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Baseball Headlines & Heroes! Help Us ID Ten Players

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How could my thoughts not turn to baseball on the day of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game? Plus it’s being played right here in Washington, DC. Plus it’s only a couple weeks after the opening of Baseball Americana, the major exhibit at the Library of Congress.

My thoughts often turn to comics and newspapers so here’s the Jackie Robinson comic book cover currently featured in the exhibit.

              Jackie Robinson, no. 4 (1950).

How about a sampling of other baseball-themed comic books in our collection?

Clockwise from Top Left: Fair Play (1948); Babe Ruth Sports Comics, no. 3 (August 1949); Baseball Thrills, no. 2 (Late Summer 1951); Baseball Superstars, no. 20 (August 1993): Jim Abbott; Baseball Classics, no. 3 (1992): Willie Mays; The Little Redbirds, vol. 1 (1988).

For newspapers, search the millions of digitized pages in Chronicling America.

Chief Bender and Christy Mathewson in The Day Book (Chicago, IL), September 20, 1913.
“Base Ball’s Greatest Year,” The Sunday Star (Washington, DC), September 14, 1930.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to historic daily baseball coverage in many newspapers from around the country, we have Chronicling America Topic Pages for Baseball’s World Series, 1903- 1922Bloomer Girls (women’s baseball), 1897-1909; The Chicago Black Sox Scandal; Babe Ruth; and Jim Thorpe.

In more digitized newspaper collections, baseball coverage ranges from New York Journal and Related Titles, 1896 to 1899 to Japanese-American Internment Camp Newspapers, 1942-1946, plus three World War I-related collections. All at Collections with Newspapers.

Here are Cincinnati Reds players registering in the first round of the selective service draft in June 1917 as found in Newspaper Pictorials: World War I Rotogravures, 1914 to 1919.

                                The New York Times, June 10, 1917, Picture Section, Part 5.
The War of the Nations: Portfolio in Rotogravure Etchings (The New York Times, 1919)

Except that’s not how the players are identified when the photo reappears in The War of the Nations: Portfolio in Rotogravure Etchings published in 1919 and digitized in the same Library of Congress collection. That’s when the Reds become a “typical group of stalwart American youth” registering in the third round of the draft on September 12, 1918.

Here’s where you can help us out. Let us know in comments if you recognize any of these Cincinnati Reds players (be sure to click on the photos to enlarge). A clue: they must be between the ages of 21 and 30 (draft age) as of June 5, 1917. Thanks for your help and enjoy the game from backyard ball to the Majors!

Comments (3)

  1. When National pastime was baseball season.
    Made everyday men heroes into Legends of .
    Fall classic father’s son, brought to games.
    Learn about team sport’s know as Baseball.
    Shalom Ciao Muy buenos peace .

  2. Midsummer CLASSIC ALL STAR GAMES.
    In Nation Capital Washington D.C.

  3. I do not know at this time any of the Cincinnati Reds I the picture. The Reds were a fantastic team in the 1910’s.
    The team I remember were the Chicago White Sox and their illegal gambling in 1919. I believe they played the Reds in the World Series that year.
    It’s A little before my time.

    Right now I’m with Roberta visiting Betsy and her family in North Carolina.

    I am going to see the game.

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