1889 Indianapolis Hoosiers Original Photo

[EVAJOY91]

Another pickup. Cabinet style photograph with young Amos Rusie (Front Right).
Need help again to it's value. Picked this up this evening along with the 1909 Pittsburg (Pittsburgh) Team photo. I was told that the Pittsburg (Pittsburgh) Team photo sold for $3,000 in 2007 Huggins & Scott Auction. Thanks for that info.

[Leon]

I think it will be tough to guess some values as the photos are so unique. If the team one sold for 3k'ish I would think this one would be a little less. Maybe others will know more as that is just a guess. Cool pic though..

[RUKen]

Originally Posted by EVAJOY91

Another pickup. Cabinet style photograph with young Amos Rusie (Front Right).

How do you know the identity of the team? Is there information written on the back? (If so, you should scan and post that on this thread.) ETA: This was written before the scan was added.

The uniforms don't match the uniforms worn by Hoosier players in other photos taken in 1887-89, when this was a major league team. That doesn't mean that your photo can't be the Indianapolis Hoosiers, since teams did have more than one uniform, it just means that you need some supporting evidence for the claim.

I've posted here a photo (that I do not own) of the 1889 Indianapolis Hoosiers. I believe that this was taken at a road game. They wore solid dark socks and the shirts had "INDIANAPOLIS" across the chest:

[EVAJOY91]

Thanks leon. I agree.
I have two long time dealers/collectors looking at this photo along with the 1909 pittsburgh team photo. I will post their appraised value on both later.

Here's the back of this photo with the identity of this team.

[RUKen]

Originally Posted by EVAJOY91

Here's the back of this photo with the identity of this team.

Now I'm really skeptical. It says "Baseball team coached by Wilder Stoddard Buffam". Wilder Stoddard Buffam was not the manager/captain of the 1889 Indianapolis Hoosiers; they were managed by Frank Bancroft and Jack Glasscock. Someone by the name of Wilder Stoddard Buffam did live in the United States from 1853 to 1933, but I cannot find information about any connection to baseball. A second man by this name died in 1948; according to his obituary he had graduated from Amherst College in 1884 and was a lawyer and a farmer.

Someone else wrote "(Front Right)(Young Amos Rouse [sic])(to N.Y. Giants and H.O.F.)". Rusie was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1977, so this inscription could not have been made before then.

In the same hand, it is also written "Famous Coach of Indianapolis Team Satchel Paige. Later coached N.Y. Giants, 1908." Satchel Paige was born in 1906, so this is hard to understand. The Giants in 1908 were managed by John McGraw, and it would be another year before McGraw hired Arlie Latham and Wilbert Robinson to be coaches; before then, a player who was not in the lineup served as the first base coach and McGraw himself usually coached at third base when the Giants batted.

Anyway, it is a nice photo of a 19th Century (or perhaps early 20th Century) baseball team in a carriage, and the photo has value that can be appraised by others, but I do not see evidence that it is the 1889 Indianapolis Hoosiers.

(Your Pirates composite is undeniably the real deal.)

[sb1]

You are correct there are two Wilder Stoddard Buffum's in the U.S. circa 1889, each living in the Northeast and no signs of them having a connection to the Indianapolis BB team. More likely a Vermont or Massachusetts town team of some type.

[EVAJOY91]

I RESEARCH THIS. IT'S NOT WHAT IT SAYS, I AGREE I COULD HAVE GOTTEN IT WRONG. THAT'S WHY I PUT IT UP THERE. COULD THIS PHOTO BE EARLIER THEN 1889 . MY RESEARCH SHOWS RUSIE PLAYING FOR THE Indianapolis Hoosiers IN 1889. I JUST ASSUMED IT TO BE FROM THAT TIME PERIOD. PLEASE PROVIDE MORE INFO

[RUKen]

Originally Posted by EVAJOY91

I RESEARCH THIS. IT'S NOT WHAT IT SAYS, I AGREE I COULD HAVE GOTTEN IT WRONG. THAT'S WHY I PUT IT UP THERE. COULD THIS PHOTO BE EARLIER THEN 1889 . MY RESEARCH SHOWS RUSIE PLAYING FOR THE Indianapolis Hoosiers IN 1889. I JUST ASSUMED IT TO BE FROM THAT TIME PERIOD. PLEASE PROVIDE MORE INFO

We're just trying to help; no reason to go all capitals on us.

I think that the Rusie I.D. is also suspect; the inscription was made in 1977 or later, and the players in the photo are too small to make a positive identification. Quite often, old photos of baseball teams are said to have a famous player among the group when there is no supporting evidence for that player's inclusion.

The "Wilder Stoddard Buffam" identification may be authentic, and finding out which team was coached by this person is the key to solving this mystery. It wasn't a team in organized baseball--Buffam is not listed in Baseball_Reference.com .

[Leon]

Originally Posted by EVAJOY91

I RESEARCH THIS. IT'S NOT WHAT IT SAYS, I AGREE I COULD HAVE GOTTEN IT WRONG. THAT'S WHY I PUT IT UP THERE. COULD THIS PHOTO BE EARLIER THEN 1889 . MY RESEARCH SHOWS RUSIE PLAYING FOR THE Indianapolis Hoosiers IN 1889. I JUST ASSUMED IT TO BE FROM THAT TIME PERIOD. PLEASE PROVIDE MORE INFO

Be careful. Understand there is something called a "Caps Lock" key and slow down a little. All capital letters looks like you are yelling . I locked the duplicate thread and added a pic to the first post in this thread.
Good luck..

[yanks12025]

Originally Posted by EVAJOY91

I RESEARCH THIS. IT'S NOT WHAT IT SAYS, I AGREE I COULD HAVE GOTTEN IT WRONG. THAT'S WHY I PUT IT UP THERE. COULD THIS PHOTO BE EARLIER THEN 1889 . MY RESEARCH SHOWS RUSIE PLAYING FOR THE Indianapolis Hoosiers IN 1889. I JUST ASSUMED IT TO BE FROM THAT TIME PERIOD. PLEASE PROVIDE MORE INFO

Why it seems when people reply with information and you don't like the info they provided. You just reject it and stuff. Like with your FIREMENS belt, several members said it was a FIREMENS and not a baseball. But you replied back rejecting it being a firemens.

[CamaroCPA]

Originally Posted by yanks12025

Why it seems when people reply with information and you don't like the info they provided. You just reject it and stuff. Like with your FIREMENS belt, several members said it was a FIREMENS and not a baseball. But you replied back rejecting it being a firemens.

He did something very similar with his Fenway Park piece thread. Very off-putting.

[Jaybird]

Post a large pic of the team itself, closeup of the team in the carriage and we can help. It's too small to tell anything. From the faraway view, it looks like they could be kids or high school age.

[khkco4bls]

by the way it's still a firemans belt