Gambo and T_Wil1 Photopack

[Amazin69]

Not a 1924, but here's Miller in the same uniform in 1927. Can't find the original, but the colorized print is courtesy of our friend John at Baseball-Birthdays.

[Amazin69]

Courtesy of eBay seller Vintage Baseball Oddities, here's Kenny in full Tribe kit on a panel detail from Ohio Tellings Cream Tops, which I have no idea what those were, given that Ohio Tellings appears to have been a metal-framing company.



The panel is dated 1925, but given that Kenny's days in Cleveland ended in 1924, the picture is probably from that year.

[Amazin69]

Could not find Paul Robert Fitzke in Cleveland colors, but this is Bob in 1924, practicing his other sport.



From the Flickr for 125th anniversary of the University of Idaho, Fitzke's alma mater.

[rrb77]

1924-31 Cleveland Indians

[UKBaseballfan]

I am blown away by all the images of Cleveland players but I was specifically looking for 1924 images. I can certainly utilise the Bub Kuhn image and maybe one of the Kenny Hogan's. The image posted that is identified as Watty Clark looks a lot more like Sumpter Clarke to me. Thank you everybody.

[Terry D]

Here is a guy I have had for a while and honestly should have posted sooner. Outfielder Reggie Williams was born in Memphis, Tenn., and drafted by the Dodgers out of Southern A&M in 1982. When you allow for major/minor league differentials Williams' minor league numbers were not truly outstanding, but he did have good speed and a very good SB/CS ratio in the minors. Williams vaulted into top prospect status in 1985 when he posted a .779 OPS for AA San Antonio. This earned Williams a brief '85 look with the Dodgers and a starting OF job with the big club for the '86 season. His 1986 performance for the Dodgers wasn't exactly terrible (.708 OPS) but he was regarded as a disappointment. At this point in their history, the Dodgers had tons of OF prospects varying in ability from more-or-less OK to overrated-because-Albuquerque, so when one didn't turn into a star immediately they just tried another one. Williams was used mostly as a defensive replacement in '87, hit just .111, hit well at Albuquerque, and was sent to the Indians. The Colorado Springs park helped Williams to a .768 OPS in 1988 but he got into only eleven games for the Indians that year and that was it for his MLB career. Here is Williams sliding beneath Jody Reed in a 1988 game at Fenway Park. This is the best of several similar shots from newspapers.com.

[Merkle923]

Here he is with the Expos.

The Expos yearbook I alluded to earlier showing him in the last three weeks of his career turned out to be from 1982 and I stumbled over it on a shelf this weekend. It's got a fold-out poster of everybody who had played for Montreal to that point - thumbnails, arrayed in alphabetical order.

The first B&W version is to give an idea of scale (each photo may be an inch-and-a-half square, maybe less). The second is the original, isolated. The third was cleaned up by my friend, the Rembrandt of Photo-Shop, Bob Wong. He did the colorization too, and the final touch on these last two is a dip in the Remini machine, which really finished the job nicely for once.

As near as I can tell this is a legit original Expos photo of Johnson. He seems to be wearing number 30 (his longtime number and the one he had in Montreal). The Cubs had released him on Day 2 of the 1970 season, he signed with the Expos the same day and 20 days and three games later, he was released again. That ended a professional career that had begun when he signed with the Philadelphia A's in 1952 but stretched back even earlier to the '40s when as a boy he had worked Spring Training games for Connie Mack, either as a batboy, clubhouse kid, or scorecard hawker (the stories vary).

[Amazin69]

Our pics of Rodney during his 10-game coda in the Bronx have previously shown him in the black batting practice tops, not true Yankees togs. But here he is in Those Famous Pinstripes, courtesy of ebay seller sfmsports:

Button your shirt, you slob! Even the Yankees have some standards, I think.

[Merkle923]

By request...signed during the last year of the original Washington Senators, debuted with eleven games for the '63 Twins. Joined the Tigers in mid-August 1967 and became a huge factor in the untoppable A.L. Pennant race with eight saves in 17 appearances. To the Indians in 1970 and two final games with the Angels in July/August 1971 on a road trip that took him to George Brace's camera at Comiskey Park.

[Merkle923]

Also by request, 15-game saver for the '72 Rangers who made two scoreless appearances for the '73 World Champion A's. The next year he went to the Cubs and then the Angels. Had a two-game stint with the Phillies at the end of '78 (never seen him in a Philly uniform).

[Dto7]

1924 Cleveland Indians with Hogan and Kuhn, the first 2 in the top row. From the 1924 Cleveland Plain Dealer.

[Amazin69]

Very impressive! And in home uniforms, too boot.

(Dang, the Tribe ran a lot of spare parts out there that season. Frank Jeric? Max Turk? Huh.)

[Amazin69]

And here I thought the younger Smalley had finished his career with his return to Minnesota in 1985-1987, culminating in a World Series win in 1987, and promptly retired, opening up his "Smalley's 87" restaurant that lasted for 25 years.

