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The Leslie Jones Boston Public Library Collection Photo Gallery
Click on any image below to see photos in full size and to start Photo Gallery:
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- Tommy Thompson, Billy Urbanski, Bob Smith, Leo Mangum, Rabbit Maranville, Duffy Lewis, Fred Frankhouse, Wally Berger
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- Wally Berger and Bill McKechnie
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- Ted Williams and Eddie Miller, 1939
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- Frank “Beauty” McGowan and RIck Ferrell, 1937
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- Johnny Sain, 1942
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- Eddie Stanky, Jim Russell, Jeff Heath, Clint Conatser, Al Dark, 1948
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- Al Wright, Rabbit Maranville, Dick Gyselman
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- Vern Bickford, Ray Mueller, 1951
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- Jimmie Wilson, with coach Hans Lobert (#50), Buck Jordan (#5), coach Dick Spaulding (facing camera), and trainer
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- Earl Torgeson, 1947 ca.
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- Ernie Lombardi, Clyde Kluttz, Phil Masi, 1942
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- Jim Tobin, Johnny Cooney, Max West
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- Mel Ott, Billy Urbanski, and Giant coach Tommy Clarke,1933
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- Phil Masi and Bob Elliott
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- Wes Ferrell, 1941
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- Jeff Heath, 1948
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- Albie Fletcher and umpire Lou Goetz, 1937
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- Tony Cuccinello and Vince DiMaggio, 1937
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- Al Lopez and Ben Cantwell, 1936
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- Rabbit Warstler and Wally Berger
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- Harry Danning, Gus Mancuso, Gene Moore, 1937, Braves Field
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- Buck Jordan, Tony Cuccinello, Billy Urbanski, Pinky Whitney
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- Al Lopez led the White Sox to the 1959 pennant
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- Ralph Hodgin, Stan Andrews, Eddie Miller, Buddy Hassett, Phil Masi, Tom Early, Casey Stengel, 1939
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- Albie Fletcher
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- Tom Early and Casey Stengel
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- Pinky Higgins, Goose Goslin, Lou Gehrig, Earl Averill, Jimmie Foxx
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- Fred Frankhouse, Al Simmons, Red Barkley, Buddy Hassett, Casey Stengel, 1939 (colorization by Don Stokes)
The Leslie Jones Boston Public Library Baseball Collection, Part One
Leslie Jones was the sports photographer for the Boston Globe from the 1930’s into the early 1960’s. The vast majority of his work was from baseball’s Golden Age of the 1930’s. During this long span, he amassed a photographic collection of the Boston Red Sox and Boston Braves of close to 3000 pictures. Almost all of the photos were taken at Fenway Park or Braves Field.
In the featured photo above, we see a beautiful Don Stokes colorization from the Leslie Jones collection of Lou Gehrig and Lefty Gomez with former Yankee teammate, Billy Werber.
Al Simmons, from the Leslie Jones collection
The collection was stored away in the recesses of the Boston Public Library and was largely forgotten. In 2011, someone from the Boston Public Library rediscovered this treasure trove. But there was one problem: Almost all of the players in the photos (other than the obvious star players) were unidentified. The Boston Public Library then contacted The Society For American Baseball Research (SABR) asking for help in identifying the pictures. I was asked to join the team headed by author Mark Stang which was tasked with identifying the players in the photos.
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My concentration was with individual and group identifications, while Mark and others did most of the action shots. Many photos were easy to identify, but others required massive amounts of research, time, and effort. It always gave me a wonderful feeling of satisfaction when I could positively identify some obscure, long-forgotten ballplayer from the ’30’s or ’40’s who would otherwise be totally lost to history. We didn’t get them all, but I’d guess we identified about 85-90% of the players in the photos
This historic collection included many individual and small group shots, team pictures, fans, gag shots, action shots, locker room shots, celebrities, players’ wives, umpires, front office personnel…you name it…if it had anything to do with Boston baseball during this period, it’s in this collection. There’s also a lot of shots taken during Red Sox-Braves interleague exhibition games. It provides a wonderful “taste” of baseball as it existed during this golden, bygone era, and also serves as a great slice of “Americana” from the ’30’s and 40’s.
There are some extremely rare photos in this amazing collection, including some never-before-seen pictures of star players like Ruth, DiMaggio, Williams, Foxx, Cronin, and Grove. There’s a lot of shots of Ruth from his last year 1935 as a member of the Boston Braves. Since the collection covers both the National League (the Braves and their NL opponents), and the American League (the Red Sox and their AL opponents), many lesser-known and largely forgotten players from both leagues are featured in the collection.
I thought it would be fun to post some of the best from the collection. In Part Two, I’ll post even more. Hope you enjoy the selections!
Gary Livacari
Photo Credits: All from Boston Public Library Leslie Jones Collection; Featured photo colorization by Don Stokes
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Love your pictures!!
Have a few prints and notecards of this collection. For years, the BPL had a table in the concourse under the stands @ Fenway promoting the collection. Most of the collection is digitized and available on line. Truly, a treasure trove of baseball history. Kudos to you and your ID assistance.
Thanks Paul. As I mentioned, I did most of the individual player and small group identifications for the SABR team. Was a very rewarding experience, and did wonders for my knowledge of Boston baseball in the 1930s and ’40s.