Minor League Baseball Players

[prewinter]

Thank you both for the photos! I have passed them on to the person who requested them.

[Cusick]

I had found two other photos of Luther Burns and had submitted them directly to the person who was seeking them before I saw this activity on the minor league thread. The two I found showed Burns with the Cedar Rapids Indians. If anyone is interested, I'll post them here.

[prewinter]

I'm looking for photos for a handful of players from the 1888 Western Association.

Charles Blanchard (blanch001c--) played 10 games with Sioux City in 1888. He came from St. Mary, Kansas, and played one game with Topeka in 1886. Prior to playing with Sioux City, he played for a club in Newton, and after he left Sioux City, he played for Salt Lake City. I don't think he played professional baseball after 1888.

Harry Burquin (bourqu001har and burqui001lou) had a fairly long minor league career, as he bounced around various clubs in Indiana for a while in the 1890s. His most prominent club would be Green Bay in 1891.

James Dallas (dallas001jam) played in Pennsylvania in 1886 before he had a very brief tryout with the Philadelphia Quakers in the spring of 1887. He played for Savannah in 1887 until that club folded. He was a manager for several clubs in Illinois and Iowa in the late 1880s. It is possible he played in the Texas League and/or New Orleans in that time span as well.

George B Hupp (huff--001geo) played for Leavenworth in 1888 before playing a few games for Davenport in August. He was later the city electrician for the city of Des Moines.

Matt Keogan (keogan001mat) was with Columbus in 1887, Peoria in 1888 (before his sting with the Chicago Maroons), and Minneapolis in 1889 at the start of the season. He came out of Cincinnati, where he played for the Shamrocks (I think).

Fred Pranter (prante001fre) played for Fort Smith in 1886 and 1887, and Newton (with Blanchard) in 1888 before joining Sioux City. He was actively playing baseball in and around Springfield MO for many, many years, even as an old timer.

George Scherer (schere001---) played for three clubs in 1888, and played with clubs in Rock Island and Moline for many years. He should not be confused with George Scherer who was president of a grocers association in Illinois at the same time.

Arthur Snyder (snyder001a--) played in Illinois, Iowa and Indiana in the late 1880s. He lived in Chapaign, IL after his short baseball career ended.

If any of these players are lurking in a minor league team photo somewhere, I would love a copy. Thanks for any help!

[Cusick]

Slight was a rather curious case. He was a skilled catcher who was signed up for the White Sox World Tour of 1913-14. While on that tour, in a game in Tokyo, Japan, he was struck in the shoulder by a flung ball. One newspaper report said it broke his shoulder. I'm not sure that's true, but it did do a great deal of damage to his throwing arm. Despite that, he joined the White Sox in their spring training camp in 1914. He was still able to hit quite well, and they were using him in the outfield and at first base. (Beats me how he could peg a ball into the infield with a bad throwing arm). They kept him on their roster until at least mid-June of 1914. He never did get into a big league regular season game. The last report I could find on him said he was entering the navy in 1918 and anticipated playing baseball on a navy team.

Slight had a great singing voice, and one of his roles on the Sox World Tour was giving vocal performances. A fellow named Jean de Reszke was a famous Polish tenor and opera star of the era. Mr. de Reszke suggested that Andy Slight take up opera singing as a career. Andy didn't follow through on that recommendation.

The photo is from RMY Auctions.

[Penale52]

Chris Holtz pictured in the July 7, 1912 edition of the Houston Post.

[Penale52]

Mickey O'Brien pictured in the July 7, 1912 edition of the Houston Post.

[Penale52]

Pat "Red" Casey pictured in the July 7, 1912 edition of the Houston Post.

[Penale52]

Johnny Gonding pictured in the Aug. 1, 1911 edition of the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

[Penale52]

Butch McIntyre pictured in the Oct. 15, 1902 edition of the Butte Miner.

[Penale52]

Elmer Smith pictured in the Oct. 15, 1902 edition of the Butte Miner.

[Penale52]

Billy Kane pictured in the Oct. 15, 1902 edition of the Butte Miner.

[prewinter]

Originally Posted by Dto7

Missing Players John Fisher Jr and Edward Keiber


John Fisher Jr with the 1909 Wheeling Stogies

Here's another photo of John Fisher, also known as the Pride of Noblesville, or Smiling John Fisher. He was a star with Wabash University before joining Indianapolis in 1904. After three seasons with Indianapolis (fisher007joh), he bounced around (fisher005joh), including his stint with Wheeling in 1909, where he ended the season winning 17 straight games. The seventeenth was an exhibition against Pittsburgh, during which he allowed only four hits. (I haven't found a box score, so I don't know who was playing for Pittsburgh.) He finished his career in 1913, playing in two or three games for the minor league St. Louis Federals (the season before the league upgraded itself to major league status).

The photo is from the Indianapolis News, on January 14, 1904, right after the 20 year-old pitcher signed with Indianapolis to start his professional career. From the new articles over the years, it sounds like as a young pitcher he was a bit full of himself (holding out for a higher salary at one point, refusing to report to a club at another point), and that his career was hurt by arm issues in the second half. I'm surprised after reading all the news articles over the decade or so of his career that he never got even a cameo appearance with a major league club. I saw a blurb that suggested he had a tryout with Cincinnati, and he was claimed by Pittsburgh at one point, but optioned to the minors without a tryout.

His father was James K. Fisher, so I'm not sure he was a junior.

He died October 22, 1967 in East Liverpool, OH.

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Looking for Ron Lea he was in the Pilots system 1968.

[Cusick]

Here's a photo of the following Ron Lea:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=lea---001ron

I don't see the connection to the Pilots, who didn't start playing until 1969, but since he was in the minors in 1968, I'm guessing that it's the guy you are seeking.

The photo shows him with the Charlotte minor league team.

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Originally Posted by Cusick

Here's a photo of the following Ron Lea:

https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=lea---001ron

I don't see the connection to the Pilots, who didn't start playing until 1969, but since he was in the minors in 1968, I'm guessing that it's the guy you are seeking.

The photo shows him with the Charlotte minor league team.

The Pillots had Newark & Arizona instructional league started in 1968. Thank You for finding him.

[Penale52]

Ollie Kirmayer depicted in the Aug. 15, 1915 edition of the Decatur Herald & Review.

[Penale52]

Harry Smith depicted in the Aug. 15, 1915 edition of the Decatur Herald & Review.

[Penale52]

Ed Holloway depicted in the Aug. 15, 1915 edition of the Decatur Herald & Review.

[rlumpkin1@tampabay.rr.com]

Looking for Daniel "Whitey" Adam's played in Brewers system 1970-72. Thanks in advance and thanks for all the great work searching.

[cmcgill]

It's not great, but here's Adams while at Ole Miss.