Tintype of Game Action

[SteveS]

Hi everyone! Wanted to share a tintype I got recently of a baseball game in action. I've seen several tintypes of baseball players posing indoors, but not very many of a game outdoors. I also got from the same seller a tintype of what appears to be the same player with a group of people. The woman second from the right appears to be holding a baseball. Can any of our experts here tell from the uniforms/equipment approximately what year/decade these were taken? Thanks!

[molenick]

I think they are nice tintypes and I hate to be the resident "downer" but maybe we need to define what we mean by "game action". To me this is a batter posed in front of catcher. It's great that it's posed outdoors, but for it to be game action, I think you need to see more players involved. Also, the photographer is blocking the pitcher, preventing the action of the game from taking place.

[SteveS]

Molenick, I guess more specifically, about as "action packed" as a tintype would allow.

[molenick]

Yeah, sorry if I was nitpicking. It's just that there is another current thread talking about a cdv of a game in action, so I guess the idea of what that means was on my mind. Also, you're right about it being uncommon, I have many tintypes and I think only a few are outdoors and they are team poses.

[SteveS]

Just saw that other thread. It's a very cool pic. I think the tintype technology did not allow for a wide enough view to capture much of a game. I've seen only two other outdoor baseball "game" tintypes (one posted by Leon years ago), and they had the players bunched together in order to capture the action (the pitcher was only a few feet from the batter).

[molenick]

I checked and these are the four tintypes I have that appear to be shot outdoors (as opposed to in a studio with an "outdoors" backdrop).

[SteveS]

Those are very cool, Molenick! I guess there really aren't that many out there that are set up in a game pose.

[molenick]

Hard to say...but I can say that I don't have any and have not seen them very often.

[NiceDocter]

That bat looks more like a fence post! How long would you say it is??

[molenick]

If you mean the boy's bat, it does look long...and the bat the two guys are holding looks short. But without knowing the height of the people involved, I would not venture a guess about the length of the bats.

[Leon]

Here is one I used to own but sold it to Josh Evans at a National some years back.

[SteveS]

Yes, Leon, that's the one I was thinking of and mentioned above. This is the only other one I've been able to find online, which features mostly women.

[GaryPassamonte]

Both "game action" cdvs and "game action" tintypes are rare by any standard. They are grossly undervalued in my opinion. I don't think I've ever seen one depicting a well known team or player(s)? That would be a find.

[molenick]

Adding that it is possible that the "bat" the boy is holding is not actually a bat in which case this is not actually a baseball tintype. That's my reward for posting these

[SteveS]

Gary, yeah, seeing a famous team or player from back then "in action" would be amazing. Do you have any idea from when my tintype might have come? I'm thinking from the uniform style and lack of a catcher's mask/mitt probably late-1860s-to-mid-1870s.

Molenick, I don't know which bat NiceDocter thought looked big, but it looks to me as though the boy in your photo is definitely holding a bat.

[GaryPassamonte]

Originally Posted by SteveS

Gary, yeah, seeing a famous team or player from back then "in action" would be amazing. Do you have any idea from when my tintype might have come? I'm thinking from the uniform style and lack of a catcher's mask/mitt probably late-1860s-to-mid-1870s.

Molenick, I don't know which bat NiceDocter thought looked big, but it looks to me as though the boy in your photo is definitely holding a bat.

My first impression would be 1875-1880.

[SteveS]

Thanks, Gary. It's amazing how fundamentally similar the game is to what it was 150 years ago.

[Leon]

Not in action, the guy batting is posed, but tintypes nonetheless...

[molenick]

Very nice tintypes, Leon.

[darkhorse9]

Maybe I'm ignorant on such matters, but I don't see how the conclusion is made that the OP tintypes are from baseball at all.

I see a guy holding a stick and another crouched down. That could be any number of things. The other looks like a family photo.

What exactly am I missing?

[molenick]

The things that point to it being baseball are:

• The person in the background is crouching in a position and at a distance a catcher would have been doing in this time period

• The stick the person in the foreground is holding appears to have been "worked" rather than naturally occurring (it looks to be smooth, slightly tapered, and rounded)

• The clothes the person in the foreground is wearing (the striped pants, high socks, and white shirt with a kerchief/tie) are in line with a baseball player of this time

• The brick placed in the position it is in strikes me as an impromptu "home plate" used for the pose -- which is why I don't think this is an "action" shot but adds to why I do think it is a posed shot of a batter and catcher

The OP said the second photo "appears to be the same player with a group of people" so it is only a "baseball" tintype if you accept that this is a baseball uniform and that a baseball tintype is one that has any baseball content at all.

I suppose something else could be happening but I wouldn't speculate on what else that could be.

[SteveS]

I think it's pretty clearly a baseball tintype for the reasons Molenick mentioned. The reason I think it's during a game is because the catcher is crouching in the position where he'd be normally, rather than much closer as we see in the posed pictures. That said, I don't think the game was in play at that moment, as it would have been very difficult to capture movement with the tintype camera. I posted the other picture because it came from the same seller, and I think it's the same player depicted and the woman second from right appears to be holding a baseball. Other than that, that one is not necessarily a "baseball tintype," but I included it to perhaps help date the images. And, nice tintypes, Leon!