Who bought this??

[BigJJ]

Back from the library.
I think we need to update the uniform references we use.
I found a number of pictures of Giants in both 1900 and 1902 wearing dark plain caps and socks, as in the Mathewson photo. I did not check other years.
There is a big picture of Mathewson, in uniform, wearing such a dark plain cap and socks in the New York Daily News on May 9, 1902. The article that runs with the picture describes an away game in Chicago. I do not know if the photo is a file photo, or one from the game. The photo was reprinted for another article on June 29, 1902, so it may be a file photo, but that was for an away game as well, this time in Philadelphia, so I believe they used the photo as a file photo for Mathewson to print for away games. The News from April 17, 1902 showed the team ready to play its first home game, and the team was in white caps. I believe the away cap was a dark in 1902. or a plain dark cap was an alternate hat for home/road, but it should be formally listed in our references. more research is likely needed.
With regard to 1900 (and 1901) unfortunately the NY library does not have the Daily News if you can believe it. so, for 1900, I was left with small pictures from The New York Herald. I couldn't post because the pictures from The Herald are so small, but I could see on the small microfilm, Jack Doyle in play on April 12, 1900 in a plain dark cap. I do not know if this was a file photo or one from the current 1900 season.
Unfortunately, there were scant pictures of the ads at the Polo Grounds, so it is not any clearer to me when in the 1900-1902 timeframe the Mathewson photo could be from. I'm including 1901, as we do not know what month the 1901 Polo Grounds photo we have is from, though the liklihood remains 1900 or 1902.

[BigJJ]

full picture

[Dto7]

They did wear dark hats for road games in 1902

[prewarsports]

I just remembered I had this, its an 1899-1900 (would be preseason 1900, around early spring) cabinet photo of the Polo Grounds and Manhattan Field with the wall in question clearly visible. Looks like there is white paint on it for some reason but its the same spot behind Matty in the photo. I dont know if this helps or not but here it is.

Rhys

[BigJJ]

Thank you for the 1899-1900 photo confirming configuration.

Wish we had the ads! Looks like the're getting ready to put new ones up in the photo.

J

[BigJJ]

Graig found this, from Baseball Memories: 1900-1909, Marc Okkonen, Sterling Publishing Co., New York, page 214, dark hat and socks, Polo Grounds, April 1901

[prewarsports]

I would not put any faith in that photo with the dark hat and socks being from the Polo Grounds. I bet anything that was a stock photo used for a 1901 article for a game at the Polo Grounds (if even that specific) and that info was just reprinted in the book as it appeared in the newspaper. It is a neat picture but without anything concrete to pinpoint it to the Polo grounds, it is almost certainly an away photo used to report on a home game (stock photo of Matty). Reporters just did not take many pictures of Baseball players back in the day and one or two pictures would be all they had on file so they would use the same photo over and over again for whatever purpose they needed.

I bet you get the same price on it for resale whether its 1900 or 1901 or 1902 or 1903 because they all predate his 1903 Breisch Williams Baseball card so c. 1901 would cover your bases and I doubt there is any way to get more specific than that given the primitive nature of late 19th century/early 20th century Baseball photography.

Its a beautiful photo!

Rhys