Most Interesting Old Judge Players

[z28jd]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Rob--that's a great bio of Mann--thanks.

John-you should take credit for finding out who Whiteacre was.

I would say it was a bit of luck finding an 1886 team photo in an obscure book, but the time I put in looking for Harry sort of trumps the luck aspect. I'm surprised I don't hoard his cards...or at least upgrade the one I have!

[oldjudge]

John--you could hoard all the _arrys. You already hoard Larry-- you could work on the Harry's, the other Larry's, and the Barry's and Garry's if there are any.

[z28jd]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

John--you could hoard all the _arrys. You already hoard Larry-- you could work on the Harry's, the other Larry's, and the Barry's and Garry's if there are any.

Larry Corcoran once called someone who couldn't field their position well, a "field ornament" in the newspaper and now writing up scouting reports, I use that phrase. Is that interesting? If it is, I'll post one of his cards

[SetBuilder]

"pebbly" Jack Glasscock

[Matthew H]

Originally Posted by z28jd

Larry Corcoran once called someone who couldn't field their position well, a "field ornament" in the newspaper and now writing up scouting reports, I use that phrase. Is that interesting? If it is, I'll post one of his cards

That's funny!

[oldjudge]

John--you might as well post the hoard

[z28jd]

I haven't taken a new family photo since the last addition(he knows he's the ugliest one too), so here it is in two pics. I'm sure they share some interesting stories with each other

[kkkkandp]

Jake Wells' bio was an interesting one...

"...Making the major leagues is every baseball player’s dream, but Jake Wells’ life after his baseball playing days were over was far more interesting. Wells had two brief stops in the big leagues – one with the Detroit Wolverines in 1888 and the other with the Saint Louis Browns in 1890. His lifetime totals were meager – 34 games, 46 hits, .210 batting average. While logging time as the player/manager of the Richmond Bluebirds of the Atlantic League he entered a store to purchase a leather strap to bundle some baseball bats. He inquired about the store's odd architecture. The store was a former opera house. Upon leaving the store Wells commented there was money to be made with a popular-priced vaudeville. He bought and reopened the building as the Bijou Family Theatre. Richmond's first vaudeville house was an immediate success. By the early 1920's Jake Wells was known as The Father of Vaudeville in the Southeast and operated 42 theatres in nine states. In 1921 he was awarded ownership of the Richmond Colts in the Virginia League. All this success, however, apparently came with pressure. On March 16, 1927, Jake Wells shot and killed himself. His doctor reported that Wells seemed to have worked himself to death..."

[Matthew H]

Wow, great thread!

Since I've decided that I'm not going to collect Cal League OJs (not because they're rare and expensive, simply because I don't want to ) I've found players that once played in the California League, then made the majors to be interesting to me. These guys are the first of many of the best players that played in the cal league, and later the PCL, to be pillaged by the majors. California Brown and George Van Haltran are two easier ones.

Peak-a-boo Veach has a cool story. I'd love to have one of his cards someday... Even if it meant eating out of a can for a couple years

It's hard to beat Art Irwin's story... What an interesting life he had. Since there is no Irwin card in this thread, here's mine: