[prewinter]

I've been meaning to look at the Old Judge set and the Western Association teams from 1888 more closely, and after you all were kind enough to answer my recent questions, I finally got around to it. What I did was take the rosters from the clubs from about March 1, 1888 through the start of the season, and I compared those players with the cards in the Old Judge sets (N172 and N173). From this comparison, you can see some possible cards that might be out there, as well as some of the strangeness about when photos were taken and cards released. I'm going to do one post per team (to keep them shorter), but I will use this one to explain the tables (using my favorite team - the St. Louis Whites). (And of course the table doesn't paste cleanly... poop. Paste into Excel, I guess)

Player - Self Explanitory
March 1 - On club roster before March 1, 1888
Card # - Card number if in Old Judge N172
Old Judge Club - Team for card in 1888
Cabinet - X if included on checklist for Old Judge Cabinets for 1888
Notes - Dates for signing, release, etc.
First game - First game for club in Western Association (if played)
Last game - Last game for club if before July 1

For the St. Louis Whites, the only player on the roster as of March 1 who was not included in the Old Judge set was Frank Weikart, who was released around April 3. Tug Arundel did not join the club until late April, after the photo shoot for the team. Tom Dolan is photographed in a Whites uniform, but identified with the St. Louis Browns. He spent two or so weeks with the Browns in Spring Training on a road trip through Memphis and New Orleans, which may be why Old Judge identified him with the Browns. On the other hand, Pete Somers spent those same two weeks in St. Louis with the Whites.

Take home: No likely unidentified Whites out there (nor Browns either, for that matter).


Player March 1 Card # Old Judge Club Cabinet Notes First Game Last Game
Charles Alcott X 2 St. Louis (WA) X Released May 6 May 3, 1888 May 6, 1888
Tug Arundel 13 Indianapolis (NL) X Signed April 24 May 8, 1888 June 20, 1888
Jake Beckley X 25 St. Louis (WA) X April 28, 1888
Ernie Burch X 51 St. Louis (WA) X Signed February 2 April 28, 1888 June 20, 1888
Bart Cantz X 64 St. Louis (WA) X May 1, 1888 June 20, 1888
Jack Crooks X 99 St. Louis (WA) X April 28, 1888 June 20, 1888
Tom Dolan X 126 St. Louis (AA) StL-AA Actually with the Whites April 28, 1888 June 20, 1888
Joseph Herr X 225 St. Louis (WA) X April 28, 1888 June 8, 1888
Hunkey Hines X 226 St. Louis (WA) X April 28, 1888 June 20, 1888
Jack Kenyon X 260 St. Louis (WA) X April 28, 1888 June 20, 1888
Tom Loftus X 277 St. Louis (WA) X Manager
Jerry McCormack X 305 St. Louis (WA) X Released May 3
Parson Nicholson X 345 St. Louis (WA) X April 28, 1888 June 20, 1888
Fred Nyce X 347 St. Louis (WA) X May 1, 1888 June 17, 1888
Pete Somers X 428 St. Louis (AA) StL-AA Released May 6
Ed Sproat X 434 St. Louis (WA) X May 1, 1888 May 7, 1888
Harry Staley X 435 St. Louis (WA) X April 28, 1888 June 19, 1888
Frank Weikart X Released April 3