A Turn Of The Century Minor Leaguers Personal Items: A Photo/Cards?

[Lucas00]

Hi Folks, I've had some great fun doing write-ups of things I've had the pleasure of finding, and in turn researching. Then posting for you all on n54. (and you all helping me ☺️)

Today I'm sharing one of my personal favorite finds. A small collection of Photos/Cards of a fellow by the name of Al Cummings.
Al was born in Duluth in 1883. And started his minor league career with the Duluth White Sox in 1906 and played with them for several seasons (1906,1907,1909,1910)
He later played for the Quincy Gems in Illinois (1914,1916). The fort Wayne chiefs in Indiana (1917). And the Shreveport Gassers in Louisiana (1917).

Image #1.
This photo shows Al beautifully in a follow through throwing pose. His name is shown in a very similarly edited fashion to some cards. I believe this one could be an issue. I am unsure of the date, Maybe somebody could match the stadium, even in it's blurred state.

The back reads: Taken when I was unaware of it. More natural probably than it would have been otherwise
al
Obviously written by the man himself, love the personal thoughts.

Image #2
Another crystal clear image, this one shows Al beautifully with his full name autographed on the back. And a stamp on the bottom of F.W.Curtiss, a photographer based in Madison WI

This one probably pre-dates even his early career and goes back to his college days at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Image #3
This one is probably the most mysterious to me. In 1908 Al made it a step away from the major leagues with the Southern Association Atlanta Crackers.

This image shows Al in a throwing pose, says atlanta Georgia at the top. At the bottom it says Pitcher Cummings. This youngster has a sweeping delivery and is a cool one. He has a nice chance to stick.

At first glance this looks like a simple newspaper cutout or something of the sort. It is absolutely not that, it is on a thick cardboard stock not too dissimilar to that of a strip card. It's surface is very soft/fuzzy, almost has a silk like feel. It's unlike anything I've ever felt on cardboard. It's not glued onto a backing either.
On the back is a "Time Transfer" of the portrait photo of Al. This occurs when photos are sitting on top of each other for an extremely long time undisturbed.
I also think this one could possibly be an issue of some kind.

Hope you all had a good time reading and looking through this history, and some of my thoughts about it. If you can add any info or help that would of course be amazing.

Thanks,
Lucas

[Lucas00]

A few team images With Al I found.
1909 Duluth White Sox
1908 Atlanta Crackers

[Lucas00]

Thought I’d get a comment or two on this post. Guess it’s just cool to me, not the kind of thing I figure people come across very often, but maybe I’m wrong.

[todeen]

Originally Posted by Lucas00

Thought I’d get a comment or two on this post. Guess it’s just cool to me, not the kind of thing I figure people come across very often, but maybe I’m wrong.

I just saw this. it is cool. I especially like the cabinet style postcard. To find a collection like this is very satisfying. Baseball has been in Spokane for over a century. I have always thought it would be neat to buy Spokane Obak cards. To get personal photos of a local player would be killer. The closest I have is a SGA Maury Wills 30" bat with etching Lincoln Bank / Spokane Indians. It's signed, but the sharpie has faded like someone continued to play with it.

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[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by todeen

I just saw this. it is cool. I especially like the cabinet style postcard. To find a collection like this is very satisfying. Baseball has been in Spokane for over a century. I have always thought it would be neat to buy Spokane Obak cards. To get personal photos of a local player would be killer. The closest I have is a SGA Maury Wills 30" bat with etching Lincoln Bank / Spokane Indians. It's signed, but the sharpie has faded like someone continued to play with it.

Sent from my SM-G9900 using Tapatalk

Thanks Tim! While I’m not a Duluth Local you are definitely correct. Local items around me are heavily collected and never come up for sale.

Also to specify on the size because the closeups can be deceiving. Each item is about the size of a standard card give or take. No cabinet size items unfortunately.

[Lucas00]

Bumping this one again, cool history. Thought a few more folks would enjoy the story

[drcy]

Interesting.

Madison is my hometown.

[Fred]

I came across (ok, I actually picked it up) a scrap book of contracts, pictures and other items for Walter "Boom Boom" Beck. It's pretty cool stuff but I'm guessing not many people would be interested in it. The material covers the late 1920s to the early 50s when he was a minor league pitching coach or scout for a major league team. I'm guessing someone from Beck's family would have a great appreciation for it.

