Very Early Baseball Game 1860s CDV

[Jason19th]

I was keeping an eye on this. I think that its a very neat item but I would date it alot closer to 1870 or later. Maybe a photo expert can help out but I don't think that this type of image was even possible until the later 1860's

[Jeffrompa]

I was watching it also . Is this the famous Rounders one ?

[drc]

It looks to be 1860s. It was very difficult to photograph outdoor game action back them, but I've seen 2 or 3 examples from the Civil War era.

[brianp-beme]

To me the players definitely appear to be staged in various fielding poses so as to minimize any blurring caused by movement.

As a side note, the two lads with their arms stretched to the sky seem to be rather awkwardly anticipating a pop up to the infield.

Brian

[drc]

It was difficult to photographically capture movement back then. Which is why all the Old Judge poses are obviously staged. And why you never see a photo of a star like King Kelly or Cap Anson in action during a real game.

Posed or not, I think it's a great and rare image. And I bet it was taken during a game.

[barrysloate]

Probably 1860's and a really special image. It's rare to see a game in progress with such great detail.

[GaryPassamonte]

The ebay CdV was made somewhere between 1867 and 1871 based upon the photographers, most probably from 1867-1869. I was the underbidder on this lot and wasn't surprised at the price, given the rarity of "action" baseball CdVs. I can come up with less than 10 I know of. Here's the only one I have. It dates from 1864-1866 because of the tax stamp on the reverse. Hoboken NJ is written on the reverse.