Sociedade Industrial Giants vs. White Sox - player ID?

[Tom S.]

I recently acquired this 1928 Sociedade Industrial #113 card for my White Sox type set, specifically due to the writeup on the back.



Since the captions on some of the cards in this set can be cryptic (the Lee Todd/P. Todd card for example), I was curious to know if the Giants and White Sox had ever really played against each other.

After a brief Google search, I found out that the photo for this card was most likely taken at an exhibition game between the two teams on October 23, 1924 in Liverpool, England at Goodison Park (the home of the Everton Football Club).

Here's a writeup of the game from the Cornell University newspaper: http://cdsun.library.cornell.edu/cgi...txt-txIN------

Here's a brief YouTube video of silent newsreel footage from the game: http://youtu.be/GJR8rBcCEsI

I also found pictures of each team. Here's the Giants. I only recognize Hughie Jennings; can anyone name the other players?



Here's the White Sox. I can identify Johnny Evers, Willie Kamm, and Red Faber out of this group; what about the rest of 'em?



Finally, does anyone think it's possible to identify the players depicted on the card itself?

[Brian Van Horn]

The second guy on the left for the Giants is Emil "Irish" Meusel. The fourth guy in from the left is Stuffy McInnis. The eighth guy from the left is Heinie Groh. The last player on the right is Stengel which dates that photo to 1923, but this may have been an invitational game. The third player from the right looks like Artie Nehf.

What I can't understand is why Stuffy McInnis is in a New York Giants uniform. He never played for the Giants. I am not mistaken.

[Tom S.]

To add to your point about this being an invitational game, Muddy Ruel gets mentioned in the post-game article: "Ruel was the outstanding batsman. He often drove the ball among the spectators in the stands."

He was with the Senators at the time, and didn't join the White Sox until 1935.

A possible explanation for Ruel, McInnis, and Stengel to be at the game is that they might have been some of the favorite players of White Sox owner Charles Comiskey, and involved in his "Woodland Bards" social group. The Bards are mentioned in this Chicago Tribune article about the exhibition tours that Comiskey organized in 1913 and 1924:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1...al-squads-game

[Al C.risafulli]

Great research. I love reading about the actual history behind some of these photos and cards, rather than just looking at how nice they look (I love this issue too, BTW).

-Al

[Brian Van Horn]

One more possible ID:

In the White Sox picture, the seventh player from the left looks like Dave Bancroft.

[Dto7]

7th player from the left on the Giants is Hank Gowdy.