Quote:
Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards
The problem with all of these threads is that the burden of PROOF is on the person making the claim, not the skeptics. However, with a vested interest the person making the claim often wants to jump from evidence to a closed case.
Members on this board would like nothing better than to be part of a cool discovery. Pretty sure the board was instrumental in discovering the T202 Joe Jackson center panel.
We have some incredibly knowledgeable people on this board, some who have offered their opinions. However it is not their job to convince you why it isn't what you say, it's your job to convince them why it is.
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OK, I'll take a stab even though it's not my photo and I have no stake in the matter (unless someone wants to lose a bet against me lol). Here's why I'm so confident. First, let's start with the photographer, Elmer Chickering. According to Wikipedia,
"Elmer Chickering (1857-1915) was a photographer specializing in portraits in Boston, Massachusetts, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He kept a studio on West Street, and photographed politicians, actors, athletes, and other public figures such as Kyrle Bellew, John Philip Sousa, Sarah Winnemucca, Edmund Breese, and the Boston Americans."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elmer_Chickering
Remember, George Wright wasn't just a HOFer. He was a sports LEGEND in Boston at that time. He also owned and operated a hugely successful sporting goods store "Wright & Ditson" just a few miles away from Chickering's photography studio in Boston. He founded the sporting goods store in 1871, the same year he began playing for the Boston Americans, and ran the store for over 50 years! Part of the business would later become Spalding. He was so successful that in the early 1900s, he expanded to NYC, Chicago, and San Francisco. George Wright wasn't just a baseball player, he was THE baseball player of his era in Boston. And you could go into his store any time to meet him in person. He was a local celebrity. But his store didn't just sell baseball stuff. He also brought golf to the United States, building the first public golf course in the USA in Boston in 1890. He also made the top tennis racquets in the country. Wright & Ditson was a HUGE, HUGE brand in the late 1800s and early 1900s. As noted above, the photographer behind this photo, Elmer Chickering, was known for photographing famous people; important public figures, and the Boston Americans in particular. If there was one athlete in the city of Boston during that time that he would have photographed, it would have been Goerge Wright. He was that famous in the city of Boston.
As far as resemblances go, here are several more photographs of George Wright in his later years that collectively, all but prove that this is in fact a photo of George Wright. First, notice the eyes in the black and white photo of George in his older years that I've zoomed in on, you can see that George Wright has very light-colored eyes in this photo. The subject in Steve's photo also has very light-colored eyes, which a very small percentage of the population has. Next, look at the photo with the all-white background where Wright is wearing a white shirt. Look at his hairline in that photo. Follow the angles of it. It is exactly the same hairline as the subject in Steve's photo. Also, look at the mustaches in pretty much any photo. All of them are the same as the mustache in Steve's photo. Same angles and triangular shape. Next, look at the noses and angle of the bridge in each photo. The same long pointy nose in all of them, exactly like the nose in Steve's photo. This is particularly evident in the photo of him when he's older and looking up to the right. And look at the jaw lines, again, exactly the same. Also look at the chin in the yellowish photo. Pay attention to the highlights of how the light hits his chin in that photo and in Steve's photo. That's the exact same chin and shape with a somewhat rounded proud shape to it. Also, look at his hair, he has the same wavy hair on the sides in each photo. Also, look at the noses photo and notice the angle of the nose in both, as well as the shape of the nostrils. Someone previously said something about his bottom lip being bubbly so it couldn't possibly be him, but that's simply not true. That's just a bad shadow from a poor image. Look at the crystal clear image of him when he's older and looking off to the right. Look at his bottom lip in that photo. You can see it clearly there. It is the exact same thin bottom lip as the one in Steve's photo. Also, look at the photo of him in his older years where he's in his sporting goods store holding the golf club and notice what he wears in his store: the same style sport coat with a white shirt and a bow tie. Same thing he's wearing in Steve's photo.
In my opinion, this is almost certainly a photo of George Wright taken by a local Boston photographer of the same era who was well known for photographing famous people in Boston and the Boston Americans in particular during a time when George Wright was about as big of a name as there was in Boston sports. He was the right age, in the right city, at the right time, and the right type of public figure for Chickering to have taken his portrait. The subject in Steve's photo is an absolute
dead ringer for George Wright. And if anyone was going to take a professional-looking photo of him in Boston, Elmer Chickering would have been at the top of the list to do it.