trying to find out if a card exists...

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Posted By: pat

i figured i would approach you guys to possible help me locate something. my father's father played ball for the A's in 1915. he only played a few games since he wasnt very good. he died when my father was 16 years old. i was curious to see if by chance there was ever a card/photos made of him. i found his name listed in the baseball card encyclopedia, but that was it so far. his name was owen sylvester conway. i certainly appreciate any help any of you can offer me.
regards
pat conway

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

There are no cards, but there may exist some photos. That will present much more of a challenge than a card would IMO. SABR has no information regarding a minor league career for Conway either.

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Posted By: Martin Neal

He wasn't very good? If he played at all in the majors, he was very good!

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Posted By: Matt

Pat - any chance his father played professional ball?

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Posted By: ali_lapoint

your grandfather has a major league hit. thats pretty good if you ask me. it would be really interesting if you could figure out who it was that he got a hit off of.

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Posted By: Phil Garry

Maybe try looking for a team photo or postcard from that season. I know it's a longshot that he would be included since he only played a few games but it is probably much more likely than finding him on his own card/photo.

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Posted By: pat

matt- his father (my great grandfather) was not a ball player, he was a rancher in colorado.

phil- i think you have a good dea there regarding a possible team photo or postcard.

its interesting to think of the players he knew personally.

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Posted By: Rob Ray

Retrosheet said your g-dad played 4 games between 6/21/15 and 6/23/15.
Turns out the A's played those 4 games as follows:
1 double header was played on the 21st,at home,against the Yankees.
Keating and Caldwell started the first and seconds game for the Yankees.
Then,on the 23rd ,the A's played ANOTHER doubleheader against the Yankees.
Caldwell and Warhop started THOSE 2 games.
So,at least that narrows it down to 3 different pitchers your dad could have gotten hits off of.
Not counting relief pitchers (rare in those days),of course.
I don't belive Retrosheet has box scores for those games,but the game scores were as follows:
A's swept the first DH,7-6 and 12-7....and then were swept in turn by the Yanks in the 2nd DH,2-3 and 7-15.
So,your g-dad played all 4 games in those two DHers and had a base knock in one fo them.
A lot more than most can say!
Very cool.
I hope you find his pic on a team PC somewhere....good luck!
Rob
Brooklyn, NY
(by the way,my mom's uncle was Nap Rucker,a pitcher around this time period ...although by 1915 he was at the tail end of his career. He might have conceivable run into your g-dad in spring training!)

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Posted By: Dwight

I see he played with the great Lajoie.

http://minors.sabrwebs.com/cgi-bin/roster.php?team=28870

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Posted By: George Dreher

Pat, he made his debut on June 21, 1915. One hit in 15 at bats and 6 errors at 3rd base. He played in two doubleheaders against the New York Yankees on June 21 & June 23. The games were played at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The Athletics won both of the first doubleheader games on June 21 and lost the last two on June 23.
So his only Major League hit was off of a Yankees pitcher. The Yankee starting pitchers on June 21 were Ray Keating & Ray Caldwell. Starting pitchers on June 21 were Ray Caldwell & Jack Warhop. Maybe Connie Mack gave him a tryout, to earn a chance with the Athletics? Your grandfather threw right-handed. Born October 23, 1890 in New York City and passed away March 12, 1942 in Philadelphia. He was laid to rest at Philadelphia National Cemetery.
The chances of finding any baseball images are extremely slim. Wish you the best of luck.


Edited: Noticed that Rob Ray already covered most of this in his post.

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Posted By: Chuck

I have the box score for the Yankees v. Phillies double header.

email me for a copy (adobe file)

cheers

PS - the hit came off NY pitcher Caldwell on the second day in the second game of the double header.

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Posted By: Kevin Cummings

According to The Sporting News, his lone hit came in the second game of the double header on June 21. Batting in the sixth spot, if he got the hit in his first at bat, it definitely would have been against Ray Caldwell, who went just two official innings. If he got the hit in a subsequent at bat, it could likely have been off of Cy Pieh, who pitched the last six innings. As I read the New York Times account of the game, it is unclear who the pitcher was, but the hit definitely came in the third inning in his second at bat when the Athletics scored 5 runs.

[edited to correct name of Yankees' relief pitcher and add new information]

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Posted By: leon

Pat, the original poster, emailed me privately asking me this question. I like baseball history but not as much as many on this board. I told him if he put this question out here he would get good feeback. You guys didn't disappoint me. Thanks to the board for being what it is. You guys are the best....warm regards.....your humble servant....

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Posted By: fkw

Do you have any nonbaseball photos of Owen from when he was in his 20s-30s for comparison?

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Wow...60 different guys suited up for the 1915 Philadelphia Athletics at some point in the year. Anyone know the record?

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Posted By: pat

thanks for everyone who contributed. very cool!

the only pictures of my grandfather are on the wall at my parents house. sort of like a collage of pics of my father hand in hand with his father on the atlantic city boardwalk from the i bleieve the late 1930s. there are i believe 4 consecutive years to show the rate at which my father was growing. they are pretty cool. he (my father) actually was drafted for wwii and served in the pacific theatre of war. he is 82 years of age now. it would have be incredible if i could get some sort of pic of his father in uniform for him.

chuck- my email address is cohocorp@aol.com for the scorecard file.

thanks alot. all information is very much appreciated!

pat