ID Help: MOE BERG?? 1923/24 Brooklyn Robins? (Bonus: There is a Dog Smoking a Pipe!)

[Leon]

Great photo of a dog smoking in the first post....but I have nothing on the IDs

Here is a pc with one smoking a cigarette....sorry it's a bit OT but what the heck.

[icollectDCsports]

Originally Posted by Leon

a bit OT but what the heck.

Appears to be Pre-War.

[lumberjack]

Put your money on 1924. That's an expanded roster spring training photo and they probably would have been wearing the uniforms of the prior season.

If you check the rosters, in those days the players were pretty much the same from year to year. Kind of an impossible task. That's Dutch Reuther, the lefty hitting his glove with his fist on the left side of the image.

Terrific photo.

lumberjack

[conscious_crow]

Bryan,

First off, thank you for sharing such a nice piece! Aesthetically charming and unique for sure!

In looking through the different faces, I was able to ID a particular fellow by the name of Bernie Hungling, a rather lanky catcher for the time period (6-2, 180). In the third picture you posted, he's the taller fellow standing in the back row, five players from the left. He played for the Robins for the 1922 and 1923 seasons, which would likely date this to the 1923 season, as you surmised.

Again, this is my best guess, but given other photos that are available of Hungling, I'm confident that is him in this particular group shot. Oh, and Dazzy Vance is standing directly to the left of Gene Bailey (looking down while fumbling with his glove) - very cool!

Best,
Josh

[Jobu]

Thanks everyone!

One thing I noticed looking at 23-24 rosters, is that a 21-year-old Moe Berg is on the 1923 team but not 1924. Is anyone here familiar with pictures of him from his younger days? It's a bit tough with many of the players looking down or to the side.

[Jobu]

I just looked for Moe and I think I see him. He was only on the team in 1923, so that would make this 1923. Looking forward to hearing if people agree with the id.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/r...d=berg--001mor

[conscious_crow]

Bryan,

I'm not too confident in that particular ID of Berg, as he was known to "rock" a rather iconic "uni-brow" for much of his playing career. Not sure if I happen to see that in this image, but it could very well be the case.

With that being said, it could still mean this is a team shot from the 1923 season, as Berg played for Brooklyn in 1923 (not 1924) - he was a rookie call-up that summer. Given his mid-season call-up, it could stand to reason that this was an early season shot.

Also, if my ID of Hungling is correct, this would further support this being an early season shot, as I believe he was on the roster for the first couple of months before being called down to the minors (much of his career was spent in the minors).

Again, just my amateur opinion, but figured to share it!

Best,
Josh

[jp1216]

Love this!