3. Stunning 1896 Betz Studios Baltimore Orioles Imperial World Champions Team Photo w/Five HOFers
Spectacular large-format photo featuring one of the great teams of all-time, the 1896 Baltimore Orioles. One of the most storied of all 19th Century baseball teams, the Orioles finished in first place for three consecutive seasons, and were the winners of the Temple Cup in 1896 and 1897. Master strategists, the team pio- neered “small ball” techniques like the hit and run and the Balti- more Chop (which was named after the Orioles), and were adept at bunting and stolen bases. It is no surprise that several Hall of Fame managers, including perhaps the game’s greatest manager ever, were members of the late ’90s Orioles. The photo is spectacular, a gorgeous example taken from the stu- dio of John Betz, which also produced the well-known cabinet photograph of this same team. Perhaps the best-known image of the ballclub, the clarity and contrast of the photo is among the finest 19th Century photos we have handled. Since we had an opportunity to observe the photo prior to framing, we can attest
that the mount exhibits a good deal of wear and staining, along with a bit of paper loss in the text near the bottom. Similar wear and staining, along with corner and edge wear, are also evident, though much of that wear is obscured by a beautiful profession- al matting and framing job, the photo behind museum-quality, glare-free UV acrylic, the matte constructed of acid-free material. Players pictured in the photo are as follows: TOP ROW (l-r): Joe Quinn, Sadie McMahon, Duke Esper, George Hemming, Frank Bowerman, William Clarke, Jim Donnelly. MIDDLE ROW (l-r): Steve Brodie, Bill Hofer, Joe Kelley (HOF), Ned Hanlon (HOF), Wilbert Robinson (HOF), Hugh Jennings (HOF), Henry Reitz. FRONT ROW (l-r): Jack Doyle, John McGraw (HOF), Willie Keeler (HOF), Arlie Pond. Framed to a finished size of 28” x 24”, one of the finest and most important of all 19th Century team photos.
MINIMUM BID: $5,000
9
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator