Who is this circa 1910 (Giants?) Baseball Player?

[Robert Sanders]

Here is a link to a photo I recently won on eBay. It is said to come from a large archive of baseball news photos, with this one said to be circa 1910, and I am fairly certain that ball player here is wearing a New York Giants uniform.

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/%3Cdiv%20style=%22width:480px;text-align:right;%22%3E%3Cembed%20width=%22480%22%20hei ght=%22360%22%20src=%22http://static.pbsrc.com/flash/rss_slideshow.swf%22%20flashvars=%22rssFeed=http%3 A%2F%2Ffeed1196.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faa407%2 Frobertsanders%2Ffeed.rss%22%20type=%22application/x-shockwave-flash%22%20wmode=%22transparent%22%20/%3E%3Ca%20href=%22http://photobucket.com/redirect/album?showShareLB=1%22%20target=%22_blank%22%3E%3C img%20src=%22http://pic.photobucket.com/share/icons/embed/btn_geturs.gif%22%20style=%22border:none;%22%20/%3E%3C/a%3E%3Ca%20href=%22http://s1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa407/robertsanders/%22%20target=%22_blank%22%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://pic.photobucket.com/share/icons/embed/btn_viewall.gif%22%20style=%22border:none;%22%20/%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/div%3Ehttp://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa407/robertsanders/1910GiantsPlayer.jpg

I have gone to the Giants 1910 roster at Baseball Reference: http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYG/1910.shtml and have looked at the photo on the player page for each person on the roster for every year from 1910 to 1916. Unfortunately, none of the players looked completely the same as the one above, although the chin, ears and eyebrows of Fred Snodgrass look quite similar.

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/%3Cdiv%20style=%22width:480px;text-align:right;%22%3E%3Cembed%20width=%22480%22%20hei ght=%22360%22%20src=%22http://static.pbsrc.com/flash/rss_slideshow.swf%22%20flashvars=%22rssFeed=http%3 A%2F%2Ffeed1196.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faa407%2 Frobertsanders%2Ffeed.rss%22%20type=%22application/x-shockwave-flash%22%20wmode=%22transparent%22%20/%3E%3Ca%20href=%22http://photobucket.com/redirect/album?showShareLB=1%22%20target=%22_blank%22%3E%3C img%20src=%22http://pic.photobucket.com/share/icons/embed/btn_geturs.gif%22%20style=%22border:none;%22%20/%3E%3C/a%3E%3Ca%20href=%22http://s1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa407/robertsanders/%22%20target=%22_blank%22%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://pic.photobucket.com/share/icons/embed/btn_viewall.gif%22%20style=%22border:none;%22%20/%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/div%3Ehttp://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa407/robertsanders/Fred_Snodgrass1.jpg

What do people think?

Robert

[Robert Sanders]

Having a bit of trouble learning link Photobucket to this message :D


Here is a link to a photo I recently won on eBay. It is said to come from a large archive of baseball news photos, with this one said to be circa 1910, and I am fairly certain that ball player here is wearing a New York Giants uniform.

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/%3Cdiv%20style=%22width:480px;text-align:right;%22%3E%3Cembed%20width=%22480%22%20hei ght=%22360%22%20src=%22http://static.pbsrc.com/flash/rss_slideshow.swf%22%20flashvars=%22rssFeed=http%3 A%2F%2Ffeed1196.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faa407%2 Frobertsanders%2Ffeed.rss%22%20type=%22application/x-shockwave-flash%22%20wmode=%22transparent%22%20/%3E%3Ca%20href=%22http://photobucket.com/redirect/album?showShareLB=1%22%20target=%22_blank%22%3E%3C img%20src=%22http://pic.photobucket.com/share/icons/embed/btn_geturs.gif%22%20style=%22border:none;%22%20/%3E%3C/a%3E%3Ca%20href=%22http://s1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa407/robertsanders/%22%20target=%22_blank%22%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://pic.photobucket.com/share/icons/embed/btn_viewall.gif%22%20style=%22border:none;%22%20/%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/div%3Ehttp://s1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa407/robertsanders/?action=view&current=1910GiantsPlayer.jpg

I have gone to the Giants 1910 roster at Baseball Reference: http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYG/1910.shtml and have looked at the photo on the player page for each person on the roster for every year from 1910 to 1916. Unfortunately, none of the players looked completely the same as the one above, although the chin, ears and eyebrows of Fred Snodgrass look quite similar.

