Need help with T210 Player Identification!

[Vintagecatcher]

Now that I have some time to kill, I have decided to identify which players in the T210 set were catchers.

Last night I discovered a major omission in the Baseball Reference data base with regards to Series 4 T210 players. Data for the 1910 teams in Series 4, namely, Charleston, Huntington, Montgemery, and Pt. Pleasant does not exist beyond overall team records and managers' names.

In other words, unlike data for all other T210 Series, team rosters are not found.

My guess is that this omission is a result of the fact that the teams belonged to the Virginia Valley League, which lasted for just a single year, 1910. These teams became the Mountain States League in 1911.

To complicate matters further, the Pt. Pleasant team actually moved from Pt. Pleasant, West Virginia to Gallipolis, Ohio during the 1910 season.

On a brighter note, Baseball Reference actually lists players in Series 5, Carolina Association by position below the player rosters which helps greatly.

The first player I'm looking for help to identify in Series 1 is the player listed as Shields, who is pictured with the Augusta Tourist 1910 team. He's not listed on the team's official roster. Could this be Mike Shields who played for Roanake Tigers in the Virginia League in 1911 and 1912? Unfortunately, no position is listed.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Patrick

[nolemmings]

I can't pin it down for you, but the player is not the Mike Shields who played for Roanoke in 1911. That player was an infielder who played at least some 2b and who had come from college ball at Washington & Lee Univ.
The Shields you are looking for appears to have come from Arkansas, and was a catcher--possibly converted from 1b, who at least started the season in Augusta, although I could find nothing about him in 1910 throughout the season.

[Steve D]

After looking at newspapers from Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi in 1910 on Newspapers.com, it appears that it might be Charlie/Charley Shields.

He was a pitcher with Memphis in 1909. He then injured his arm, and was released. Then, a Shields appears as a catcher in March 1910, in Augusta, GA, when the pictures for the T210 set were taken. After that, Shields shows up in Meridian, MS as a catcher and outfielder.

He appears in the 1910 US Federal Census, on 23 Apr 1910, living in Memphis, Shelby County, TN. His age is listed as 30, and he was living with his mother and father. He listed his occupation as "Ball Player, Southern League".

He was back in Memphis in July, 1910, presumably out of the game.

Steve

[Vintagecatcher]

Thanks for the help gentleman!

I appreciate it!

Patrick

[Steve D]

I just found Charley Shields in the 1920 Federal Census, still in Memphis, still living with his now-widowed mother. He listed his occupation in 1920 as "Professional Ball Player".

Stev

[nolemmings]

Not likely Charley Shields in the T210 set. There is a Charlie Shields listed as pitching for Memphis through 1908. He was a southpaw, and the T210 pic is of a righty (not surprisingly, as a catcher).

[Steve D]

Not likely Charley Shields in the T210 set. There is a Charlie Shields listed as pitching for Memphis through 1908. He was a southpaw, and the T210 pic is of a righty (not surprisingly, as a catcher).

Yea, I noticed that after posting the above.

The Charlie Shields who played for Memphis in 1908-09, and Meridian in 1910, is the same Charlie Shields who played for the Baltimore Orioles and St Louis Browns in 1902, and the St Louis Cardinals in 1907.

In comparing the pictures of this Charlie Shields on baseball-reference.com and find-a-grave.com, with the T210 photo, the picture on T210 shows a different person.

The thing is though, if he was a southpaw, why would he have been a catcher? The boxscores show the only "Shields" playing for Meridian, was primarily a catcher, and the newspaper story about him in Memphis in July 1910, clearly states that the Meridian "Shields, was the same "Shields" who pitched in Memphis. Baseball-reference.com also indicates that Charlie Shields played for both Memphis and Meridian, as well as the Orioles, Browns and Cardinals.

We're left with there being two Shields', or that there was one Shields, and he was ambidextrous. If there were two Shields', one was the pitcher/outfielder, and the other was a catcher. If so, they both played for Meridian at the same time (Jun-Jul 1910), but never played in the same game together. Also, if there was only one Shields, then the picture on the T210 card, is incorrect

Steve

[Vintagecatcher]

Thanks again gentleman.

The answer will be found in an old newspaper or one of our other Old Mill collectors will have the answer.

If I find the answer, I'll let you know.

Thanks again!

Patrick

[Vintagecatcher]

Let's try another card to see if we can identify this catcher in the T210 Old Mill set.

The 1910 roster for the Portsmouth Truckers lists a W.G. Smith.

Here is the card in question.

I did find a Wib Smith that was a catcher and 1st baseman during this time period.

Patrick

[Steve D]

Here's a list of "base ball" players enumerated in the 1910 US Federal Census for Portsmouth, Virginia on 19 Apr 1910:

Edwards, James
Bunch, Benjamin H
Sherlow, Paul
Orebaugh, Henry
Beal, John
Brinkley, Benjamin S
Cowan, George L
Jackson, William
Hannifan, Louis J
Foxen, Thomas H
Jones, Thomas J
Booe, Edward L
Smith, Robert, 32 years old, from New York
Clunk, James R
Kirkpatrick, Edward E
Bowen, Arthur A
Hamilton, Thomas J
Guiheen, Thomas A
Norris, William S
Byans, James R
Vail, Robert
Maxwell, George T
McDonald, Henry
Cote, Henry A
Hankins, Henry T

They were all staying at a hotel on Crawford Street.

Steve

[Vintagecatcher]

Thanks for checking Steve.

The plot thickens!

I found a player listed as G. W. Smitheal, who played for Fort Worth in 1909 in the Texas League. No position listed but it's too close to the G. W. Smith listed on the 1910 Portsmouth official roster. Guessing they are one and the same player.

Patrick