photograph was taken, even the final placement of the diamond was not at the same location within the park.

From 1911 through 1961, the ballpark was home to the Washington Senators ... actually, two different Senators clubs. The first was a founding member of the American League and the second was an expansion club that replaced the old Senators when they left to become the Minnesota Twins.

Though often ridiculed as “First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League”—sportswriter Charles Dryden’s quip actually dates back to mid-season of 1904—the Senators had some modicum of success at the ballpark, including winning Game Seven of the 1924 World Series on its diamond in one of the most exciting finales in the history of the Fall Classic.

Every U.S. president from William Howard Taft to John F. Kennedy tossed out a ceremonial first pitch from the ballpark’s stands. This was even true on that first Opening Day in 1911. Indeed, somewhere in our mystery photo, Taft is sitting in the stands, enjoying the ball game. Thankfully, his first pitch was captured in a different photo published in the Evening Star the following day:



In conclusion, Andrew Smith’s panoramic photo depicts the Opening Day game played between Boston and Washington on April 12, 1911. It was the first game played at what would eventually be known as Griffith Stadium, the historic site of half a century of Washington baseball history.

World Series Sheet Music

When this year's World Series is over, the championship club will be celebrated with a seemingly endless array of products. You'll find official (and unofficial) caps, shirts, baseballs, DVDs, books, medallions, key rings, stuffed animals, photographs, felt pennants, etc. The list goes on and on (and on), but one thing you're not likely to come across is sheet music of a commemorative tune dedicated to the World Champs. But, this wasn't always the case.

Prior to the radio boom of the 1930s, the primary marketing tool of popular music was sheet music. Like the tune? Just buy the sheet music and you can play it at home.

The songwriters of the day covered a myriad of topics, including baseball, and songs that honored World Championship clubs were no exception. Just over a month after the Cubs topped the Tigers to capture the 1907 World Championship, Tomaz F. Deuther published "Cubs on Parade," a march two-step composed by one H.R. Hempel.



Following the Philadelphia Athletics' 1929 World Series victory over the Cubs, Pennant Music Company published "The Galloping A's" with music by Wallace LeGrande Henderson and words by Billy James.



And who could forget Al Moquin's "The Cardinals and Mister Hornsby" that commemorated the clubs' first World Championship?



The first sheet music to honor a modern World Series champion was the "Boston Americans March," published by the Cecilian Music Company of Hyde Park, Massachusetts, in 1903. While the club bested the National League's Pittsburgh Pirates in the 1903 Series, the first post-season matchup between the rival leagues, it was not until 1908 that Boston earned the "Red Sox" nickname.



The two-step was composed by 19-year-old John Ignatius Coveney, a freshman at New York's Fordham University who lettered in football, not baseball. A talented musician (he played the piano, cornet, violin, guitar and numerous other instruments), Coveney gained immortality a few years later by composing the "Fordham Ram," the official college song. (Listen to the "Fordham Ram.")



While the "Boston Americans March" is largely forgotten, the "Fordham Ram" has lived on for over a century. In 1931, some 20 years after Coveney's untimely death at the age of 26, the composer was honored by his classmates of 1906 at their 25th reunion. On June 13, a tablet in memory of Coveney was unveiled.


Photo courtesy of Scott Kwiatkowski, Fordham University

The bronze plaque, in many ways similar to those honoring baseball's greatest players in the National Baseball Hall of Fame, can be seen today inside Fordham's Rose Hill Gym.