1916 Cubs Player Photo ID?

[jjbond]

I'm curious if anyone can help me identify a player in the background of this photo. For context, this is a Spring Training photo of Hippo Vaughn, immediately after the Federal League Chicago Whales team was cancelled and folded into the Chicago Cubs team, under the new leadership of Charles Weeghman (as part of the settlement for shutting down the Federal League). Weeghman would move the Cubs to his own stadium, Weeghman Park (later known as Wrigley Field). However, during Spring Training in April 1916, Weeghman still had his combined roster wearing the old Whales team jerseys.

That being said, here's a picture of Hippo Vaughn. It confused me for a bit to see him in a Whales uniform, as he was a solid Cubs player between 1913 and 1921. But the uniform makes sense now in this context:


So, my question is who is the guy in the background to the left? I dug up a team photo from this Spring Training outing, from the May 1916 issue of Baseball Magazine, which gives the full team lineup, providing a short list of possibilities:


Any thoughts as to who this partial-profile matches?

[TCMA]

Originally Posted by jjbond

Any thoughts as to who this partial-profile matches?

Some excellent work there clarifying the discrepancy with that uniform. In terms of the player in the background my money is on George McConnell.

[nolemmings]

Could be McConnell, but it looks too young to be him. From the pic, it resembles Culbreath to me. Good luck finding him in Baseball reference-- seems Hugh Culbreath was a college player called up for Spring training who did not make it on the opening roster.

[TCMA]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

Could be McConnell, but it looks too young to be him.

I dunno, here's an earlier shot of him (also in the background) and the dimensions of his body appear to match. Also, there are a few, albeit lousy, photos of him kicking around online. Look closely at his cheekbones and his ears and they appear to be very close if not a direct match.

[jjbond]

Hm. The body builds are very similar. Here's a quick overlap of the two images.

Of course, tall and lanky is a common body size. He does seem tall in the first image, and McConnell is the tallest in the group photo...


I also wonder what these Cubs players thought of having to don the bush-league Fed uniforms? Doesn't seem like the new owner got off to a great start...

[RCMcKenzie]

I think it looks like Zimmerman. It's a nice photo of Vaughn, congrats. I was looking at that lot and thinking it was a good deal.