1888 Omaha Omahogs

[oldjudge]

I'm looking for a little help with a project I'm working on. Does anyone have a team image of the 1888 Omaha Western Association team, or any non-Old Judge images of any of the players. If so, please post here or send to me at jay.l.miller@jpmorgan.com

Thanks---Jay

[Michael Peich]

Jay--I wish I did have something to help you since the Omahogs are one of my favorite Western Association team names, second only to the somber-sounding Des Moines Prohibitionists. I look forward to learning more about your project.

Cheers, Mike

[oldjudge]

I know there are several Omaha colectors on the board. Have any of you ever seen a team picture of the 1888 team, preferably with the players identified.

Thanks---Jay

[slidekellyslide]

No, I've never seen one...and you can bet if you could find one it would have already been featured on Bruce Esser's Nebraska Minor League Baseball site.

http://www.nebaseballhistory.com/before1900.html

[oldjudge]

Dan-It's interesting that he calls the 1889 league the Western League. The Sporting News from the period calls it the Western Association, which I believe is correct.

[slidekellyslide]

Western Association is correct..probably just a typo. Bruce is a member here so hopefully he'll see this thread and comment..perhaps he has seen an 1888 photo..he is definitely the go to guy on Omaha.

[oldjudge]

Thanks Dan

[tachyonbb]

oldjudge, thanks for the correction, you are right it should be the Western Association in 1889.

When I started this section of the website my primary source was the Omaha Bee and the book "Through the Years With the Western League" 1951 Publisher: Western League, edited by Bill Bryson of the Des Moines Register. They listed the teams as being in the Western League in 1889.

I later realized that this should be the Western Association but never thought about the website listing. I will correct the page. If you find any other mistakes let me know. I have edited a number of books and having a lot of eyes on the pages reduces the errors.

Thanks again.

I have never found a picture of the 1888 team. Of course I have only been on the hunt for a little over a decade.

[bmarlowe1]

Jay - Burns, Burdick, Cooney, Lovett, O'Connell and Shannon are in the Oshkosh team photo in your book.

[atx840]

google is failing me.

[uffda51]

Not a team card or a non-Old Judge - but it's all I've got.

[oldjudge]

Thanks guys. I'm surprised how difficult this is to find. I have tried the Omaha Historical Society, some museums in Omaha, and the Hall of Fame, and no luck anywhere. Oh well.

[nebboy]

I also called a very good, very private friend of mine in Omaha to see if he could help. But he also has never owned or seen a team issue from the year you have asked for. Good Luck

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Thanks guys. I'm surprised how difficult this is to find. I have tried the Omaha Historical Society, some museums in Omaha, and the Hall of Fame, and no luck anywhere. Oh well.

Did you try the Durham Western Heritage Museum? They once had a baseball display up a few years back.

http://www.durhammuseum.org/about/staff.aspx

[atx840]

These are just beautiful, old judge images but man I would like to get one.

[cliftons8]

I do not know what year this is from. I do believe this is Jimmy Cooney from the Oshkosh photo in Jay's book.
On the back it says"Johnny Cooney's Father." Could this be from 1887-89 time frame? Also, this does not look like the player
identified as Cooney in the Old Judge set. Could that player have been misidentified by Goodwin and Co?
Thanks,
Mike

[bmarlowe1]

Below far left is cropped from Cliftons8's photo.

2nd from left is the baseball-reference.com image identified as Jimmy Cooney. It is the exact same image. That's good, but not enough because there are a fair number of photo errors at baseball-reference, and they refuse to correct any of them (e.g., if you look up Roscoe Miller, you will see a nice photo of Dummy Taylor). That said, the vast majority of their images are of course correct.

3rd from the left is Cooney cropped from a crudely drawn 1889 Omahogs team head-shot composite. It seems very likey that it was derived from Clifton8's photo. The striped jersey also matches. Also Jim Canavan, Kid Nichols, and Joe Walsh are all wearing the same (or similar) type of jersey in their 1889 Omaha OJ card photos.

4th from the left is Cooney from the Oshkosh team photo. As best as I can tell it matches Clifton8's photo.

As for Cooney's OJ cards - in the resolution available to me, I think they are OK, but if anyone owns a clear sharp card and is willing to share a very hi-res scan, we can take a closer look.

[oldjudge]

Mark-Thanks for jumping in. Pose 93-2 of Cooney looks (to my untrained eye) pretty close to these images, albeit with a moustache added on. Same big ears. I'll try to send a scan from my files if I can find one.