Thread for player identification in team photos

[prewinter]

I dug into Albert Latouche, and I haven't found much. I did however find a Paul LaTouche, who came from Richmond VA, and who played for a range of clubs from the early 1880s through 1890. He was born in 1858, and he died in 1929. A notice of his death was printed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch (Sep 25, 1929, pg. 13). There is a photo of him printed in the Times-Dispatch in 1914, where he is identified as the president of the Old Dominion League.

To my eye, he looks like the second player from the right in the back row, which is the player (incorrectly?) identified as John Deasley.

I'm finding very little on Albert LaTouche personally, except in references to the ball player. Everything I have found on Paul LaTouche has him playing in and around Richmond; I have yet to find an explicit reference to him playing outside of Richmond. Perhaps they are related?

Follow-up: I have found references the Paul LaTouche being in Richmond in the 1888-1890 time frame while a player known as LaTouche was playing elsewhere, so it looks like Albert and Paul are two separate people. Still haven't found clarity on 1886, but there is no reason to think it wasn't Albert. Still no info on who Albert was.

[Chickazoola]

I think you are right on Latouche's first name being Paul. I saw the hotel register with Albert Latouche, but perhaps it's a middle name etc.

Only 4 hits for an Albert Latouche in newspapers.com for 1880s - one is that hotel register. Meanwhile, lots of notes about Paul Latouche the ballplayer. He was from Richmond and born 1858 died 1929.

I agree on the ID, Paul sure looks a lot like the guy in the photo beside Deasley.

[Patsy Tebeau]

Can someone help identify these Erie SeaWolves players? My dad took this picture in August of 2019 and I know the first one is Chance Numata and that's it.

[prewinter]

Originally Posted by Patsy Tebeau

Can someone help identify these Erie SeaWolves players? My dad took this picture in August of 2019 and I know the first one is Chance Numata and that's it.

The SeaWolves had four catchers (including Numata) play 20+ games that season. (Technically the fourth one - Joey Morgan - only played in 18 games at catcher.) Given the options, I'm going with Kade Scivicque as the other guy in catching gear. The fourth catcher with significant playing time was Jake Rogers, the only one of the four who made it to the majors. Per Baseball-Reference, Rogers was not with the club in August, and Morgan's last day there was August 8.

[cinemaodyssey]

I was tasked with establishing identifications for this nice team photograph, purportedly of the 1877 Alleghenys. I believe it does picture that team. I am of the opinion that it is likely an early season photograph due to the absence of Chick Fulmer. Here is what I have so far:

Top Row, L-R: Ed Williamson, Pud Galvin
Middle Row, L-R: George Creamer, Billy West, Jake Goodman, Russ McKelvy, Jack Nelson
Bottom Row, L-R: Bill Holbert, Al Nichols, Tom Dolan

If anyone has anything different, let me know. I struggled between Williamson and McKelvy as they share facial similarities. My exemplar for Billy West was him as an older man so I am also unsure of that pick.

[Patsy Tebeau]

Originally Posted by prewinter

The SeaWolves had four catchers (including Numata) play 20+ games that season. (Technically the fourth one - Joey Morgan - only played in 18 games at catcher.) Given the options, I'm going with Kade Scivicque as the other guy in catching gear. The fourth catcher with significant playing time was Jake Rogers, the only one of the four who made it to the majors. Per Baseball-Reference, Rogers was not with the club in August, and Morgan's last day there was August 8.

Thanks

[prewinter]

Originally Posted by cinemaodyssey

I was tasked with establishing identifications for this nice team photograph, purportedly of the 1877 Alleghenys. I believe it does picture that team. I am of the opinion that it is likely an early season photograph due to the absence of Chick Fulmer. Here is what I have so far:

Top Row, L-R: Ed Williamson, Pud Galvin
Middle Row, L-R: George Creamer, Billy West, Jake Goodman, Russ McKelvy, Jack Nelson
Bottom Row, L-R: Bill Holbert, Al Nichols, Tom Dolan

If anyone has anything different, let me know. I struggled between Williamson and McKelvy as they share facial similarities. My exemplar for Billy West was him as an older man so I am also unsure of that pick.

I agree 100% on Galvin, Creamer, Goodman, Nelson and Nichols. I'm less sure about the rest. Dolan in the 1878 Buffalo team photo doesn't have a mustache, so I'm not sure matching him to a player with a stache in 1877 is the way to go, even though I know he had one later in his career. And something looks off on the chin for Holbert, as compared to his photo on Baseball-Reference.

