Looking for minor leaguer J.G.(Fred) Brott

[ocjack]

A business associate and friend of mine asked if I could try and track down any information (specifically a picture) of a relative of his that played minor league ball at the end of the 19th century.

A quick google search found the stats for J.G. (Fred) Brott and I've included them here.

I'm hoping that with the vast and knowledgeable resources on this site, someone can help me find a picture of Mr. Brott or possibly give me some direction to proceed to help my friend. I know it's probably a doomed mission, but any help will be appreciated and my friend will be truly grateful.

This is the list of teams I was able to find. Thanks for any and all help.

1895 -- Sherman Orphans Texas-Southern League
1895 -- Waterloo Eastern Iowa League Ind
1896 -- Galveston Sandcrabs Texas Association
1897 -- Nashville/Henderson Centennials Central League
1897 -- Wilkes-Barre Coal Barons Eastern League
1897 -- Dubuque Western Association
1898 -- Mansfield Haymakers Interstate League
1899 -- Rock Island-Moline Islanders Western Association

[z28jd]

Not sure if this will help, but there are a lot of mentions of him in the Galveston Daily News in 1896. You can find it on newspaper.com and you need to at least sign up for a free trial to view them. Many of the search results have drawings/sketches of players, so one might be him

[DixieBaseball]

Does this friend have any relatives with family images of him? Reason I ask, is even if we can locate a Cabinet photo, etc. they probably won't have the name next to the photo so we may not be able to ID him. (Most minor league 1890's photo's are untitled without names from my experience...)

I sent you a separate email as I may have a Cab photo that could help...

Also, I would use the teams he played for and see if there are any corresponding Reach or Spalding Guide Team photo's like this :

[Dto7]

He went by Jack Brott in Rock Island according to the newspapers. Dated May 5 and May 13 1899.

[ocjack]

Thanks for the leads so far. My friend will be kept busy researching them. Any other information available for me to pass on?

I can't tell you how appreciative he is.

[z28jd]

If he went to college, you might also be able to find a team photo. Those are probably more common from that era than you think. You could also try looking for the town he was from(or a big town nearby) for a semi-pro team. He may have played before or after his pro career.

[ocjack]

I've provided him with all of your suggestions. Thanks all.