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/%3Cdiv%20style=%22width:480px;text-align:right;%22%3E%3Cembed%20width=%22480%22%20hei ght=%22360%22%20src=%22http://static.pbsrc.com/flash/rss_slideshow.swf%22%20flashvars=%22rssFeed=http%3 A%2F%2Ffeed1196.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Faa407%2 Frobertsanders%2Ffeed.rss%22%20type=%22application/x-shockwave-flash%22%20wmode=%22transparent%22%20/%3E%3Ca%20href=%22http://photobucket.com/redirect/album?showShareLB=1%22%20target=%22_blank%22%3E%3C img%20src=%22http://pic.photobucket.com/share/icons/embed/btn_geturs.gif%22%20style=%22border:none;%22%20/%3E%3C/a%3E%3Ca%20href=%22http://s1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa407/robertsanders/%22%20target=%22_blank%22%3E%3Cimg%20src=%22http://pic.photobucket.com/share/icons/embed/btn_viewall.gif%22%20style=%22border:none;%22%20/%3E%3C/a%3E%3C/div%3Ehttp://i1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa407/robertsanders/Fred_Snodgrass1.jpg (http://s1196.photobucket.com/albums/aa407/robertsanders/?action=view&current=Fred_Snodgrass1.jpg)

What do people think?

Robert

[both-teams-played-hard]

http://img809.imageshack.us/img809/1592/1910giantsplayer.jpg

[tcfor3]

I believe this may be a New York Yankees player, not a Giants player.

If you do a google search for 1910 Yankees, there are team photos for the 1902 and 1903 team composites that have a similar style of NY on the front. There is also a photo from the New York Times that shows a lefthanded batter that has this same style of NY across the front. This photo is undated, but appears to be from 1901 to 1910.

If you do a search for 1910 New York Giants baseball, there is a panoramic photo of the 1905 Giants that shows some players wearing a similar style jersey, but the NY on the front is a different font, more block lettering, than the style in the photo you won.

The American Caramels card of Sweeney who was a catcher for the Yankees around 1910 also has this same style of lettering on the front of the jersey that is shown in your photo. You can find an image of this card in the 1910 Yankees search as well.

[Robert Sanders]

I believe this may be a New York Yankees player, not a Giants player.

If you do a google search for 1910 Yankees, there are team photos for the 1902 and 1903 team composites that have a similar style of NY on the front. There is also a photo from the New York Times that shows a lefthanded batter that has this same style of NY across the front. This photo is undated, but appears to be from 1901 to 1910.

If you do a search for 1910 New York Giants baseball, there is a panoramic photo of the 1905 Giants that shows some players wearing a similar style jersey, but the NY on the front is a different font, more block lettering, than the style in the photo you won.

The American Caramels card of Sweeney who was a catcher for the Yankees around 1910 also has this same style of lettering on the front of the jersey that is shown in your photo. You can find an image of this card in the 1910 Yankees search as well.

Thanks so much both to tcfor3 for the hugely informative reply and to b-t-p-h for putting my photo up there! I think I may now have an ID for this player: Walter Clarkson, who pitched for the Highlanders/Yankees 1904-1907:

http://www.nyyankeecards.com/playerChecklist.asp?Player=wacn

The photo on the left sure looks like him, despite the unfortunate shading of the eyes. And although the much clearer photo on the right looks almost nothing like the person in my photo (or the person in the left-hand photo next to it, for that matter) the pattern of the left ear in the right-hand photo and the pattern of the left ear in my photo look very similar.

Comments?

[Mark17]

Not just the ears, but the rest of his face as well. Looks like the same guy to me.

[Robert Sanders]

Not just the ears, but the rest of his face as well. Looks like the same guy to me.

Thanks, Mark, for the feedback confirming what I thought to be the case! Walter Clarkson may not be a HOFer, but he is the brother of a HOFer (John Clarkson), who together with their brother Dad Clarkson, combined to win 385 major league games (Eldest brother John, who was a full 17 years older than Walter, did the heavy lifting, with 328 wins). Walter also happens to have pitched at Harvard back when they were a real college powerhouse.

Robert