Library of Congress: Early Baseball Photos

Those are great, not a single smile back in those days!

This guy has a grin of sorts.

Photo bomb

That 2nd photo is awesome. I did a little research. That's Eddie Grant who played for the Cincinnati in 1911.

Perhaps because of his Harvard background, Grant refused to call for a fly ball by yelling, "I got it!" Instead, he would only say the grammatically correct, "I have it!"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddie_Grant_(baseball)

Best 2nd Baseman Ever.

Eddie Collins

Best 2nd Baseman Ever.

Eddie Collins

I'd rank Hornsby and Lajoie ahead of Collins.

One of the original Baltimore Orioles, and player/manager for a season, John McGraw:

That guy just looks the part. Like someone who plays bad guys in movies, yes?

One of the original Baltimore Orioles, and player/manager for a season, John McGraw:

That guy just looks the part. Like someone who plays bad guys in movies, yes?

To me, he looks like actor Gordon Clapp from NYPD Blue.

Best 2nd Baseman Ever.

Eddie Collins

Those Philadelphia As teams were crazy good. Look how many of 'em are in the collection.

Fun fact: Nap Lajoie and Eddie Collins both started and finished their major league careers in Philadelphia.

To me, he looks like actor Gordon Clapp from NYPD Blue.

I guess they'll know who to hire for the Christy Mathewson biopic

Incidentally, Connie Mack looks like Count Orlok.

Those are great, not a single smile back in those days!

This guy has a grin of sorts.

Photo bomb

The top photo is Christy Mathewson, no?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

The top photo is Christy Mathewson, no?

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

That's correct. One of the largely forgotten all-time greats. Christy made the inaugural Hall of Fame class over Cy Young and Grover Cleveland Alexander. He was probably the most popular pitcher of baseball's first 50 years.

[video=youtube;tpy4oS9-Ne0]

Love this shot of my former fave team's digs, the bowler hats, the ambiance, the ads

Jimmy Sheckard.  Came up as a teenager before the turn of the last century.  Led the NL in steals with 77 for the Orioles in 1899.

Had a very strange shape of his career, one of my favorites.  Played 17 years in the majors and had:

- Seasons where he hit .194 in 330 PAs, .231 in 496, and .354 in 609.
- Stole 77 and 67 bases in his two best seasons.  But at the age of 19 in over 100 games stole 8.  And in between the 77 and 67 he had a year with 25.
- Had seasons over 100 games with 37 walks, and 147 walks.  At the age of 32 he just suddenly decided to double his walk rate.
- Led the NL in homers with 9 in 1903 (also led the league in steals with 67).  In 1904 he homered once in 143 games.
- In 1901 he hit a league-leading 19 triples.  In 1907 he had one triple.
- In 1905 he scored 58 runs in a full year.  In 1911 he scored 121.
- In 1901 he had three sac hits.  In 1906 he had 40, and in 1909 he had 46.

He had several MVP-ish seasons, although there was no award for most of his career.  Played on the dynastic 1906-08 Cubs that still hold all the records for wins in one, two, and three seasons, but didn't have any of his best years with them.

And even though he had over 9000 PAs in 17 years, he played his last MLB game at 34.

On ‎3‎/‎3‎/‎2015 at 10:12 AM, SeaBird said:

I'd rank Hornsby and Lajoie ahead of Collins.

Three years later...

I might take Joe Morgan over all of them.  Lajoie played in more primitive leagues, and Hornsby was a Hall of Fame level jerk who was undeniably great but got himself traded for very little multiple times because nobody could stand him.

Collins was about as good a hitter as you can be with no homers.  His career high was six, but he had a 141 OPS+.  In 1914 the AL hit .248/.319/.323.  Your average player was Cesar Izturis.  Collins hit .344/.452/.452.