Sold: Type I Photos of 1917 New York Giants Spring Training

[Kris19]

Tip of the hat to a good friend and fellow collector for the clever title!

Group of 4 photographs taken during 1917 New York Giants Spring Training in Marlin, TX. These original photos came from the estate of Pie Way, a pitcher who was trying to catch on with the Giants that spring, along with 11 other pitchers featured in these photos.

One would go on to a Hall of Fame career. A young 17-year-old phenom, Waite Hoyt, was brought along by manager John McGraw that spring. I have found several newspaper articles identifying him as such. In the "team photo" (actually the 12 rookie pitchers), Hoyt is in the top row, far right. The newspaper photo shown below of the same 12, which appears to be taken the same day, confirms his identity.

And those plaid uniforms! So great, IMO. Hard to believe the Giants only wore them one season, 1916, then handed them down to these rookies for spring training the following year.

Sold delivered, net to me, for the group of 4 photos. PayPal preferred.

1) "Team photo" measures 9 1/2 " x 6 1/4". Waite Hoyt is the youngster in the back row, far right.

2) Tossing around medicine balls measures 8" x 6"

3) Lined up in a football formation measures 9 1/2" x 6 1/4"

4) Pie Way statuesque photo measures 6 1/2" x 8 1/2". Photo is glued to to a black scrapbook page but could be removed. The page lifts up enough to show the slug with information about the photo as shown in the image below.

Please PM or email me at kris.sweckard@sbcglobal.net to purchase or with any questions. Thanks!

[T206Jim]

Is that Thorpe in the white jersey in the center of the multiple medicine ball photo?

[Kris19]

Good eye, Jim. I had the same thought, but I cannot say for sure it is him…but I can’t say it’s not him. He was definitely in camp with the Giants in Marlin early that spring. Here is a newspaper account from March 10, 1917 of Thorpe homering off of Pie Way, the original owner of these photos. Could be.

[mrreality68]

Nice photo

[Kris19]

One really neat thing about photos like these is that you never know what you might find when you dig deeper into who is portrayed. Thanks to an astute collector, I have discovered two other players depicted who have very interesting stories.

In the top row, second from the left, is Bill Morrisette. He came from Baltimore in the International League, where the manager and owner was Bill Dunn. Of course, Dunn is most famous for “discovering” Babe Ruth at St. Mary’s and signing him to his Baltimore team. Morrisette, also considered a Dunn prize, pitched for Mt. Saint Joseph, also in Baltimore. The first game Babe Ruth got newspaper attention for was when he was at St. Mary's and pitched against Morrisette. Ruth won, 6-0.

Also in the back row, third from the right, is Al Schacht. Schacht later pitched a few years for the Washington Senators, but is far better known for becoming “The Clown Prince of Baseball.”

In the immortal words of Paul Harvey, “And now you know the rest of the story.”

Oh, and the lot of photos is still a available
Offers considered.