Help with a photo (Walter Johnson)

[edtiques]

Hi all.I hope to get an opinion and maybe some info about a photo I have.The photo has names of the players written on the bottom and the third name from the end identifies the player as "W. Johnson".I've done comparisons with other Walter Johnson photos and it looks like him to me.I was hoping to get some opinions from other members here to see if they agree with me.The bottom photo is a stock Walter Johnson photo to use for comparison.
The name of the team is the "ELECTRICS".I know he played for Washington his whole career but am wondering if this could have been a barnstorming or an exhibition type of team.Any help would be appreciated.Thanks.

[bmarlowe1]

If you can post a good scan of the guy 3rd from the right we'll probably see that the ears don't match - that would settle the issue.

[Scott Garner]

Not The Big Train, IMHO. Sorry!

[Runscott]

Nope, not him. Didn't even need to look at his ears.

[Hankphenom]

No.

[bigtrain]

Not a close call in my view. And...Hank's definitive "No" carries a lot of weight since he has probably seen more pictures of Walter than anybody.

[bcbgcbrcb]

Maybe WaJo but not at 17 years old..........

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by Hankphenom

No.

+1,,,

if Hank says no, then it is no longer a question.

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by RichardSimon

+1,,,

if Hank says no, then it is no longer a question.

True, but we all have functioning eyeballs - give yourselves credit. You do not always need an expert's advice to answer simple questions about photographs.

[edtiques]

Thank you all for the responses.I guess it's time for me to get a new a new pair of glasses.I thought there were similarities,but apparently,I was mistaken.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Runscott

True, but we all have functioning eyeballs - give yourselves credit. You do not always need an expert's advice to answer simple questions about photographs.

I agree about not needing to be an expert to trust your own eyes. That being said, when the person's grandson says it's not him, it probably isn't. (not discounting the recent Chadwick discussion either)

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by Leon

I agree about not needing to be an expert to trust your own eyes.

I think we're in the minority

If I owned a 6-figure photo, I bet the connective tissue between my eyeballs and brain would also be sorely tested.

[Runscott]

Ahhh, okay.

I guess some are thinking that I am discounting Hank's opinion because I don't know who he is. That is not the case at all. Hank, like everyone else on this board, knows exactly what Walter Johnson looks like. In my post I alluded to 'expert', which would be Hank (context, folks, context).

Hank and I have talked about Walter Johnson, among other things. I purchased the audio 'Glory of Their Times' as a result of one of our discussions, and I highly recommend it, and am greatly appreciative for his work putting it together - I couldn't tell you how many times I've listened to it, especially in the car on long trips.

[bmarlowe1]

Originally Posted by Leon

I agree about not needing to be an expert to trust your own eyes

In general,for some people that is true, for others not. Many mistakes have been made by people trusting there own eyes. This is especially so when there is what appears to be some provenance. The photo below left came from the Red Sox and was wrongly claimed to be Harry Frazee. The real Frazee is below right. I can tell you that some people could not see past the Red Sox claim.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Ahhh, okay.

I guess some are thinking that I am discounting Hank's opinion because I don't know who he is. That is not the case at all. Hank, like everyone else on this board, knows exactly what Walter Johnson looks like. In my post I alluded to 'expert', which would be Hank (context, folks, context).

Hank and I have talked about Walter Johnson, among other things. I purchased the audio 'Glory of Their Times' as a result of one of our discussions, and I highly recommend it, and am greatly appreciative for his work putting it together - I couldn't tell you how many times I've listened to it, especially in the car on long trips.

Thanks for the props. I never go more than a month or two without listening to the set yet again. I always intend to just listen to one player or one CD, and invariably end up going through all five hours, and then sometimes again! Like a great movie, or book, or music, it never loses any of its appeal no matter how many times (hundreds by now) I hear it. Not because Neal and I did such a great job, although I'm very happy with the work we did and I'm not sure it could be improved on much, but because the material itself is absolutely classic and timeless. My greatest pride is what we did taping Ritter himself just like he did the players, then editing those interviews into the introductions for the set and each player segment. And Larry didn't live that much longer, so it could easily have never happened. After all these years, sometimes I still find it amazing that I actually got to do that.
Hank

[Runscott]

Originally Posted by bmarlowe1

In general,for some people that is true, for others not. Many mistakes have been made by people trusting there own eyes.

Maybe, but they should at least try using them first. It's tougher for the owner, as he wants the person to be someone famous, but it shouldn't be so tough for the rest of us....unless we read the provenance first.

If this photo had not had a player labeled 'W.Johnson', no one would have thought it was him. Do you remember the guy who owned a town-team photo from Pittsburg and was able to label almost everyone in the photo as a Pittsburg player? He was quite insistent. I don't remember who it was, so he might not still participate on the board, but I would love to see him post that photo again and have you take a look at it.

[bmarlowe1]

Originally Posted by Runscott

Do you remember the guy who owned a town-team photo from Pittsburg and was able to label almost everyone in the photo as a Pittsburg player? He was quite insistent.

This is not uncommon. For example, see p. 27 of "The Beer and Whisky League." The team photo is labeled as the 1882 Pit AA club. Many Pit players are ID'd. It turns out that the photo is the 1886 Utica Int Lg club, and of course all the player ID's are wrong.