October pickups

[bbpostcards]

Images related to these can be found on the website in the caption below.

#1. A classic baseball albumen photo from the 1860 era shows a purely Americana scene: the schoolhouse, the watchful gaze of the adults, and children playing. A boy about to pitch a ball to another holding a bat is seen in the center of the photo. Behind them a group of girls joins hands in a circle. To the right of the batter are two boys wrestling. A group of girls adjacent to them plays croquet with a teacher.

#2. This 1908 program honors the boys from the 1878 Boston Red Stockings, "The Men Who Made The Game." Featured on the cover are baseball legend and Hall of Famer Harry Wright along with Jack Burdock, John Morrill, Harry's Hall of Fame brother George Wright, Ezra Sutton, Pop Snyder, Tommy Bond, Harry Schafer, Hall of Famer Jim O'Rourke, Jack Manning, and Andy Leonard. The program was issued for a September 24, 1908 game of "Professionals" that included Albert Spalding, George Wright, Jim O'Rourke and Tommy McCarthy against "Amateurs" that included catchers mask inventor Frederick Thayer and James Tyng, who wore the first mask.

#3. BUT THEY LOST! The 1911 New York Giants news photo proclaiming Hall of Famers Christy Mathewson, John McGraw, Rube Marquard and the rest of the team "World's Champions" is significant because they lost the World Series that year to the Philadelphia Athletics 4 games to 2. "The New York Baseball Team, winners of the National League pennant. This picture is sent [to] you for use should they win the world's championship," reads the typewritten notation on the reverse.