I think the second player in the second row is McKelvy. The exemplars I have for him are below. The first one is from the Salt Lake City Desert News, May 14, 1904, which has a picture of the Salt Lake City Deserts. McKelvy played for the in 1879. The second one is from a photo of the Union Pacific club of 1884.

[prewinter]

Originally Posted by cinemaodyssey

I was tasked with establishing identifications for this nice team photograph, purportedly of the 1877 Alleghenys. I believe it does picture that team. I am of the opinion that it is likely an early season photograph due to the absence of Chick Fulmer. Here is what I have so far:

Top Row, L-R: Ed Williamson, Pud Galvin
Middle Row, L-R: George Creamer, Billy West, Jake Goodman, Russ McKelvy, Jack Nelson
Bottom Row, L-R: Bill Holbert, Al Nichols, Tom Dolan

If anyone has anything different, let me know. I struggled between Williamson and McKelvy as they share facial similarities. My exemplar for Billy West was him as an older man so I am also unsure of that pick.

I found a picture of Ned Williamson from Getty Images, reportedly from the 1877 season with Allegheny. Is this actually him? If so, I would say he looks more like the player in the front row on the left.

Follow-up 6/25/2026: The photo of Williamson is in the Rucker Archives, so I'm inclined to accept that it is he.

[UKBaseballfan]

Attached is a 1876 team photo of the Pittsburgh team photo which includes both Nelson and McKelvy. Unfortunately there is considerable room for improvement in the quality of the image.

McKelvy and Nelson are identified as sitting next to each other in the bottom row. McKelvy in the centre , Nelson to his left or to our right as we look at it.

[UKBaseballfan]

Posted below are 2 previously identified images of Ed Williamson firstly in position 2 of him from 1879 and then secondly in position 3 of him from 1880.

Flanking these images are the 2 alternative suggestions for him, firstly in position one of him in the top row from the 1877 image and then in position 4 of him from the front row on the extreme left in the team photo.

[UKBaseballfan]

If Ned Williamson's location in the image is switched from the top to the bottom row it would indicate a corresponding movement in the position of Bill Holbert from the bottom to the top row.

Attached are 2 previously identified of images of Bill Holbert of him from 1879 in position 2 and of him from 1880 in position 3. Flanking these are the suggestions for him in the 1877 image in position 1 from the bottom row and for him in position 4 from the top row.

[prewinter]

The Deserts club of 1879 had quite the rivalry with another club, the Red Stockings. Photos of both clubs are printed in the Salt Lake Herald of July 4, 1915. The photo of the Desert club appears at least three times in the Salt Lake papers between 1900 and 1940, with the best version showing up in 1939 (below). However, a woodcut of the photo was printed in 1899 (also below), and it identifies the players differently than any of the subsequent printings.

What is clear is that Leonidas Lee (aka Lee Funkhauser) and Russ McKelvy are both in the photo. What is less clear is which set of identifications is correct. In the 1939 photo, McKelvy (identified front row, left) seems to look more like the other known photos, and Lee (middle row, second from the right) matches the other photo of him (with the 1884 Union Pacific club). I'm inclined to believe the later identifications, not the woodcut.

[UKBaseballfan]

3 previously identified images of Russ McKelvy are shown. In position 2 from 1876, position 3 from 1878 and position 4 from 1879

Flanking these are the 2 alternate suggestions for him in the 1877 team photo. In position 1, fourth from left in the middle row and in position 5 of him second from left in the middle row.

[UKBaseballfan]

To further increase the complications could Chick Fulmer possibly be in the image in the position previously identified as Dolan, bottom row right.

In position 1 is the player from the 1877 team photo bottom row, right.

In positions 2 and 3 are 2 images of Fulmer, in positions 4 and 5 are 2 images of Dolan.

To summarize this would result in the following suggested identifications :-

Top (l-r)

Holbert, Galvin

Middle

Creamer, McKelvy, Goodman, West, Nelson

Bottom

Williamson. Nichols, Fulmer

[cinemaodyssey]

Originally Posted by UKBaseballfan

To further increase the complications could Chick Fulmer possibly be in the image in the position previously identified as Dolan, bottom row right.

