HELP: Player identification

[RUKen]

I've been looking through the Pittsburgh newspapers to see who was in spring training with them in 1906. Players who trained with them but did not appear in a regular-season game included Frank Oberlin, Harry Newmyer, and W.B. "Doc" Moskiman. I believe that Moskiman is a good match for the player second from right in the group photo.

[RUKen]

FWIW, the image of Bob Ganley published in the February 18, 1906, edition of the Pittsburg Press shows him in a white cap. He played part of the 1905 season with the Pirates and part with Des Moines of the Western League. Players usually wore their uniforms from the previous season in spring training. The Pirates had not had white caps since 1900, so it seems unlikely to me that Sam Leever (who had been a Pirate since 1898) would be wearing anything other than a dark-colored Pirate cap. I suggest that the player on the far left may be Ganley, and the second player is Deacon Phillippe. I've attached Ganley images below. (The image on the far right is the 1906 Press image.)

[Mark17]

Originally Posted by RUKen

FWIW, the image of Bob Ganley published in the February 18, 1906, edition of the Pittsburg Press shows him in a white cap. He played part of the 1905 season with the Pirates and part with Des Moines of the Western League. Players usually wore their uniforms from the previous season in spring training. The Pirates had not had white caps since 1900, so it seems unlikely to me that Sam Leever (who had been a Pirate since 1898) would be wearing anything other than a dark-colored Pirate cap. I suggest that the player on the far left may be Ganley, and the second player is Deacon Phillippe. I've attached Ganley images below. (The image on the far right is the 1906 Press image.)

I realize the angle can be deceptive, but aren't Ganley's ears too low relative to his eyes?

[Beercan collector]

So The guy standing next to Honus Wagner is not Fred Clarke ?

[RUKen]

Originally Posted by Beercan collector

So The guy standing next to Honus Wagner is not Fred Clarke ?

Definitely not Clarke.

[Cliff Bowman]

As I stand right now: #1 possibly Leever, #2 no doubt Ganley, #3 no doubt Flaherty, #4 no doubt Nealon, #5 no doubt Ritchie, #6 maybe Willis, #7 Wagner.

[RUKen]

Originally Posted by Cliff Bowman

As I stand right now: #1 probably Leever, #2 most likely Ganley, #3 most likely Flaherty, #4 no doubt Nealon, #5 no doubt Ritchie, #6 maybe Willis, #7 Wagner.

Regarding #1, I think the cap is important. In the early 1900s, men did not keep a collection of baseball-style caps like many do now. They wore baseball caps only to play baseball. Almost invariably, in photos from this era, players wore the cap from the team's uniform that year, except in spring training, when they wore their cap (and uniform) from the previous year. Player #1 is not wearing a 1905 Pittsburg cap, and Leever had played for Pittsburg since the 1890s. However, I no longer think it is Ganley.

I have attached below a 1905 newspaper image from the Boston Globe of Vic Willis looking to his left and smiling. He is wearing a Boston home uniform cap, which is not a match, but I believe that the Boston road cap for at least a part of the season may have been light colored without stripes. I now think Willis is a good match for #1, and I stand by my selection of Moskiman for #6. Player #2 is probably Ganley.

Player #1 / Willis smiling

[RUKen]

Originally Posted by Mark17

I realize the angle can be deceptive, but aren't Ganley's ears too low relative to his eyes?

In both of the Ganley images I had posted previously, his head is angled up a bit, so that his ears are low relative to his eyes. Below I have attached an image with his head angled down more.

Edited to add: I no longer think this is Ganley. See the next post.