Help identifying the sliding player in this T212

[RUKen]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Actually I believe the runner is turning his head back towards the camera, you're seeing a 3/4 face shot deep in shadow, which is why the hat appears to be backwards.

Originally Posted by Mark17

It's Cobb, and no, I am not joking. I am almost positive. I posted this awhile ago but it didn't get much traction:

Take a good look at the guy sliding home on this T202. The position of his body, the size and shape of his back, the haircut, the belt loops, the pinstripes on the cap...... It's Ty Cobb. Compare to the attached known image of Cobb. It's the same guy, and someday, a documented image from that T202 card, either on a vintage photo, or in a newspaper or book, will confirm it. My guess as to why Cobb isn't identified on the back of the T202 is that he was out on the play, and Ty wouldn't have been happy with that citation.

In the T202 set, the backs are very descriptive of the action on the center panel, even when a player misses a pitch, is late with a tag or throw, or is out. Yet on this card, the player prominently displayed, who is being called out, is left unnamed. Why?

If you're making baseball cards to put in cigarette packages between 1909 and 1912, who is your most valuable subject? Wagner is off the table and near the end of his career. Clearly, your top draw is Cobb. That's why he has 4 cards in the 1909-1911 T206 set. Also consider, who is the one player especially prickly when it comes to any criticism of his play? Again, Cobb.

So, if you have a great action shot to use in your set, that's fine, but to make sure you can avoid the wrath, and possible objection to using his image in the future, don't publish a card declaring Ty Cobb is out at the plate.

You can say Chase looks awkward, you can have Wheat striking out, and you can strongly imply Bugs Raymond is often too drunk/hung over to pitch, but you don't want to say anything critical of Ty Cobb.

I disagree with Aquarian Sports Cards that the sliding player is looking back at the camera. When the image is enlarged (see below), it appears that he is facing the direction that he is going, and his right hand is covering his right ear, as if he had just been tagged hard right there. What appears to be the bill of his cap is just his hair on the back of his head. There would be a team logo above the bill, if the player were looking back.

I also disagree with Mark17 that the sliding player must be Cobb. Nearly all men at that time had short haircuts, which would have looked the same from the back. I think that MLB teams received their uniforms from the same source, so the belt loop distribution would be similar on every uniform. As for the size and shape of his back, an athletic build was hardly unique to Cobb. It could be Cobb, but without seeing his face clearly, he cannot be identified with any confidence. (See post #16 below, in which I explain why it actually cannot be Cobb.)