Shoeless Joe? A's? Please tell me I didn't miss this.

[GoCubsGo32]

Okay,

I'll admit. This is driving me crazy for whatever reason. When I requested more pictures of lot 108 from Christie's Auction...I'm of coursed interested in the lot...however...I was for sure looking close at all details for obvious reason.

Not all the pictures are all from 1913-1914 A's... one photo (appears to be Amos Strunk) is dated 1909. Then I saw this snapshot...and well. My first thought was Shoeless Joe Jackson? Then I talked myself out of it. So I decided not to bid higher. My mind...keeps telling...they couldn't miss this right? Am I crazy? I had less than 24 hrs to do as much research as I could but..I couldn't find much.

If nothing else the board will get a good laugh. Otherwise I'll be pissed I missed out on super rare find... I just gotta know...

[Bicem]

Ira Thomas and Amos Strunk, no idea who that is in the middle.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by Bicem

Ira Thomas

That explains why "Jackson" is holding a catcher's mitt.

[GoCubsGo32]

Thanks guys. I feel better. Don't know why it was bothering me so much.

I have no shame. Hopefully it at least got a few people to laugh

[TCMA]

Originally Posted by Bicem

Ira Thomas and Amos Strunk, no idea who that is in the middle.

Exactly, that's Ira Thomas.

[ThomasL]

The one in the middle looks the most like Jackson at that time frame and could very well be him.
blackbetsy.com has a photo of him in an As uniform with Strunk and another player from 1909...Id email Mr Nola about it if I were you he would probably be able to tell you if Jackson was in El Paso with the As in 1909
http://www.blackbetsy.com/photosTheEarlyYears.html

I was assuming you meant the one in the middle might be Jackson bc the other two are easily identifiable.

[GoCubsGo32]

Originally Posted by ThomasL

The one in the middle looks the most like Jackson at that time frame and could very well be him.
blackbetsy.com has a photo of him in an As uniform with Strunk and another player from 1909...Id email Mr Nola about it if I were you he would probably be able to tell you if Jackson was in El Paso with the As in 1909
http://www.blackbetsy.com/photosTheEarlyYears.html

I was assuming you meant the one in the middle might be Jackson bc the other two are easily identifiable.

You would be correct. I probably should of clarified that.

Yes, the person in the middle. I don't know who won the album...but I wonder if this gem was the personal estate of Amos Strunk. Lots of personal shots of him alone. Lots of photos of the players and their wives around the town. Someone close to the team for sure. IMO.

I'll have to check out the website. Who Mr. Nola? Owner of the website?

[ThomasL]

Mike Nola, he runs that site and is one of the leading Joe Jackson experts around. I emailed him with a link to this thread. Joe Jackson was with the A's in spring training in 1909. For sure more digging is needed thou

[ThomasL]

The fact the guy in the middle is in what looks like a totally different uniform is something to consider.

Not to make you feel bad but here is a picture from 1909 of Joe Jackson with some other Savannah GA players and their wives dressed up like players...Jackson's wife (back far left) is wearing a sweater that looks a lot like the one that man in the middle of this picture is wearing...
http://www.blackbetsy.com/photosTheEarlyYears.html

[ThomasL]

1909 A's team photo with Joe Jackson in it...and about three other guys who the man in the middle could be...
http://www.blackbetsy.com/photosTheEarlyYears.html

[blackbetsy]

I must admit, the guy in the middle looks a bit like Joe Jackson, however I am concerned that he is not wearing an A's uniform. Jackson was with the A's during Spring Training for a while (still researching when he left for Savannah). He did not start the season with the A's and only finished the season with the A's. He arrived on September 7, 1909 in Philly just in time to get in on a game against the Highlanders, which the A's lost 8 to 6. He did not play another game until September 30th and he finished the season out (only played 5 game total with the A's that year). I sure wish you guys could get me a higher resolution photo to look at. Folks are always wanting me to look at these terrible images and want me to say 100 percent for sure if it's Joe Jackson or not and I simply can't do it with these low res images. I am doing some research now to see if I have a record of this appearing in a newspaper.....that will be our only hope of saying for sure this IS or ISN'T Joe Jackson. Trust me, I'd love to be able to say it's him......this would give me a new Jackson photo.....but at this point, I simply can't do that.

[Dto7]

Originally Posted by ThomasL

1909 A's team photo with Joe Jackson in it...and about three other guys who the man in the middle could be...
http://www.blackbetsy.com/photosTheEarlyYears.html

That photo was taken in New Orleans, Louisiana at training camp. There isn't a white elephant on any of the coats. So, the original posted photo couldn't be training camp 1909.