[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by Fred

I came across (ok, I actually picked it up) a scrap book of contracts, pictures and other items for Walter "Boom Boom" Beck. It's pretty cool stuff but I'm guessing not many people would be interested in it. The material covers the late 1920s to the early 50s when he was a minor league pitching coach or scout for a major league team. I'm guessing someone from Beck's family would have a great appreciation for it.

Sounds interesting Fred,

I thought Al might be more interesting (hence my bump) because of his time in the southern league and in general very early 20th century material.

I simply do not see pre 1910, possible minor league unknown issues coming up very often. Actually... I never have.

Thanks for you comment, would love to see your scrap book.

[MuncieNolePAZ]

I enjoyed. Thanks for sharing and bumping so that I didn’t miss it!

Chad

[Fred]

Lucas,

What's interesting about the Beck material is that it includes letters going back and forth from Beck to club owners/management regarding salary (negotiations). There's another letter where Beck is requesting the club pay for his services for two weeks for which they neglected to pay him.

The documents include contracts that start in 1936 (Missions, PCL) and the final one is 1960 (scout for the Senators). A couple of MLB player release documents and a couple Western Union telegrams from ball clubs to Beck. Assorted pictures from the minor leagues and one from the majors.

I'll try and scan some of it when I get some time.

Pretty strange when you think about it. The earliest content is from 60 years ago and the earliest piece is from almost 100 years ago (May 1925).

[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by Fred

Lucas,

What's interesting about the Beck material is that it includes letters going back and forth from Beck to club owners/management regarding salary (negotiations). There's another letter where Beck is requesting the club pay for his services for two weeks for which they neglected to pay him.

The documents include contracts that start in 1936 (Missions, PCL) and the final one is 1960 (scout for the Senators). A couple of MLB player release documents and a couple Western Union telegrams from ball clubs to Beck. Assorted pictures from the minor leagues and one from the majors.

I'll try and scan some of it when I get some time.

Pretty strange when you think about it. The earliest content is from 60 years ago and the earliest piece is from almost 100 years ago (May 1925).

Very interesting, I'm not sure I've ever read a back and forth negotiation from a pro ballplayer.

[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by MuncieNolePAZ

I enjoyed. Thanks for sharing and bumping so that I didn’t miss it!

Chad

Thanks for taking your time to Read it Chad !

[h2oya311]

Love this Lucas! Nice pick-up and great looking stuff! This would be the find of a lifetime if it hadn’t been of an obscure player. But his connection with the Southern Association and Atlanta Crackers certainly adds to the appeal.

[Fred]

Lucas,

I wish I had more time to scan items from the book. Attached are 5 scans of different documents. When reading the letters from the Mission's, you may recognize a name or two of the managers in the letter head.

1 - Letter regarding salary from the Missions (PCL) from 1935
2 - Letter regarding salary from the Missions (PCL) from 1936 indicating a response to Beck's request for a salary bump from the initial offer of $500 a month.
3 - The cover page of the 1936 Mission's contract for $550 a month.
4 - A couple player releases (1926 and 1945)
5 - Western Union telegraph message from minor league club (1925).

There's a bit more than this but no time to scan everything. See the following scans:


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[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by Fred

Lucas,

I wish I had more time to scan items from the book. Attached are 5 scans of different documents. When reading the letters from the Mission's, you may recognize a name or two of the managers in the letter head.

1 - Letter regarding salary from the Missions (PCL) from 1935
2 - Letter regarding salary from the Missions (PCL) from 1936 indicating a response to Beck's request for a salary bump from the initial offer of $500 a month.
3 - The cover page of the 1936 Mission's contract for $550 a month.
4 - A couple player releases (1926 and 1945)
5 - Western Union telegraph message from minor league club (1925).

There's a bit more than this but no time to scan everything. See the following scans:


Attachment 593813

Attachment 593814

Attachment 593815

Attachment 593816

Attachment 593817

Super cool History Fred, love the back and forth and the old telegram. Thanks for sharing it.

[Lucas00]

Originally Posted by h2oya311

Love this Lucas! Nice pick-up and great looking stuff! This would be the find of a lifetime if it hadn’t been of an obscure player. But his connection with the Southern Association and Atlanta Crackers certainly adds to the appeal.

If only Derek!

I'm still happy to share a forgotten (more like never really known) player and his minor league history.