Cliff Blankenship 1910 Tacoma Tigers
 

According to Baseball Reference, Cliff Blankenship was one of the managers on the Tacoma Tigers team in 1909 and 1910. It also shows he was a catcher, a first baseball, and outfielder during his playing days. He spend part of 1909 with Washington AL and part of the year in Tacoma.

Does anyone have any records as to whether he actually caught any games on the 1909 or 1910 Tacoma team? I haven't found any fielding records for him.

Thanks,

Patrick

Yes. Blankenship was a catcher/manager for Tacoma 1909-10. The Library of Congress Newspaper Archives has 21 entries from "Tacoma, Blankenship" search. The 1910 Tacoma nine was a sub-.500 outfit that finished third in the Northwestern League behind Spokane, and Vancouver (68-78 near the end of the season; 9-15-1910).

http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lc...arRange&page=1

Hope that helps. Happy collecting :)

Many Thanks Ty!
 

Many thanks Ty!

Hope I can return the favor sometime!

Happy Holidays,

Patrick

Any relation to Lance Blankenship who played with the 1988-1992 Tacoma Tigers?

No idea
 

No idea on whether he is related to Cliff or not.

Patrick

You probably know this, but in case you don't, Cliff Blankenship scouted and secured Walter Johnson for Washington in Weiser, Idaho, in June, 1907. And since you were asking about Tacoma, Johnson signed with them in 1906 and pitched one exhibition game before he was released.

Here is a card of Cliff after his Tacoma days...
http://www.starsofthediamond.com/16zeeblankenship.JPG

Here are the known cards of Cliff...

Blankenship, Clifford D. (Cliff)
• 1909/11 E90-1
• 1909 T204
• 1910 T212-2 (175)
• 1915 Zeenuts
• 1916 Zeenuts

Thanks Hank and Rhett!
 

Hank,

I didn't know the connection between Walter and Cliff. Don't think I ever knew Walter played in the PCL. I collect primarily 1909-1911 with regards to the PCL.

Thanks gentleman!

Patrick

Good to see Cliff getting some attention.

As I have proudly mentioned before, he was the first Columbus, GA native to reach the Majors.

I have his Ramly, American Caramel and Obak cards and am always looking to add to my Blankenship collection.


.

More trivia. Cliff played for Seattle 1904 to 1906 mostly (I think) as catcher but also at first base, third base, and outfield. He had over 400 at-bats in Seattle, batting 312, 311, and 310. Pretty consistent!

He also managed Salt Lake City in 1915 and 1916, and occasionally pinch-hit going 1 for 7 in 1915, and 0 for 1 in 1916.

Dave

In one of the many strange twists in Johnson's life, he arrived in Tacoma of the Northwestern League as an 18 year-old in April, 1906, several days after the San Francisco earthquake and fire. He pitched one exhibition game for earthquake relief and pitched well, but was released due to an expected influx of PCL players looking for jobs in the Northwestern League. Several days after his departure for Weiser, it was decided that the PCL would carry on despite the devastation of their flagship city, San Francisco, but it was too late for Walter. His only official appearance in the minor leagues didn't come until after his pitching career, when he pitched to one batter while managing Newark of the International League.

Great Stuff, Hank...just like your grandpa!

Thanks,
Raymond

Thanks, Raymond!

T212-2 Cliff Bankenship
 

Thanks again to those confirming that Cliff Blankenship did catch for the Tacoma Tigers in 1909-1910.

This 1910 Obak arrived from Sterling Sport Auctions earlier today. The card is from the Paul Pollard collection.

Patrick

I knew Jack (his nickname) Pollard, he set up at Chantilly for many years. I saw his cards once on a visit with our mutual friend Ron Menchine, and it was amazing. One of the truly fabulous collections put together mostly in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s when cards were dirt cheap. As a dealer, ironically, he sold nothing but boxes of repro and fantasy sets, TCMA and the like.