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Vintage Baseball Photography
13 Lots
 Lot 14. Rare 4” x 6” Sepia 1916 Wedding Picture of Honus Wagner and Bessie Smith. Even Wagner’s granddaughter didn’t have a copy of this photo. An earlier owner made a copy of it for her. This is the original from the wedding on Dec. 30, 1916. Wagner was 42, and Smith, 27. He had met her at least eight years earlier. Although rumors of their impending marriage were rampant, they managed to avoid reporters. They were married in a simple, private evening ceremony in Carnegie, Pa. The photo has an inoffensive crease away from the Wagners in the lower right corner and stains from production of the photo on the blank back. Were it not for the corner crease, it would be nm. The images could not be clearer or sharper.
Winning Bid $990.
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 Lot 24. 18 Wire or Newspaper Photos Featuring Paul Waner, Lloyd Waner or Both. The Waners were the second brothers inducted into the Hall of Fame. George and Harry Wright were the first. Together, the Waners accounted for 5,611 major league hits. Six photos are about 8” x 10”, six 7” x 9”, four 6 ½” x 8 ½” and two smaller. Paul is pictured in 15 photos, Lloyd in one and both brothers in two. Highlights include Paul at the 1943 All-Star Game, as an aviator, as a hospital patient, as a beachcomber as he holding out in 1939 and as a champion amateur golfer. In one photo, he files his spikes. One photo shows Lloyd. These photos are predominantly from the 1930s, with some from the 1920s and 1940s. They average vg.
Winning Bid $175.
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 Lot 25. 1939 Philadelphia Record Photos of Paul and Lloyd Waner. The Waners, both in the Hall of Fame, were baseball’s best brother act when it came to batting. Together, they rapped major league pitching for 5,611 hits and a combined batting average of .325. The two photos, each 6 ½” x 8 ½”, were published in the Philadelphia newspaper Sept. 1. One shows the brothers talking prior to a game with the Phillies. In the other, Lloyd makes a behind-the-back reception of a $10 bill from Paul. Both photos exhibit minor retouching and cropping marks and have a newspaper filing label on the right. Otherwise, they are vg to vg-ex.
Minimum Bid $50.
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 Lot 26. 4 Newspaper Photos of Paul Waner & Family - and the Vaudeville Connection. A 1942 AP Wirephoto used in the Philadelphia Record shows Waner with his son, Paul Jr., prior to a game as he approached his 3,000th hit. Retouched 8” x 10”, vg+ with cropping marks. The three other photos are 6 ½” x 8 ½”. Earlier in his career, after the 1927 World Series, Paul, along with brother Lloyd, earned $2,000 a week on a national vaudeville tour. They told baseball jokes. Paul played the saxophone, and Lloyd pretended to play the violin. Two 1928 photos from P & A Photos show them on the tour in San Francisco. Both had played for the Seals. One shows Paul in a suit pretending to play catcher as his wife bats. Ex, caption attached. In the other, the brothers are at a microphone of KPO radio. Vg, tiny edge tear, lower left corner torn in border, caption attached. An Acme Newspictures photo shows the brothers in uniform. Ex-m.
Minimum Bid $75.
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 Lot 27. Pirates’ Lloyd Waner in a Pensive Mood, and Ready to Hit. A 1939 Philadelphia Record photo captures “Little Poison” apparently deep in thought during a game with the Phillies. The 6 ½” x 8 ½” photo has been retouched, shows cropping marks and has a filing label attached at the left. Strong image. A 1937 AP photo shows Waner at bat in spring training. The photo is 7” x 9” and vg with staple holes in the top and bottom borders.
Minimum Bid $50.
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 Lot 38. Late 1800s Baseball Cabinet Card of Player From Ocilla, Georgia. Wonderful vintage cabinet card with a great image that exhibits superb clarity and contrast. The photo is 3¾” x 5 ½” on a 6” x 8” mount. The Ocilla player, who holds a bat, is clad in a full uniform, including quilted pants that appear to date from the 1890s. A note on the back says “Fred Bruce, Made Around 1905 or 1906?” The writer was correct to question the date because it appears to be off by about 15 years. There is foxing on the cabinet, which otherwise is vg-ex. The photo itself is nm.
Winning Bid $75.
