Gambo and T_Wil1 Photopack

[Pinetarpress]

I just googled John Hughes Reading Phillies and found a newspaper article where he and his wife were pictured and it looks like you found your guy....

[Pinetarpress]

If u look up Hughes....

John Hughes Minor League Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

And I run across this a lot when researching minor leaguers in the 70s...but, he was really young when his career was done. He was coming off two excellent power seasons ...

Today guys play as long as they can....but, makes you wonder why Hughes called it a career when he did

I do know he was not much of a defender so as a bat first guy perhaps the Phillies did not know what to do with him

[UKBaseballfan]

1886 Seattle team photo. Player top row, left, identified as Booth,cf

Could this be Amos Booth , there does appear to be a strong resemblance to the existing low quality facepack image?

[tnfoto]

Originally Posted by UKBaseballfan

1886 Seattle team photo. Player top row, left, identified as Booth,cf

Could this be Amos Booth , there does appear to be a strong resemblance to the existing low quality facepack image?

The Seattle player is not Amos Booth. Amos was a Cincinnati police officer in 1887, while the Seattle Booth was still playing there.

Here is a clearer image of Amos Booth from his police portrait, originally taken ca. 1887-93 and used throughout his police career.

[Cusick]

UK, I tried some newspaper searches in 1886 for Seattle baseball and Booth, but had no luck. We really have no evidence that Amos Booth played west of the Mississippi. Just having the last name and no connection to Seattle leaves this as too speculative in my book to make it a firm identification, even if there is some resemblance between the two photos. Furthermore, he would have been Age 37 in 1886. He could have still been playing at the age, but not a lot of players do. And finally, the Booth in the Seattle photo was listed as an outfielder; Amos Booth was a catcher and infielder.

[tnfoto]

1908 Giants.

[tnfoto]

Facepack upgrade, pictured with the 1878 Holyoke club.

[tnfoto]

Facepack upgrade, pictured with the 1875 Reading Active club.

[tnfoto]

Facepack upgrade, pictured with the 1875 Reading Active club.

[tnfoto]

Facepack upgrade, pictured with the 1875 Reading Active club.

[Terry D]

Nelson Norman spent one season as the Rangers' more-or-less regular shortstop and two seasons bouncing between Arlington and the minors. In 1982 he got a late-season shot with the Pirates, appearing in three games and going hitless. The watermarked photo of him below (the top image) was posted to ebay by dr.jteeee, who misidentified Norman as Odell Jones. The second (lower) image from the same source is Reggie Walton, a former Seattle outfield prospect who hit .200 in 13 games with Pittsburgh that same year in his last major league shot.

[KenRaffensberger16]

Originally Posted by Pinetarpress

If u look up Hughes....

John Hughes Minor League Statistics & History | Baseball-Reference.com

And I run across this a lot when researching minor leaguers in the 70s...but, he was really young when his career was done. He was coming off two excellent power seasons ...

Today guys play as long as they can....but, makes you wonder why Hughes called it a career when he did

I do know he was not much of a defender so as a bat first guy perhaps the Phillies did not know what to do with him

Hughes had a good final pro year in 1978 for Reading AA Eastern League with 17 HR, 92 RBI and a .264 average in 503 plate appearences at age 24. You have to wonder why he suddenly quit the game. He did seem to be transitioning out of the catching role and was being used more as a first baseman and a designated hitter in his final year, so perhaps his defense as a catcher was second-rate.

His name is in a program I have for a game where Reading plays at Roosevelt Field, Jersey City,NJ , then an Athletics farm team.in 1978. Rickey Henderson played for the home team, Jersey City. Born in 1954, Hughes would be 60 today.

I believe that In 1946 Jersey City was a New York Giants AAA farm team and that Roosevelt Field was where Jackie Robinson played his first regular season pro game as a member of the visiting AAA International League - Montreal Royals. . ..

[Buccos]

>> who misidentified Norman as Odell Jones.

That is *so* not Odell Jones. Similar to the image the other day that isn't Mike Lavalliere, "Because it's not his face, that's why."

Jones wore #22 in 1981, I wonder if if that's the logic underlying jteeee's conclusion.

In any case, thanks for posting those two photos, definite uncommons.

J

[Dto7]

A better picture of Chauncey Burkam from 1934 Benton Habor, MI. newspaper.

[Dto7]

John Campbell 1929 University of Alabama yearbook

[Dto7]

Bob Cone 1914 University of Texas at Austin.

[Dto7]

Raymond Haley 1928 Terre Haute Tots manager.

[Merkle923]

One of the odder items in the hands of a few card collectors is a "test sheet" made by Fleer Gum to test its designs and printing process for its 1982 set. Given that the set might be one of the worst ever, with the worst photography, it's difficult to imagine what they gained in making these - but we're the beneficiaries.

On one sheet there is almost no effort made to match up the player identified, to his photograph. Rookies and guys who never made it are thrown out there with the names of more established players under their images (creating one high-priced "error" - an image of rookie Cal Ripken identified as "Dave Ford.")

Remarkably, at least four of the photos are of obscure major leaguers or guys who made cameos with the clubs depicted. I've scanned these and cleaned them as best I can, and we begin with Steve Christmas, a catcher who played for three different teams in three different years and yet got into only 24 big league contests. There are a couple of minor league cards of him, and I've seen a black and white game action with the Cubs (1986).

But here he is, in the uniform of his debut team, the 1983 Reds:

[Merkle923]

Continuing with our fortunately flubbed Fleer ID's - Tim Ireland, utilityman briefly with the 1981 and 1982 Royals

[Merkle923]

Yep - even the peripatetic and tough-to-find Mickey Mahler made it, during his twelve game stint with the '81 and '82 Angels: