Quote:
Originally Posted by Chickazoola
This was a very early ID for me, never looked at Firth's case before.
Here's what I've tracked down for the two Firths:
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I suspect John Firth ID is probably correct, I checked with the Biographical Committee and the ID dates back to 1997 (he used to be listed as Ted Firth) and it was done by some reputable folks. Would still like to firm up the ID though.
But I figure it's about 95% that George Firth was not the big leaguer - so we're back to a missing photo for Firth 1884 Richmond.
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You've got pretty much what I've found, although I was not able to confirm which Firth was in Brooklyn in 1883. Where did you find that?
I found an article from the Meriden Republican in 1885 confirming it was George's brother murdered in Iowa.
John Firth was with Lowell in 1876, and finished the year with the Detroit Aetnas. He joined Rhode Island in late 1877 (currently attributed to George), and played with Lowell again in 1879 (and again in 1882?). He seems to have been with the Lowell Fire Department all that time until 1884. There's a note in the Lowell Daily Sun on June 14, 1884 that he was discharged at his request.
He joined the Dayton club in May 1884 (Dayton Herald), and his last box score with Dayton that I found was on July 6. The Cincinnati Enquirer reported on July 27th that he was playing in the Iron and Oil League, having used the pretext that his mother was ill to leave the Dayton club. (As an aside, I've had a hard time finding box scores for the Iron and Oil League games from 1884.) And then I can't find anything until the next spring with Portsmouth.
Agree it is likely him who played that game with Richmond. No absolute proof.
And I have no idea where the first name Ted (or Teddy) came from.