As graceful as a dancing master

[Northviewcats]

Hello Everyone,

I’ve wanted for some time to look up biographical information on some less famous players from the dead ball era. Players whose cards I am collecting. I’m sure that most collectors are aware of the Society for American Baseball Research. I think it is a great resource for getting information.

I thought I start a thread where I would pick a player from my collection, scan the cards I own of the player, and add the link to the player’s biography on the SABR Website. I would like to invite the members of the board to follow the link, read the biography, and then add any information that they have on the player. It would also be cool if members could post some scans of cards that they have of the player in their collection. In this way we can show a “little love” to some of the lesser known prewar ball players and at the same time learn more about them and the cards that keep them from slipping into obscurity. I imagine that many of the newer collectors, like myself, would appreciate learning about the players and seeing all of the different cards that they could collect. It would also be cool if other members started similar threads about the players that they were interested in.

So, this thread will feature “Wid” Conroy. Until, I read his biography on SABR, by Sam Berstein, I didn’t know anything about him except he had a funny nickname, hit a lot of triples, and that he played for the Yankees when they were still called the Highlanders. I also found it interesting that he had sort of a “Magglio Ordonez haircut thing” going on, as seen in his T206 fielding card. In any case, I really enjoyed reading Berstein’s biography of him especially when he wrote that reporters claimed that Wid was “as graceful as a dancing master” around third base. I would have loved to see him play.

Here is the link to Wid's bio in SABR: http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?...=1697&pid=2771

Thanks for sharing any pictures or stories.

Best wishes,

Joe

[brickyardkennedy]

I remember reading awhile back, that this 1903 photo of Conroy, leaping for a throw at third, when with the Highlanders, was the first baseball action shot.

[Northviewcats]

Wow. What a great photo. Conroy does look like a dance master in the picture. According to the records, 1903 was the first year Conroy played for the Highlanders. So, this is probably one of the earliest Yankees photos, as well.

Bob, thanks for sharing.

Joe

[brickyardkennedy]

http://tinyurl.com/lcmotr

Here's the page I took that snap from, Joe.

[Jantz]

Hi Joe

I did kinda the same thing when I received my first T206 card of Nap Rucker. All the bio information that I found about Nap was quite interesting. Learned alot in just alittle time. Nice thread.

Jantz

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Conroy married Mary Helen Carey in 1904. He had brown hair and blue eyes. He did not attend college. During WWI he worked as a rigger for the New York Shipbuilding Company in Camden, NJ. Over the years, the Conroys lived at both 239 and 301 East Main Street in Moorestown, NJ.

[Kawika]

Found this Bain photo at the Library of Congress website.

[Tyler]

Great thread..."refreshing" to say the least. The T206 w/bat is one of my favorite cards of all-time. Would love to follow more threads like this.

Also, great pic posted above...really cool to hear and especially see more about these "non hof's".

[Northviewcats]

Thanks David for posting the Conroy Washington photo. I was looking at his photograph on his Ramley card and he looked very young. What a difference a few years makes standing in the East coast sun.

Tyler, I agree Conway's bat card is one of my favorites, too. I saw a NM example on eBay a week or two ago and the sunset to the left of his head was really striking. In the light it looks almost like glowing prism on one side of card. I also like the way he is choking up on the bat. In Berstein's article in SABR, he mentions that Conray choked up far up the handle of the bat and sprayed the ball into all fields, typical of many of the hitters of the day. It's a cool card. Actually, his fielding card is pretty sharp, as well, with the grassy background. There is a nice use of different shades of green and the texture of the grass towards the bottom of the card. He may be a candidate for having the best looking cards in the set when you compare them with any other player that has a fielding/batting pair.

I note that Conroy is featured on several early 1900 issues: Ramley, W600 Sporting Life Cabinets, Colgan's Stars of the Diamond, Darby Chocolates, M116, Red Cross and the Rose Company postcards. Does anyone have any of these cards in their collection? Any scans?

Thanks,

Joe

[bcornell]

Wid Conroy always remind me of my favorite eBay card, ever. Apologies to those who've seen it before, but here it is again:





Bill