KH, Nice pick up, Congrats!....I've seen them many times over the years and just recently got the Chicago mate above....you can read about it in
this link to my Rose Bowl Flea trip feature.
Mark, Now that I got the pitcher I'm into them more...When you see them as a complete lamp they're very impressive. Although they have an earlier look, I believe the bib-front jersey dates it to the 1880's. It's interesting to see the variations of patinas.
There's a larger and earlier baseball lamp from I believe around the 1860's that is very archaic. I don't recall ever seeing the whole lamp but I saw the figure at the 2003 National and David Hunt told me he'd seen it as a lamp...you can see it and read my impression in the
7th paragraph of this link. I got the example below a couple years ago...you can see a 1 1/4" tall fluted stem behind his ankle which is hollow, where I believe the lamp was mounted.
