Cleveland Naps Real Photo Postcard - Help w/ Player IDs

[Greenmonster]

Any help identifying the players on this postcard would be appreciated. Thank you.

[ullmandds]

nice!

[WillowGrove]

No help whatsoever but really cool postcard.

oh and i think i see Joe Jackson in there. Kidding.

Great card....good luck w IDs

[Runscott]

Fantastic postcard!

[wazoo]

Great looking action shots!

[judsonhamlin]

I think that the right handed player with his back to the camera is most likely the pitcher or catcher and the player to the right would be the firstbaseman The Cleveland player behind the ump would be the shortstop or pitcher if the catcher is in the foreground with the second baseman off camera to the viewer's right.
The game action looks like a run down, perhaps. As far as the runner, it looks (and this is a guess) that he is a St.Louis Brown based on the cap.
It is also an early season game given the bare trees in the background. They opened the 1906 season against the Browns, so that may help.
If that is the pitcher behind the ump, how about Rhoades?

[Jaybird]

Originally Posted by Greenmonster

Any help identifying the players on this postcard would be appreciated. Thank you.

Can we see the back of the postcard, please?

[Rob D.]

I just noticed that the left-field grandstands are different in the OP's postcard than in one of the ones I posted. League Park was rebuilt before the 1910 season (one of the PCs I have, shown below, pictures a construction crew working on the pitcher's mound on the date 9-28-09, marked in the lower-left corner). It was during this construction that double-decker grandstands were added. So, based on that, the image in the original OP was taken during a season before 1910.

The previous owner of the PCs in my collection researched many of the photos and identified the pitcher throwing in the outfield (above) as Jim Baskette, who played for Cleveland in 1911-13. The player pictured (above) in the car is Ray Chapman, who played for Cleveland 1912-1920. So I think it's safe to say that these postcards were either issued over several years, or the manufacturer used photos from several seasons.

Of course, this attempt to narrow down a date of the OP's postcard is all for naught if it is from a different series/manufacturer. Below is a scan of the back of one of my PCs, all of which are the same.

[Greenmonster]

Thank you to all on the board for your thoughts and research.

Rob, those are some wonderful postcard views..21 in the collection, that's incredible. Most likely one of a kind cards.

I've posted a view of the back of the card as requested, it's dated March 1910.

I think the image is from 1908 based upon the uniforms the Naps are wearing, you can just see the insignia on the uniform the "pitcher" in the postcard is wearing, I think it's the same as the 1908 uniform below (1908 on left, 1909 on right).

The player on the right does appear to be George Stovall. The "pitcher" is tougher, he looks young and tall to me, the Naps did have a young 6'1" pitcher, Ed Foster, who only pitched 6 games in the major leagues. I can't find an image of him.

[milkit1]

I still say it's cy young. He began with the naps in 09 and he may have gotten in pretty good shape early in the season to impress his new team. Also may have been the whole reason the photographer was there who knows

[nolemmings]

The reason I guessed 1909 is that the caps were all white with no stripe that year, and the '08 uniforms show a stripe on the cap. The insignia is indeterminate to me, but looks more like the swooping '09 "C" than the more intricate example from the prior year.

Jim, if you believe the "pitcher" is the one with the insignia showing, then do you also believe it is the catcher doing the chasing? I can't get my head around that for reasons stated, i.e. no gear. If it's not the catcher doesn't it either have to be the 1B or a pitcher, with the guy facing the camera a 3b or SS? By the way, I disagree with Sean on that player being Cy Young-- he looks too baby-faced to be that grizzled old hurler.

A rundown like this is not a common play, especially with no other runners on base, which I think we can assume from the lack of attention being shown anywhere else. The batter either reached and rounded too far, got picked off or somehow the batter was retired at first and this shows a prior base-runner after the force has been removed. If that is Stovall on the right then maybe an OF threw behind the batter after a single that Stovall tried to play, which would explain why he would be out of position for the rundown. The other scenarios should not have him where he is shown, should they?

[bmarlowe1]

Originally Posted by Greenmonster

The player on the right does appear to be George Stovall.

The player on the right is wearing a regular Deadball Era fielder's glove, not a first baseman's glove. It is very unlikely that he is Stovall.

From what can be seen of the uniforms given the limited resolution of the scans as posted, this may be either 1908 or 1909.