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Merkle923 · 07-17-2015, 01:48 PM

Had a little time, so to start, here's Birdsall, right fielder on the first Boston Red Stockings team, a .303 hitter who plummeted statistically to .211 the next year and was out of the National Association by May 17, 1873 and never again reached the majors as a player (though he served as an umpire in 1874).

The two Birdsall Mort Rogers scorecards tell the story of the product as a business disaster. Nearly all examples are priced at 10 cents - a lot when a good seat at the game could be had for 50 cents - but a few are marked at 5 cents. It's believed but not certain that Rogers lost most of his shirt in 1871 and came back with a cheaper version at half the price some time in 1872 (the confusion stems from the fact the Andy Leonard scorecard shown previously could only be from 1872 or later, and yet it is priced at 10 cents - maybe Rogers' response to the economics was to start at a nickel and go up to a dime!)

The first Birdsall card is priced at 10 cents, and is presumed to be from '71, and the second is priced at 5 cents, and is presumed to be from '72. Not certain that Rogers had new photographs taken for every player in 1872 but there's at least a chance we're seeing Birdsall images from each season (the presence of the tie in one but not in the other implies that, but again, it's all guesswork).

07-17-2015, 01:48 PM	#25707
Merkle923 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 2,192	Dave Birdsall 1871 Had a little time, so to start, here's Birdsall, right fielder on the first Boston Red Stockings team, a .303 hitter who plummeted statistically to .211 the next year and was out of the National Association by May 17, 1873 and never again reached the majors as a player (though he served as an umpire in 1874). The two Birdsall Mort Rogers scorecards tell the story of the product as a business disaster. Nearly all examples are priced at 10 cents - a lot when a good seat at the game could be had for 50 cents - but a few are marked at 5 cents. It's believed but not certain that Rogers lost most of his shirt in 1871 and came back with a cheaper version at half the price some time in 1872 (the confusion stems from the fact the Andy Leonard scorecard shown previously could only be from 1872 or later, and yet it is priced at 10 cents - maybe Rogers' response to the economics was to start at a nickel and go up to a dime!) The first Birdsall card is priced at 10 cents, and is presumed to be from '71, and the second is priced at 5 cents, and is presumed to be from '72. Not certain that Rogers had new photographs taken for every player in 1872 but there's at least a chance we're seeing Birdsall images from each season (the presence of the tie in one but not in the other implies that, but again, it's all guesswork). Last edited by Merkle923; 08-01-2017 at 11:06 PM.