Photo of 1912 World Series at Fenway, w/ Cobb, Wags, Matty, WaJo & Shoeless Joe
 

What first drew my attention to this 1915 photo composite was the central image of the baseball superstars of the Deadball Era exploding out of a baseball. Cobb, Wags, Wajo, Matty, Shoeless Joe and friends were irresistibly appealing. Indeed they are literally bursting at the seams to start the season which is indicated to be 1915 by the day/date correlation shown on the plug on the back of photo. I have rarely, if ever, seen such artistry in a composite baseball photo from the 1910s.

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Only when I had the photo in had did I become curious about the underlying image of the baseball game. The photo was found in the Boston area and I quickly deduced that Fenway was a likely possibility. I did a little research and first came across this image of Fenway from a real photo postcard from the 1912 World Series. The building profiles in the distance, the flag and the wall proved a perfect match.

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I then purchased SABR’s outstanding book Opening Fenway Park with Style, The World Champion 1912 Red Sox. As always, SABR came through in a pinch, even if Matty didn’t.

The key is The Wall (as it was known before the Green Monster). In particular the Thomas W Lawson and Everybody’s Magazine ad. The captions tell the whole story below, but is sum these were only up during the 1912 World Series as they covered the out of town portion of the scoreboard which obviously wasn’t needed for the World Series.

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Now look at the closeup of the subject photo. Most of the content on The Wall and outfield fence has been artistically obscured by the photographer, the brushstrokes are clearly visibily. The outline of all the ad boards is the same as shown on the 1912 RPPC. But the bottom of the line of the Lawson and Everybody’s ads are still faintly visible “Who Smashes” and “The System’s Slate”. So, the photo is from the 1912 World Series at Fenway. The uniforms depicted match the 1912 Red Sox and Giants.

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But now look again at the closeup of the Wall, notice the empty bleachers near the left field line in front of the Wall. The Royal Rooters, Boston’s original rabid fan group, several hundred strong had sat there during the Series, but as shown in the photo and caption below their seats were sold out from under them in Game 7 so they boycotted Game 8, thus the empty seats. So, I would posit it is possible and perhaps likely this photo is from Game 8 when the Royal Rooters were boycotting. If so, Matty is on the mound and hidden behind the baseball, covered in part by superimposed Matty. Note the baserunner’s leg emerging from the baseball at bottom right.

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The temporary seats were removed after the Series and inclined Duffy’s Cliff, as shown in the circa 1913 photo below, was cleared for game use.

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Can anyone provide me with additional information on the photo. Anyone seen the original photo of the game? Anyone seen a comparable composite photo from the era? I assume the photos and artwork were done by the American Press Association.

Really nice composite. I once had the postcard and about 100, 1912 original World Series photos. There were 2 nice composites for that series which showed the Red Sox and Giants head shots in a V formation overlaid on the field. The Lawson sign used to be the key indicator for me of a series photo.

Does anyone have photos that show the left field corner for the Series games in Fenway and that are identified by game? If so, please share them with me.

Unfortunately I don't have any info to add, but I can add this: Thanks for posting, this was a fun read.

I was lucky enough to acquire this WaJo photo in the recent RMY auction, it is one of my favorite shots of him. It is stamped on the back from the "American Press Association" and is the root photo the WaJo cutout on the composite was taken from. This only reinforces my belief that all the player photos were taken by the APA. Does anyone else have originals of the other player shots?

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Great photos Jim, that composite is killer.

http://sabr.org/sites/default/files/WeilmanCarl_0.jpg

Jim, I did find that the pic of Carl Weilman who is in the composite was used on his Sporting News card. Don't if that's new info for you.

Cool stuff and great WaJo photo.

Great research again, Jim. I also love the Johnson photo.

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Thanks for kind words and help guys. I found this 1911 newspaper article showing an American Press Association credited Wagner in the composite pose. I am sure if I dug further other APA images would emerge for the others. In my opinion the APA photos are highly underrated.

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I found a photo of this 1915 Magic Lantern Slide of the image. Can anyone help me locate this slide? I'd love to have the two together.

This is going to be a longshot, Jim. But I have seen much longer shots made. Good luck in the quest (which is a lot, if not most, of the fun)

Thanks to Murph for finding this May 1, 1915 Police Gazette for me with a half page large image of my photo. It is even better than the lantern slide! It mentions the same prying the lid off language from the photo.

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Well done, Murph.
Nice research work all the way around, guys.

Glad to help guys, and very glad you snagged that piece Jim. Always enjoy "companion pieces" they just make the original items that much better. And bye the way Jim, being a Jackson fan that photo is awesome sir !

Plus bonus with that pin-up cover! ;)

Nice work gentlemen!

Awesome, I am glad Howard found this! I knew I had seen the image before but couldn't relocate and didn't remember the source, though I did spend a significant amount of time trying to find it again - I have this thread bookmarked for when I bumped into it again.

Jim - can you post a pic of them side by side? I would love to see them next to each other.

Thanks for all the effort everyone, I really appreciate it. I will post them together early next week.

Here you go!