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Cusick · 08-13-2021, 09:52 PM

This is not a case of something fishy. Instead you are witnessing progress in baseball research.

The tenth edition of TOTAL BASEBALL, published in 2001, listed as the 24-game 1884 Altoona major league player Frank W. Harris. That tome was the most popular baseball encyclopedia of the time. John Thorn, Baseball's current historian, was among its authors.

The original source for the Frank Harris image which launched this recent inquiry was The Sporting News, October 26, 1895, Page 1. SABR members can look up this reference via Paper of Record. So that image was valid, not fishy, for as long as Frank Harris was recognized as the major league player.

In the intervening period, research came to the attention of SABR's Biographical Committee, and the decision was made that the major leaguer was James Harris rather than Frank Harris. Thus, chickazoola's comment becomes pertinent that James Harris has become a missing player for pictorial history purposes.

08-13-2021, 09:52 PM	#35085
Cusick Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2014 Posts: 4,313	James Harris/Frank Harris This is not a case of something fishy. Instead you are witnessing progress in baseball research. The tenth edition of TOTAL BASEBALL, published in 2001, listed as the 24-game 1884 Altoona major league player Frank W. Harris. That tome was the most popular baseball encyclopedia of the time. John Thorn, Baseball's current historian, was among its authors. The original source for the Frank Harris image which launched this recent inquiry was The Sporting News, October 26, 1895, Page 1. SABR members can look up this reference via Paper of Record. So that image was valid, not fishy, for as long as Frank Harris was recognized as the major league player. In the intervening period, research came to the attention of SABR's Biographical Committee, and the decision was made that the major leaguer was James Harris rather than Frank Harris. Thus, chickazoola's comment becomes pertinent that James Harris has become a missing player for pictorial history purposes.