Goodwin Glass Plate Negatives – Research Conclusions/Summary

[trdcrdkid]

Joe -- the first word on Weidman's bat is "Burlingame", but I can't make out the second word. I gather that Burlingame was a popular bat model in the 1880s, and replicas are used today by vintage base ball recreators:

http://providencegrays.pbworks.com/w...rlingame%20Bat

https://www.phoenixbats.com/burlinga...eball-bat.html

[wonkaticket]

Joe, one of the most interesting things I have read in a long time. Wow just wow and an amazing job. Add in the fact that used one of my fav poses from the OJ and that's the icing on the cake.



Great post.

Cheers,

John

[kkkkandp]

Joe:

Thanks to you for one of my favorite Net 54 threads of all time!

Kevin

[ullmandds]

Awesome stuff Joe!

[wolf441]

Very impressive. Some really great research to add to our hobby, Joe!!

[T206Collector]

Crazy awesome

[autograf]

Top 10 threads ever and fantastic research. Makes me want to get back into the OJ world again........

[kkkkandp]

Joe:

For what it is worth, the bat that Arundel is holding on my negative is also a Burlingame.

Kevin

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by autograf

Top 10 threads ever and fantastic research. Makes me want to get back into the OJ world again........

+1

Down the road, when we are discussing the best Net54 threads of all time, let's all of us keep this one in mind. This thread is like a college research paper.

[Joe_G.]

Originally Posted by trdcrdkid

Joe -- the first word on Weidman's bat is "Burlingame", but I can't make out the second word.

Dave, thanks for the spot on lead. The more I dig into baseball bat history the more intrigued I've become. I previously thought professional model bats of the 1880s were nearly all Spalding or Reach but now realize there were many more possibilities.

Kevin, thanks for the post on Arundel using a Burlingame bat. It actually appears to be the same bat for both photo shoots at Gray Studio suggesting that it was perhaps a prop owned by Gray Studio. Can you check and see if there is a small chip in the knob of the bat found slightly above a line that extends down center of bat positioned above the "BURLINGAME" logo?

There is evidence that players were loyal to certain bats yet when the team would be photographed they would often use another bat. Example being Charlie Bennett who was known to like A J Reach bats (see 1886 Reach Guide below, middle of page), yet when photographed at Tomlinson Studio in 1886, Bennett used the same Spalding bat as all the other Detroit players. This Spalding bat may have belonged to the team, another player, or Tomlinson Studio.

I guess this could also mean the early Hillerich Louisville bat may have been used by teammates during the Athletics photo shoot but could be tough to determine from surviving cards.

Thanks to everyone for chiming in, these negatives are pretty neat pieces of history. I'm still amazed at the detail the old manually operated wood & brass cameras could capture on a coated glass plate. Here is another close-up, this time of Matthew's belt.

I just now realized that I inadvertently posted two historic players in the same post when I coupled Deacon White with Bobby Matthews. They both played in the first ever MLB game in 1871. Bobby Matthews was the starting and winning pitcher despite Deacon White having a solid performance including a stand-up double to lead off the game (first MLB hit). By the time Goodwin & Co. issued their cards they were "OLD" men.

Keep an eye out for this OJ (sorry, rushed attempt to create what could be / may be).

[oldjudge]

Interesting that Anson endorsed the Reach bat. That couldn't have made Big Al happy.

[kkkkandp]

Joe:

You've done it again!

It is impossible to say for certain that (pardon my French ) there is an imperfection on Arundel's knob. The position of the bat, the proximity of his hands to the end of the bat, and the focus prevents that. The imperfection is fairly evident, however, on Cahill's (Arundel's Indianapolis teammate) negative. That would seem to corroborate your supposition that the bat was the same one used in several photo shoots.

Kevin

Arundel first; then Cahill

[bmarlowe1]

Originally Posted by kkkkandp

Joe:
It is impossible to say for certain that (pardon my French ) there is an imperfection on Arundel's knob.

It may be possible to do some wood grain comparisons on other portions of the bat, though this is also subject to focus and how the bat has been rotated in the respective photos.