[UKBaseballfan]

I believe this exquisite team photo of the 1888 Omaha team belongs on this thread as all but 1 of the players depicted are Major Leaguers. Unfortunately no identifications were attached but cinemaodyssey embarked on the project to name all the players.

Identifications established are as follows :-

Top (l-r) :- Joe Miller, Jim Burns, John Doran, Tug Wilson, Pat O'Connell, Bill Annis

Middle :- Len Sowders, Bill Burdick, Frank Selee, Dan Shannon, Chippy McGarr

Bottom :- Ted Kennedy, Jocko Flynn, Jimmy Cooney, Tom Lovett, Dad Clarke

I received a copy of this photo from him with a request to assist in validating his identifications which I did independently of his deliberations. The outcome when we compared was we were in agreement in all but 3 instances, which were open to debate.

The first was Tug Wilson who he had 4th from left in the top row but I had 3rd from left. Examination of the player's hair line indicated his viewpoint to be correct.

The second was Jimmy Cooney who he had on the bottom row 3rd left but I had 4th from left in the top row. My initial viewpoint was based on an image I had of him with Omaha where he was not clean shaven. His viewpoint was based on images where he was clean shaven. Cinemaodyssey informs me that he grew his mustache during the season so a key factor would be was the photo taken early, pre-season of later in the season. A number of factors indicate that it was more likely taken early. So again I believe his viewpoint was correct as I believe the player looks more likely than my alternative.

The third was the identity of the final player in the team photo. He had it as John Doran located 3rd from left in the top row whereas I had it as Tom Nagle as the player in the bottom row 3rd from left. I had not considered Doran as he did not play in any games and was not a Major Leaguer. However, he informed that there had been a major exodus of Oshkosh players to the Omaha team and Doran was one of those. Examination of Doran's image in the 1887 Oshkosh team photo indicated an excellent match, so again his viewpoint was better.

If anybody has an alternate view in respect of these deliberations please let us know as it is understood that identifications are not a precise science. Equally if you support these identifications it would be nice to obtain further validation.