Quote:
Originally Posted by jthorn
I believe the male ballplayer seated in the front is Smoky Joe Wood, who signed with the Boston Bloomer Girls in 1905 or 1906 (at age 91 he said he was 15 when he signed with the Bloomer Girls, which would make the year 1905). He did not sign with the Red Sox until 1908.
john thorn
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I had this conversation a few years ago with Joann Kline when this same postcard showed up on ebay. I believed it to be Wood also, Joann did not...the price the card sold for indicated that I was not alone in my belief as it sold well above what most Boston Bloomer cards sell for. I believe that Wood started his career with a Western Bloomer club located in Kansas City at age 15 and later played for the Boston Bloomers for a short while in 08 just before he got called up to Red Sox in late 1908. There is a famous photo with Wood and the Boston Bloomers in front of a trolley car that I believe is in the Ken Burns Baseball book. I can't say for 100% that it's him in this postcard, but I think it just might be.