Quote:
Originally Posted by Cusick
I wouldn't move so fast in jumping to the conclusion that the player's name wasn't really Ralph Edwards.
The letter below, written in 1991, was from player Ralph Edwards' son, Ralph Jr., to Bill Haber, who was one of SABR's best biographical researchers. Haber died in 1995. This copy of the letter was acquired by baseball photo collector Lefty Blasco (also a SABR member), who passed it on to me. Lefty is also deceased now.
The full name of Ralph Jr.'s father corresponds to the name used by baseball-reference. So does the place of birth. The date of death is off only by two days.
Along with the letter, Lefty sent me a photo of Ralph Edwards, which I'm also attaching. It's not the same as the one used in FacePack and on baseball-reference, but there's enough of a resemblance that it could be the same player.
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Thanks for this Cusick. I have no doubt the photo in the Facepack is Ralph Strunk Edwards, the question is whether it was Ralph Strunk Edwards who appeared for the Athletics in 1915. Peter Morris tipped me to the fact that ID was likely incorrect, based on what was known about the candidate. Every note I found describes him as a recruit from the Chicago City League. To my knowledge that doesn't fit Ralph Strunk Edwards. I will spend some time on it today.
I just received his player file from the Hall of Fame, but it contains nothing of note. I also received the Johnny O'Connor file, and it contains a whole lot of great correspondence from Bill Haber that confirms the ID is correct.