I agree that the item is not likely from 1890 and I also agree that the photo was taken at the same sitting as the 1891 Cy in uniform photo. It’s possible but improbable that the studio had plans for releasing photos in 1891 and wanted to get an early start. The Players League was falling apart by the time Cy got to Cleveland in August, 1890, and it was clear to everyone that dozens of players from that league would be looking for new homes in 1891. The Cleveland team roster of 1891 would be uncertain at best in late 1890, and several starters in fact were replaced the following year. Even if Cy was sure to return, it seems that the studio would want to know and have available all the current team members when shooting for 1891 commercial purposes. It’s doubtful to me that Ryder would make a special sitting appointment for Cy, who although a budding star was only 9-7 and playing on a seventh place team.
Off topic a little, but here's the box score from Cy's first start, the opener of a doubleheader:
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Won't you sign up your name? We'd like to feel you're acceptable, respectable, presentable, a vegetable
If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason and Dixon's but between patriotism and intelligence on the one side, and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.- Ulysses S. Grant, 18th US President.
Last edited by nolemmings; 06-07-2024 at 10:12 AM.
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