People who claim the Mets drafting Steve Chilcott ahead of Reggie Jackson was racially motivated never factor in how in-demand lefty hitting catchers were. If you go back over the history of the draft, you'll see tons of lefty hitting catchers drafted very high who either never made the major leagues at all or did so only as a mediocre second stringer. If you had two players who were roughly equivalent in scouting evaluations--one an outfielder and one a lefty hitting catcher--you'd take the catcher 99.9 times out of a hundred. Scouts were divided on Chilcott and Jackson. But outfielders are common (the Mets had a ton of them at the time) and lefty hitting catchers aren't.

That the choice was racially motivated is one of those lies about the Mets that has always bothered me.

Jeff Conner Tigers farmhand 1984-86
 

Jeff Conner, lefty for the Angels minors 1977-1983 and for the Tigers minors 1984-86

Joe Law
 

Pitcher Joe Law is the father of pitcher Derek Law, who made his major league debut yesterday with the San Francisco Giants. The photo of Joe is from his 1987 ProCards Modesto A's baseball card.

Joe was on the Oakland A's spring roster in 1989, 1990, and 1991. He also qualifies for the Bill Sharman Society as he was with the 1988 Oakland A's during the regular season, but never played in a regular season major league game.

If my count is correct, Derek Law is major leaguer # 18,700.

Joe Law Minor Leagues Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

Ralph Groves
 

Pitcher Ralph Groves was on the Washington Senators' spring roster in 1956 and 1957. He passed away recently on April 13.

His photo in a Senators' uniform appeared on eBay some years ago. The head shot photo of him accompanied his obituary.

Ralph Groves Minor Leagues Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

Well, I have always considered this thread THE BEST web location to find Premium Baseball Phographs. This is a long-shot, as I am searching for any photos of the AAA Minor League P.C.L.Sacramento Solons Baseball Field in 1974, Hughes Stadium (the Stadium with the 233 Left-field "porch", and 40-foot high screen as a target, and also swallowing up 491 Home Runs in the 72 games played there that season!!) I have been searching for months. I believe none exist. Please help if you can. Any help or guidance on this subject would be greatly appreciated, Thanks All, I KNOW help is on the way, thank you...

Hughes Stadium, Sacramento
 

The gent in the photo is Sacramento Solons GM John Cargray. The view of the stadium is from the rooftop. The photo comes from the Lubbock (TX) Avalanche-Journal of August 11, 1974.

Hughes Stadium
 

You might or might not consider this a better image of the above. In any case, it's currently for sale on eBay from historicimages-store.

.... Also...

Sacramento made some of the ugliest baseball cards in history, but they made them (including '74). Perhaps you can find the views you're looking for therein.

I've left one card as they were (so you can gauge the ugliness yourself), but I've also run a few through some software so that they're almost not bad. Pictured are Tom Hausman and Bill McNulty. The Craig Skok is from 1976 (not sure if they'd changed things at the Stadium after '74, but the cards were just as ugly).

All very helpful, thank you. I think that I am going to attempt creating a Ballpark Image of this crazy looking Ballpark. I also don't think that it would be a reach to substitute an image (for game usage) with 1959 L.A. Dodgers Coliseum.
I have attached an image (the ONLY useful image I came across), which only shows an ocean sized Foul Territory on Third Base side, and seems to reveal the 40-foot high net (or fence) also in Right Field...
Very helpful thanks, more images are always helpful, is there one photo anywhere of the actual Playing Field itself!? That just seems odd and impossible. the mystery remains, and thus, the search goes on...

Jacob Jamison
 

Jacob Jamison Independent & Minor Leagues Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

Jacob Jamison in the January 8, 1898 edition of the Chicago Tribune

1907 York White Rozes/Reading Pretzels
 

Here's the 1907 Reading Pretzels, who apparently split their season between York and Reading, PA. Among the bunch is several major leaguers, along with career minor leaguers Edward Foster, Ed Fertsch, Marvin Bridges, and Curt Weigand. This comes from a 1907 edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Lee Strait
 

Lee Strait Minor Leagues Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com
Here's Lee Strait from the July 13, 1934 edition of the Elmira Star-Gazette, accompanying a write-up detailing his untimely death. Strait was somehow thrown out his car while he was driving, and run over by his out of control vehicle.

Ralph Strem
 

Pitcher Ralph Strem was on the Chicago White Sox spring roster in 1945. He is probably a prime example of how difficult it was to staff the roster with major league talent at that point. As best I can tell, his previous pitching experience was at the University of Michigan plus one season of independent or semi-pro ball. If you check his record at baseball-reference.com, you'll see that he only lasted 3 games at the C level of professional ball after getting his look-see at the White Sox spring camp.

The photo is from the historic-images vendor on eBay. What caused me to take some time on this player is that the vendor claimed that the photo was from 1955. The documentation on the back of the photo had a strike-over on the tens digit, so I can see why there was confusion as to whether it was '45 or '55, but the uniform is clearly 1945. Besides, I had already known that Strem was on the 1945 roster.

Ralph Strem Minor Leagues Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

Hank Ertman
 

I wasn't actively looking for these gentlemen but, when I came across them, it seemed a waste not to post them and these players didn't show up in a site search, so....

