NY Public Library Spalding Collection Photos

[joefromchicago]

Just came across this site: America's National Game: The Albert G. Spalding Collection of Early Baseball Photographs

It contains over 500 images of early baseball, circa 1874-88. Included is a very interesting photo of Chicago White Stocking pitcher Charlie Sprague:



It's one of the few photos I've seen of a pitcher who appears set to deliver the ball underhanded. It's a posed photo in a studio, of course, but most photos of the time showed players throwing overhanded. Oddly, the photo is dated 1888, which suggests that Sprague was still pitching underhanded (or possibly sidearm) even though overhand pitching had been legal in the NL since 1884. Maybe that explains why he had such an undistinguished career in the majors.

[zoomzilla]

I love old baseball photos. A couple things I noticed: No or little glove= hardcore. An intriguing thing I never knew is that it looks like a common batting stance of the day was to have the back foot parallel to home plate's back edge while having the front foot pointed directly at the pitcher. I doubt that would have been the position of a swing just because of the momentum, but it's an interesting stance to start out the AB.

[joefromchicago]

Originally Posted by zoomzilla

An intriguing thing I never knew is that it looks like a common batting stance of the day was to have the back foot parallel to home plate's back edge while having the front foot pointed directly at the pitcher. I doubt that would have been the position of a swing just because of the momentum, but it's an interesting stance to start out the AB.

If you're talking about batting stances like this one:



I doubt that the batter is actually in his batting stance. That's a posed photo - he isn't even facing the pitcher's box. Instead, that's just a standard pose for batters at that time. This is probably a better approximation of what a batter's stance would be:



Even here, however, the batter is probably "playing out" for the camera in order to show his face better.

[Le Grande Orange]

Originally Posted by zoomzilla

I love old baseball photos. A couple things I noticed: No or little glove= hardcore.

Well, as the book A Game of Inches chronicles, in the earliest days of baseball it was seen as a battle between the batter and fielders, not the batter and pitcher. But as the game evolved the pitcher's role grew more important.

[zoomzilla]

Originally Posted by Le Grande Orange

Well, as the book A Game of Inches chronicles, in the earliest days of baseball it was seen as a battle between the batter and fielders, not the batter and pitcher. But as the game evolved the pitcher's role grew more important.

That's a neat way to view the game. I've never read that book. That's going on my winter reading list.