T210 Old Mill "Mystery" Players

[Michael Peich]

Patrick—

This is an interesting thread since I enjoy conversations about T210s and H801-7s.

The Spicer cards raise an interesting point about whether or not he ever played for Portsmouth or Montgomery

As you know Bryant Spicer is not listed in Baseball-Reference.com as having played for either Portsmouth or Montgomery in 1910, although he is listed with Montgomery in 1911. He was probably on the 1910 Portsmouth/Montgomery rosters at some point, and as Scott has noted, he signed with Portsmouth on March 6, 1910. He had his photo taken for a card on both teams, but it was quite common for minor league players during this era, especially at the Class C & D levels, to move among teams, or to leave the game.

One documented example of player movement is Fred Stoehr who pitched for the Goldsboro Giants in 1909 and early 1910 before being released by the Giants, joining the Wilmington Sailors, and eventually leaving professional baseball altogether at the end of the 1910 season. According to B-R.com, Fred played only with Wilmington in 1910. So why wasn’t he listed with Goldsboro? Team and player records were not kept very well in 1910.

I know Stoehr’s story because I have a letter written by Fred to his wife on July 8, 1910 telling her that he asked for, and was given his release from Goldsboro. I also have the original release from the Goldsboro team dated July 7, 1910 (see below). Shortly after his release he joined Wilmington, and then left professional baseball at the end of the 1910 season.

I mention Stoehr because he is a not-uncommon example of minor league player movement, and I think Spicer was similarly on the move. In all likelihood Bryant had his photo taken for Portsmouth, but may have been released before the season started. Furthermore, on July 1 Portsmouth disbanded (due to financial struggles) and reformed in Petersburg. It’s also possible that Spicer moved from Portsmouth to Montgomery and had his photo taken with the Miners, but possibly didn’t paly for Montgomery in 1910. But as the example of Stoehr establishes, Spicer may very well have played for Montgomery in 1910. One would have to read contemporary newspapers to ascertain if he was on their team.

My point is that there are a number of players in both T209-2 and T210 who were on more than one team during the 1910 season, and their team affiliations were not always accurately depicted on their cards. The culprit for some of the player team attribution is probably poor record keeping, and player movement from team to team.

I don’t know what this adds to your verification of Spicer, but I hope it does shed some light on why some of the players in T210 were not on the rosters for the teams they are depicted.

Cheers, Mike