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 Lot 39. 1890s-Early 1900s “Indoor Baseball” Team Photo, Handbill, Scorecard. Indoor baseball is little remembered today, but it was popular enough in the early 1900s that Spalding produced Official Indoor Baseball Guides from 1903-26. George Hancock of Chicago is credited with inventing the game in 1887. He developed an oversized ball, a special bat and a set of rules suited for confined, indoor play. 1. In 1891, Hancock headed a committee that sponsored a benefit game between two Illinois teams, LaSalle and Farragut. A historically significant scorecard created for the game presents the special rules. It also promotes Hancock’s indoor equipment. The scorecard is complete with moderate back damage and a tear. 2. Fireman Louis Rober of Minneapolis popularized the game, using it to keep fellow firemen fit in the winter. Other fire companies adopted the game, which eventually moved outdoors as softball. One of those units was the Northvale Fire Company of New York. A 1903 handbill promotes an indoor game between the Northvale firefighters and a National Guard regiment. The 6” x 9” handbill on newsprint is chipped along the edges. The text is fully intact. Very rare. 3. Two oversized balls and a bat are visible in the 7” x 8 ½” photo on an 11” x 13 ½” mount. Ex.
Winning Bid $225.
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 Lot 267. Fabulous Late 19th Williams College (Mass.) Baseball Team Photo. This 7” x 9” sepia example is one of the most attractive vintage photos that we have seen. It is a cabinet card with the border removed; there are several tiny spots on it. That’s the worst news. And now, the good news: The focus is sharp. The contrast is unimproveable. Players wear vintage uniforms, and one holds a catcher’s mask. A talented photographer posed and printed this photo. Outstanding!
Winning Bid $102.
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 Lot 268. Cabinet Photo of the 1905 Baltimore City College Baseball Team. Superb cabinet photo that is 7 ½” x 9 ½” on a 10” x 12” mount. The players’ names are lightly listed at the bottom of the mount. Baltimore City College is actually a secondary school in Baltimore. In fact, established in 1938, it is the third oldest public high school in the U.S. Ex photo with outstanding sharpness and contrast; the mount has a couple of surface chips and otherwise is ex.
Winning Bid $68.
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 Lot 269. 1908 Original Photo of Black Sox Pitcher Eddie Cicotte with an Arkansas Team. Cicotte is fourth from the right in a photo showing members of the Hot Springs, Ark., team in uniform. The Boston Red Sox trained in Hot Springs. After being out of the majors for two seasons, Cicotte earned a spot on the Boston pitching staff. in 1908 Subsequently, he became one of baseball’s best and most respected pitchers before purposely losing Games 1 and 4 of the 1919 World Series. The 7 ½” x 9” sepia photo is matted and framed to 11 ½” x 14 ½”. It has a heavy crease and two tears that fail to affect any images of the players. Historically interesting photo.
Winning Bid $83.
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 Lot 270. 2 Rare 1920s Newspaper Photos of Paul Waner with the San Francisco Seals. Waner was a star of the Pacific Coast League 1923-25. After he batted .401 in 1925, the Pittsburgh Pirates paid the Seals $100,000 for him and Hal Rhyne. Waner, of course, went on to have a Hall of Fame career. He hit .309 or better for 12 straight seasons and compiled a lifetime .333 average. Casey Stengel said Waner was the best right fielder he ever saw. The photos are from a San Francisco newspaper or the SF Bureau of the photo service, Pacific & Atlantic Photos. Both have been retouched for newspaper publication. Both have small newspaper clippings on the back, including one that apparently refers to the Seals’ wanting at least $40,000 for Waner’s services. It calls him a “costly minor leaguer” who “is much in demand.” Both are about 6” x 8 ½”. Up close, the portrait shows some fine surface cracking where it was retouched. The batting stance photo is torn and creased along the left edge and has various editing marks. Waner’s image is unaffected by any tears or creases.
Winning Bid $75.
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 Lot 271. Two 8" x 10" 1920s-1930s Glossy AP Wire Photos of Billy Sunday. A hard-drinking baseball player for the Chicago White Stockings (N.L.) in the 1890s, Sunday found religion and a new career as an evangelist. At his death in 1935, the New York Times described him as “the greatest high-pressure and mass-conversion Christian evangelist that America has ever known.” The first photo, dated Aug. 11, 1928, shows Sunday with his wife. Clipped corner well outside the image area; otherwise vg with superb clarity and contrast. The second photo shows Sunday preaching in Boston in 1931. The AP caption on the back refers to him as an “athletic evangelist.” Vg, looks better. Photos of Sunday preaching are scarce.
Minimum Bid $150.
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