Apparently not, for here he is in Spring Training in 1988, trying for a second go with the White Sox. Can't find a record of his signing a contract, so I guess he was an NRI?

Courtesy of Larry Fritsch Cards, with a few tweaks by me.

[UKBaseballfan]

Originally Posted by Dto7

1924 Cleveland Indians with Hogan and Kuhn, the first 2 in the top row. From the 1924 Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Wonderful, thank you so much for your invaluable contribution! Are you tempted to use your well renowned colorization skills on this team photo?

[Dto7]

Originally Posted by UKBaseballfan

Wonderful, thank you so much for your invaluable contribution! Are you tempted to use your well renowned colorization skills on this team photo?

If I had the original photo I might try, I've never done one from a newspaper, just not clear enough.

[Dto7]

Just a baseball photo of Fitzke from 1926 Scranton Miners-9-8-1926 Scranton Tribune.

[Merkle923]

From the Brace lode, by request.

Ronnie Kline was a pretty good pitcher (led the A.L. in saves with 29 in 1965 when the all-time record had been 29, and was just broken - by two - that year by Ted Abernathy) and had 73 in a four-year span in Washington) but a much better survivor.

A 20-year old starter on a 1952 Pirates team whose members proudly proclaimed theirs the worst of all time, he led the NL in losses twice (yet in one of those years would've earned a 4.9 ERA, he lasted until 1970 with nine different teams. After the stay with the Senators he was dealt to the Twins for 1967, back to the Pirates for 1968, to the Giants and then the Red Sox in '69. They then brought him to spring training in 1970 as a non-roster invitee but let him go, and at the end of April the Braves signed him. He pitched only five times and was released on June 15 and finished the season at Hawaii of the PCL.

Brace, however, got him - though I've never seen any evidence he was photographed during his seven-game stint with the '69 Giants.

[Merkle923]

Every time I've heard a pitcher from the '50s, '60s, or '70s complain about the low innings counts of their "modern" equivalent and how they kept themselves off the injured list by throwing more and how they coddle pitchers today and that's why they get hurt so often (Seaver never stopped with this) I think of the Orioles' star twirlers of the 1960's.

Their rotation that year was led by 22-year old Chuck Estrada (who tied for the A.L. lead with 18 wins), 21-year old Jack Fisher (a 12-game winner that year), Milt Pappas (who recorded his third double-digit win season that year) and Jerry Walker (an All-Star at age 19) and 22-year old Steve Barber (101 wins in his first 8 years)

Barber was on a possible HOF trajectory when his arm went dead in 1967 and he wound up pitching for seven teams in his last eight years. Fisher would hurt his arm and be out of the majors by age 30. Pappas threw 3186 innings and the arm basically shut off at 34. The 19-year old All-Star Walker was no longer able to hold a starting job in the Kansas City rotation at age 33. And Estrada was hurt at 25 and never recovered.

The Orioles sent Estrada to the Angels in '66 - and they sent him back. They gave him to the Cubs in June and he struck out five men in 12 games and was released. The Mets grabbed him and actually looked strong in a start before it was rained out in the fourth inning. In nine games that counted he had a 9.41 ERA. The end came in June, 1967. He had a successful career as a coach and minor league instructor.

George Brace got him in both his farewell cameos. Seaver once mentioned himself and Nolan Ryan and Jerry Koosman and I mentioned Gary Gentry and Dick Rusteck and Dennis Musgraves and Rob Gardner and Bill Denehy and Les Rohr and Estrada and and... and he said he had to go prepare for the game telecast.

[Merkle923]

Veteran pitcher who varied from winner of a 1-0 World Series elimination game over Sandy Koufax to a mop-up guy with the '67 Mets, he was sold to the Cubs as pennant race help on July 24th but was so ineffective they actually released him before the season ended. In 1968 Shaw went to camp with his World Series team, the White Sox, but didn't make the cut. He later served as the Brewers' pitching coach.

The Brace pitching pose was loosed upon the world some time ago (though a crappy print), but I'd never seen the portrait before. Not bad at all. George did well with the home teams in Chicago.

[Merkle923]

By request.

Bell was enough a prospect that after being chosen seventh overall in the old January draft, he was promoted to become the starting 3rd Baseman of the White Sox in the middle of the 1976 season. But his good prep and minor league numbers proved to be almost exclusively against lefty pitchers (he hit .319 versus them as a rookie, .201 versus righties, and was .259/.198 lifetime).

It probably explains why he only spent one full season in Chicago (1980) and in it hit .178. The Sox released him that winter, he signed with the Padres and was then dealt to the A's in Spring Training. After two unpromising seasons in the PCL they brought him for a three-game cameo in September, 1982, where he eluded most photographers. Doug McWilliams got him in Oakland and it turns out Brace got him at Comiskey.

ADDED: Came across this shot I took of Bell shortly after his recall by the ChiSox. The remodeled Yankee Stadium was new, he was a rookie, the old-timey uniform set was new, and I was 17! On the other hand the base looks like it was used by Tinker, Evers and Chance.