"1871" Warren George Wright

[Archive]

Posted By: Preece1

Please forgive if this is a stupid question, but I am confused on the Warren George Wright in last night's REA. The SGC holder and the description state that the item is from 1871, but how do they know????

Wright played in Boston for the Red Stockings from 1871-1876 and there is no date on the item. In addition, if this was part of a large group where you could identify the year based on th other players in the group.... But this one has me stumped.

Any help out there????

[Archive]

Posted By: Richard Masson

The Wright is one of 11 in the set. I believe it can be dated at 1872 based on the absence of Deacon White (added in 1873) and the presence of Rogers (added in 1872) and McVey (gone in 1873). The cards like these that were recently sold by Sotheby's and Mastro were signed in July, 1872, so they were issued by that date.

Oddly, the group also contains a card for John J. Ryan, who never appeared in a game for Boston. The Encyclopedia lists only one John J. Ryan who played contemporaneously; he appeared in a few games for Louisville in 1876 and Cincinnati in 1877. His inclusion in the set is a mystery to me.

The 11 in the group are:
G. Wright
H. Wright
Rogers
Gould
Schafer
John J. Ryan
Spalding
Barnes
Leonard
McVey
Birdsall

Three others who played for the team were Fred Cone, Frank Barrows and Sam Jackson. I have not seen a Warren cabinet of any of them which further adds to the Ryan mystery.

Bottom line is I think it is an 1872 issue. SGC should correct the label.

Barry, did I miss anything?

[Archive]

Posted By: barrysloate

I think it's possible there is more than one set of Warrens. As Richard stated, all of his are dated 1872 so that is easy. I believe that is the earliest possible date.

But there are also two styles- one with the concave top and one with the straight top. And I believe I saw somewhere a few players who appeared on Warrens who were not on the team in 1872, but were in 1874. I wouldn't be surprised if the players made a trip to the studio in 1872 and another in 1874. It's certainly plausible that they could have had their pictures taken on more than one occasion.

I also think Richard's set has both styles, so that alone does not prove they are from different years. But I seem to remember seeing at least one or two other players that aren't in that set.