[RUKen]

Originally Posted by Merkle923

A fascinating piece in the November Hunt Auction - a 22" by 25" display of photos of the Washington American League team: 20 small portraits to the waist, in ovals, one large center portrait marked "1904."

1904 would be a good guess - that big picture in the middle looks like Patsy Donovan, the underrated 17-year outfielder who managed the Washington's from May 11, 1904 through the end of the season - and the catcher in the second row, second from the right, sure looks like the equally superannuated Malachi Kittridge (who started the season as player-manager). Right above him would seem to be fellow catcher Boileryard Clarke, who was in Washington from 1901 through 1904.

The problem is the uniforms.

Those ones with the ornate, almost spiked "W's" (top row, upper left) can date only to the 1903 season, but from the franchise's start, the serifed thick block letter "W" unis were, per Okkonen's authoritative guide on the subject, only worn in the road uniforms of 1905 and 1911- and not again until 1938 (there is a block letter "W" home uniform from 1902, but it's sans serif, and worn over an outlined chest pocket no less).

Just to ratchet up the mystery, of course - no ID's. Happy Hunting.

All of the players were on the Washington roster at some time during the 1904 season. Most of the photos in the composite had been published in the Washington Times in 1903 and 1904. Most were uncredited, but the image of Case Patten in the composite is an excerpt from the team photo seen on page 8 of the April 22, 1903, edition of the Washington Times, and that image is indicated as having been copyrighted by Frank Cullen. The players in the composite include some who began the 1904 season with the Senators but were traded away during the season, as well as players who began with other teams and then came to the Senators. For example, Charlie Moran was traded for Hunter Hill and Frank Huelsman on July 14th, yet Moran, Hill, and possibly Huelsman all appear in the composite.


Question marks in my identifications below indicate when a matching photo could not be found in the Times archived at Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/se...ges/results/ ) thus these are uncertain.

Top Row (L-R): Charlie Moran (SS), Bill Wolfe (P), Case Patten (P), Beany Jacobson (P), Bill Clarke (C/1B), Joe Cassidy (SS).
Second Row (L-R): Bill (John) O'Neill (CF), Happy Townsend (P), Mal Kittridge (C), Frank Huelsman (CF)?.
Center: Patsy Donovan (RF/Mgr.).
Third Row (L-R): Kip Selbach (LF), Tom Hughes (P), Lew Drill (C)?, Barry McCormick (2B).
Bottom Row (L-R): Hunter Hill (3B), Highball (Howard) Wilson (P), Davey Dunkle (P)?, Al Orth (P/LF/CF), Bill Coughlin (3B), Jake Stahl (1B).