Back in 1988 or 1989 I bought a beat up photo at a sidewalk sale in Baltimore of a Negro League player. When I got it home I found it was clipped from a bigger picture and the back had "Lefty Glover" written on it. I knew by the uniform he played for the Baltimore Elite Giants, but that was all - at first. From this random find I began a 30-year research project trying to find out all I could about the man in the picture.
The three decade quest to find out when he was from and how he died was finally finished this past Christmas and I wrote about it in this article
HERE.
Now a month ago I was contacted by a card and memorabilia dealer in Nashville who said he thought he had a type 1 of Lefty Glover. Type 1 of Negro Leaguers are rare as heck, so my interest was piqued to say the least.
When the images he took came through, I was stunned. It was not the photo I found back in the eighties, but a clean, clear posed action shot.
Usually when publicity photos were taken of Negro League players they were portraits or stiff standing poses. This was a great posed pitching photograph.
The details of the uniform are crystal clear. From the things such as the wartime patch and jersey/cap, I'd say this was 1944 or 1945. I consulted with a coupe of trusted Negro League experts I know and the consensus was that this was indeed Lefty Glover. The other possibility was Jonas Gaines, the other lefty on the Elite Giants during this period. The dealer said he bought it at an antique store in Nashville, which would make sense since the Elite Giants HQ was actually in Nashville where the owner lived. I originally thought the location of the photo was Sulphur Dell in Nashville, but on closer inspection I don't think that is right. The trees in the outfield and the grass embankment with what looks like a fence on top comes close to what Atlanta's Ponce de Leon Park looked like, but it's too blurry for me to be sure.
So, without further ado, here's the 8x10 Type 1 of Tom "Lefty" Glover of the Baltimore Elite Giants:
Lefty_Glover_Type1_Front_watermarked.jpg
Now for the really interesting part: the dealer thanked me for helping him ID the photograph, and I figured I'd see it in the next RMY or Hake's auction or something. Then I got another email from the dealer offering to trade it to me in exchange for some of my artwork. He said he knew it whole hold a special value to me. Boy, was he was right.
I encourage you to
read the story of Lefty Glover. He wasn't a star by any stretch, but he had a nice career that lasted for over a decade at the highest Negro League level.