Cracker Jack / Frank Owens Question

[Archive]

Posted By: Richard

Morning Folks,

Finding an answer to this question is probably a long shot, but here goes...I am trying to assemble a list of Canadian-born players with pre-1920 cards.

That said, according to baseball-reference.com and wikipedia.org, Frank Owens was born in Toronto, Ontario on January 26, 1886. BR lists him as having played in the Federal Leagues in 1914 and 1915.

Accordingly, card #74 of the Cracker Jack sets features Frank Owens with the Brooklyn Federals. The bio on the back of the card, however, says Owens was born in Wausau (Wisconsin?) on June 21, 1886.

Anyone have any idea which birth place is correct?

Thanks in advance,

Richard.

BR: http://www.baseball-reference.com/o/owensfr01.shtml
Card Image: http://www.timepassagesnostalgia.com/&searchkeywords=cracker+jack+frank+owen&sis=-1&rdir=1

[Archive]

Posted By: Frank Wakefield

2004 Baseball Encyclopedia (the one closest to my pc) lists Toronto, Ontario, Canada as the birthplace of Frank Owens, 1-26-1886. Minneapolis is listed as place of death.


That doesn't exactly answer your question.


This Wikipedia link shows Toronto...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Owens


I've found some mistakes on the backs of those Cracker Jacks. None come to mind at this moment. But I recall getting a reprint set just so I could read all of the backs, my plan was (and still is, but going nowhere at present) to use that and lots more to put together a biography book on the guys in T206. Anyway, some of the stuff on the back of the CJ's is incorrect. Maybe this is an example.

Good luck with it.

Frank W.

[Archive]

Posted By: Richard

Thanks, Frank. I appreciate the response.

Aside from the back of the CJ itself, every source I've checked (Baseball-Reference, Wikipedia, BaseballCube, baseball-almanac) lists Toronto as his birth place. While I'd like to say that the odds are then in favour of the Cracker Jack being wrong, I was hesitant to go that far, as I assume all of these sites are ultimately using the same source, which really means one source says Wausau and one says Toronto.

After reading your response, I am now thinking that my original question should have simply been: "Has anyone found the bios on 1914/1915 Cracker Jacks to contain errors?"

That said, I am going to assume the Cracker Jack bio is wrong, unless or until some compelling evidence presents itself. If nothing else, this brings my 'pre-1920 Canadian-born type set' to a nice even 15 cards.

Thanks again, Frank.


Regards,

Richard.