The Most Obscure Carded Baseball Player in History

[Michael Peich]

Great thread, Frank. And, Dan—you beat me to Bourquise!

A few clarifications come to mind regarding the slippery Mr. Bourquise. The KITTY League was founded in 1903, and the best I can determine is that Fulton first entered in 1911 as the Fulton Colonels. The team rejoined the KITTY League in 1922 at which time they took the nickname Railroaders. So, Frank, the Fulton Railroaders came into existence @ thirteen years after Rocky Mount.

Tom Hufford’s sleuthing on David Lewis Bourquin is excellent and includes information about him playing for the Danville team (Virginia League) in 1908. Interestingly, there is a Bourquin card in T209-2 that shows him playing for Wilmington of the Eastern Carolina League. However, Baseball Reference.com does not list Bourquin as a member of the Wilmington team. The plot thickens.

I have discovered, since Tim Newcomb and I wrote the T209 article, that players moved between teams/leagues on a regular basis. (I am happy to discuss player movement, but it’s a lengthy story. See my comments on Fred Stoehr at my website, http://t209-contentnea.com) It is possible that Bourquin was with Wilmington in 1910 when his photo was taken for the card, but then was released/cut from the roster. So, I agree with Tom Hufford that Bourquise could have been Bourquin. And the confusion over his name could have resulted from someone incorrectly spelling his name. Irwin-Nadal didn't employ fact-checkers to verify the players on Contentnea issued cards. But the reproduction of the Fulton jersey remains a question since Fulton didn’t begin play until 1911. Bourquise is still a mystery.

However, since Dan started the thread with a T209-1 player, let me offer this card of Aloysius James Handiboe, “Coalyard Mike,” as a candidate for Frank’s thread. Mike Handiboe broke into professional baseball (1910) as an outfielder with the minor league Goldsboro Giants. It’s not clear, according to Baseball-Reference.com, that he played minor league baseball in 1911. But, on September 8, 1911 he debuted with the New York Higlanders. Mike appeared in five games, had fifteen at-bats, and recorded one hit and two base on balls for a lusty .067 batting average. His last game as a major leaguer was September 19, 1911. That’s a true “cup-of-coffee” MLB career. Mike continued to play in the minors, mostly with Savannah, from 1912-1916, after which there are no records for him.

I propose that Mike Handiboe would fit Frank’s category as one of the “Most Obscure Carded Baseball Player(s) in History.”

Cheers, Mike

[deucetwins]

Though the card isn't rare or scarce, I've always liked Hunky Shaw in the T206 set.

[bmarlowe1]

Four Base Hits card of George "Prunes" Moolic (misidentified as George Van Haltren). He appeared in 16 games in 1886, BA .143.