In position 1 is the player from the 1877 team photo bottom row, right.

In positions 2 and 3 are 2 images of Fulmer, in positions 4 and 5 are 2 images of Dolan.

Fulmer had a very unique look to him. I do not believe he is in this picture. To my eye, McKelvy has always had a narrow and gaunt facial structure that lends itself closer to the player middle row, 2nd from the right. I have attached one more image from the 1883 Union Pacifics team photo. Dolan and Holbert are definitely the ones I'm least certain of. Holbert certainly could be the one sitting middle row second from left. We also can't forget Billy West who was on this club into the month of June. He was replaced by Fulmer.

[prewinter]

Originally Posted by UKBaseballfan

To further increase the complications could Chick Fulmer possibly be in the image in the position previously identified as Dolan, bottom row right.

In position 1 is the player from the 1877 team photo bottom row, right.

In positions 2 and 3 are 2 images of Fulmer, in positions 4 and 5 are 2 images of Dolan.

Fulmer's first game with the club was June 22, while Nichols last game was June 19. I've been trying to find something in the newspapers that might suggest when the photo was taken, with no luck so far. If we look at the uniform Williamson is wearing in the photo from the Rucker archives, that is different from what is being worn in the team photo. I tend to agree with your initial assessment that the team photo was taken early in thre year, possibly before the in-season uniforms showed up. But again, no definitive evidence on that.

Added: West and Fulmer had a slight overlap, with West's last game being June 28.

[UKBaseballfan]

If Dolan is not pictured in the image then on the basis of the baseball-reference roster the most likely candidate for inclusion is Johnny Ryan. Three images attached, it does not seem clear who the player top left is if Holbert is re-located to the middle row. Two possible vacant locations also depicted.

[prewinter]

Originally Posted by UKBaseballfan

If Dolan is not pictured in the image then on the basis of the baseball-reference roster the most likely candidate for inclusion is Johnny Ryan. Three images attached, it does not seem clear who the player top left is if Holbert is re-located to the middle row. Two possible vacant locations also depicted.

Ryan's first game was July 20, 1877. He and Fulmer were with the club the rest of the season. Dolan was with the club the entire season, and played in almost every game the team played. It seems highly unlikely that Ryan would be in the photo without either Dolan and Fulmer; even if one missed it, I would expect the other.

I'm still struggling to place Dolan as well.

[prewinter]

Originally Posted by prewinter

I'm still struggling to place Dolan as well.

I've been working from the photo of Dolan with the 1878 Buffalo club, figuring that he shouldn't look too different from his appearance in 1877. He is identified in that photo as the player at the left end of the back row. As best I can tell, that identification was given in the Buffalo Courier Express on May 26, 1907. Threads of Our Game notes that Dolan and Galvin were wearing different uniforms of the rest of the team, as was occasionally done to distinguish the battery for the club. Threads also notes that the photo may have been taken on July 19, at McMichael's Gallery, based on a blurb in the Buffalo Post on July 20. (I later saw ads in the Buffalo papers for the team photo at McMichael's.)

So here's the thing. The catcher for Buffalo on July 19 was not Dolan, but Bill Crowley. And when you compare the player identified as Bill Crowley from the 1878 Buffalo photo (center photo, below), with a photo of Tom Dolan with St. Louis from 1884(?), the player identified as Crowley looks more like the later Dolan than the player identified as Dolan, IMO.

Followup: On July 11, it was noted that Dolan would be laid off until his hands were better, and Crowley would face Galvin. Dolan resumed catching again on July 16, but in the game on July 18 he moved to the outfield in the fifth, with Crowley going behind the plate.

I'm giving up on the Dolan from 1878 as an exemplar.

Could Crowley be identified incorrectly in the 1878 Buffalo photo?

Updated July 3: In light of the comparisons below, I agree Crowley is correctly identified in the 1878 Buffalo photo.

Below: Left, Dolan from the 1878 Buffalo photo; center,Crowley from that photo; right, Dolan from the early 1880s with St. Louis

[UKBaseballfan]

Interesting suggestion about the wrong identification for Crowley and Dolan in the 1878 photo. Are you suggestion that the identifications should be reversed.

Attached are 5 images of Crowley, to my eye the current identification seems to fit in better than the player identified currently as Dolan.

Images are (l-r) undated, 1877, 1878 with Buffalo,1881 and 1883 with Cleveland