Hank Ertman was a first baseman in the 40s and 50s with likely the most productive part of his career coming as a farmhand of the Braves. Looks like he was a pretty good player, too, but there were so few major league teams at the time. As an oddity I'd never thought of, but likely one that befell a number of Braves prospects, Hank played for both Milwaukee and Atlanta when they were minor league teams of the Boston Braves.

I believe all three of these images are from 1952, though the tiny one (from Pinterest) may be from 1951. The large one obviously is one of kyles' and the newsprint headshot (showing the cap of the Milwaukee Brewers, 1952 edition) is from the June 7, 1952 edition of the Waukesha Daily Freeman.

Jim Post
 

Jim Post was a minor league pitcher from 1947-1959 and finished with a career record of 99-89 (I wonder if not getting that 100th win bothered him). He started out as a farmhand of the St. Louis Browns and, like Mr. Ertman above, seemed to be a pretty good southpaw, even narrowly missing a no-hitter on at least one occasion.

Jim was pitching in Class C ball--for Muskogee--in 1950, going 12-6. This photo appeared in the Valley Morning Star (Harlingen, TX) on March 27, 1951, as Jim was hoping to stick with the San Antonio Missions (Double-A ball). He didn't and was with Class C Aberdeen that year, but upped his game and won 17 (he also managed the club for part of the season). In 1952, he did get to pitch for San Antonio. He went 8-11 for the Missions, but nonetheless was placed with AAA Toronto (technically an independent) in 1953, where he went 10-8.

The Browns became the Orioles in 1954 and Jim was one of three players shipped to the Yankees for Jim Brideweser (none of the three ever played for the Yankees at the major league level). It looks like the Yankees tried to convert Jim to relief but I don't know how much it mattered (these were the Yankees, after all).

The image intrigued me because of the uniform. To me, it looks like Sana Kuma. The only Sana Kuma I can find was a reader of tea leaves. Thought it might be a high school image, but the photo was from a local Texas studio, Harman and Howell, and Jim was from Sturgis, Michigan. Military? There's no record available of Jim playing in the military. American Legion? Maybe winter ball. I suppose, if you squint real hard, maybe you can make San Antonio out of that. Given the Texas photography connection, that's probably most likely. I dunno, but it intrigues me.

Jim Post
 

Here's a photo of Jim Post when he was on the Baltimore Orioles' spring roster in 1954. The photo was for sale on eBay in 2012.

Hank Ertman
 

Don't remember where I picked up this photo of Ertman, but believe that I've had it for a while. Hank Ertman was on the Boston Braves' spring roster in 1950, 1951, and 1953.

Topps Vault: One and Done?
 

As the constant flow of Topps Vault images continue, we now have thousands upon thousands of newly seen photos of several generations of players both familiar and obscure. Hall of Famers are in good supply; but so, too, are obscure minor league players, many virtually forgotten, that have seen the light of day for the first time. Some have a single, solitary image for us to see and consider.

Some of the unveilings, by request:

BJ 970 Gene Ross
Attachment 450769

Acquired from the Pirates for the 1963 season, Ross had losing records in his two seasons in the Twins system before calling it a career. Another career beckoned, however, as he followed up a career as an elite travel team coach has become a guru of proper pitching mechanics working with the Georgia Pitching Academy.

EM 344 John Parker
Attachment 450771

Pictured in spring of 1971 after finally reaching Triple-A (and garnering a spring invite) in his sixth pro season, images of Parker during his earlier time with the Phillies' system might surface after putting up an 18-4 record in 1967. He was originally a fourth-round pick as a North Carolina high schooler.

EM 086 Gene Holbert
Attachment 450772

Holbert merited a pair of images since he was a former first-round pick of the Atlanta Braves (1969, 12th overall) out of high school in Pennsylvania -- another one of the prized lefty/switch-hitting catching prospects who never found a way to hit. Holbert, who was one of a streak of five of the Braves' first six first-round picks who never reached the majors, saw his career end at the age of 20 following the 1972 season with a .228 career average.

BK 969 Don Ross
Attachment 450773

AP 1284
Attachment 450770

Drafted by the Los Angeles Angels from the Orioles in the expansion draft, Ross' time was limited in their system. After a bouncing around three organizations in 1962, he was back with Los Angeles in '63 for a final go-around, but never reached the Show.

John Parker
 

Rico, thanks for the photos of the above four players.

Here is a photo of John Parker in a Phillies uniform, albeit in black-and-white rather than color. John Parker was on the Phillies' spring roster in 1968. It was unknown to me that he was a non-roster invitee with the Senators until I saw the Topps Vault photo you posted.

Can You ID these guys?
 

(Fleer photo edition)

I've been trying to put ID's on five folders worth of color photography that Fleer clearly had access to once upon a time. These have been languishing in folders in the back of a Baseball Birthdays posting for years.

I've made a lot of headway, but veterans of my Topps Vault postings know I can and will screw up something so far. These may or may not be minor leaguers, but I am weak in these seasons.

Who are these gentlemen please?

Player #1
Attachment 450873

Player #2
Attachment 450874

Player #3
Attachment 450875

Player #4
Attachment 450876

Player #5
Attachment 450877