Boston Bloomers Women's Baseball Team PC

[bmarlowe1]

OK - here's a game I like to play - which face is not like the others?

[Kawika]

Joe Wood, Joe Wood, Joe Wood, Joe Wood, Joe Jackson.

Originally Posted by bmarlowe1

OK - here's a game I like to play - which face is not like the others?

[Hankphenom]

On the "Glory Of Their Times" audio set, Wood can be heard to say in outlining a chronology of his career before the Red Sox that he was signed by Logan Galbreath to the National Bloomer Girls team out of Kansas City, then emphasizes to Ritter, "this was NOT the Boston Bloomer Girls team."
Hank Thomas

[Shat5]

Logan Galbreath operated a team called the National Bloomer Girls and another one (at a different time) called the Boston Bloomer Girls. There was also a second Boston Bloomer Girls team operating concurrently which prompted Galbreath to advertise his as the "Original Boston Bloomer Girls." I am still trying to sort through all the various Bloomer Girl teams and managers for the chapter on Bloomer teams I will be including in my book.

Did Joe Wood happen to give the year he signed with the "National" Bloomer Girls?

Deb Shattuck

[Shat5]

I just noticed one more thing on the postcard of Logan's Boston Bloomer Girls team. The caption says, "National" Bloomer Girls but the uniforms say "Boston Bloomer Girls." When Joe Wood was clarifying that his team was NOT the Boston Bloomer Girls, he may have been trying to distinguish it from the copy-cat organization. Just a thought. I'll need to do more research to nail that down.

Deb Shattuck

[Hankphenom]

Wood says that the National Bloomers Girls played a game against his Ness City, Kansas, town team in the fall of 1906 and after the game Logan Galbreath offered him a contract for the last three weeks of the Bloomers' season at $21 per week. "These were not the Boston Bloomer Girls," he says. Wood adds that there were two other men on the team, a third baseman they called Lady Madison and a pitcher called Lady Waddell whose real name was Compton. They wore wigs, but not Wood. He also singles out Ruth Egan as the "one real good [woman] player" on the team. She played first base with a catcher's mitt. The girls sold postcards of the team. It's possible that Wood played later with the Boston Bloomers, of course, but it doesn't seem likely he wouldn't have mentioned that fact to Ritter.

[Shat5]

I've been reviewing my notes and have a couple more tidbits of info to share. Galbreath organized a team called the "Cleveland Bloomer Girls" in 1905. In July of that year he signed 12-year old pitcher, Ruth Egan, to play for him. Egan had been featured in a number of newspaper articles in the Kansas City area where Galbreath lived. Articles about the Cleveland Bloomer Girls state that Galbreath was "the former Missouri Valley League magnate." In 1906, Galbreath's team is called alternately the "Kansas City Bloomer Girls," the "National Bloomer Girls" and the "Boston Bloomer Girls." I also have information on a "Kansas City Bloomer Girls" team which was playing in 1903 but I don't think Galbreath was affiliated with that team. Interestingly, even as Galbreath's new "National Bloomer Girls" team was playing games in 1906, another "Cleveland Bloomer Girls" team was playing. A box score from one of its games lists only two female players. It seems likely this was a copy-cat team trying to capitalize on the success of other Bloomer teams like Maud Nelson's Star Bloomers, W.P. Neeham's Boston Bloomers, and Galbreath's National Bloomers which were all playing that year.

As for Joe Wood, as best I can tell, Galbreath came to Ness City with his team on August 27, 1906 and hired Wood to play the last 3 weeks of the season. Wood later recalled he had played with Egan. It appears Wood only played a very short time with Galbreath's team since other biographical information on him shows the following:

[Wood went on to play for the Hutchinson Salt Packers in 1907. That fall he signed with the American Association Kansas City Blues. He pitched 24 games for them in the 1908 season before the Boston Red Sox bought his contract. He played for Boston and Cleveland until 1922.]

If he only played with Galbreath's team for 3 weeks in 1906, it seems unlikely that the postcards discussed above depict Wood. The one showing the "National Bloomer Girls" MIGHT be Wood, but the others which were likely taken after 1906 probably don't include him unless he played part of the year with Galbreath's team before signing with the Hutchinson Salt Packers.

Ain't history fun?

Deb Shattuck

[ephus]

Originally Posted by bmarlowe1

OK - here's a game I like to play - which face is not like the others?

I can't confirm or deny that the last picture to the right is Joe Wood, but he certainly has a Joe wood look to him right down to his hat tilting to the right. From most of the pictures (one that comes to mind is his 1914-15 Cracker Jack) I have seen of him (with a hat) he always had it tilted that way, just like the first two pictures to the far left.

P.s. This is a great thread to read, great info and conversation.

[Brian Campf]

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