I’m hugely indebted to Lee Benoit for mailing me with some pictures she noticed in an archive for the athletic departments at her old university.
These lovely – and very modern looking lads – appear to be the 1870 baseball team. The guy sitting down, second from right, looks just like Steve Borthwick.
And this lad from 1880 looks like he could just have stepped out of my Sky Sports screen!
June 4, 2011 at 2:10 pm
Lovely looking fellows.
Just had to share this one found on tumblr -
http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ldfmyvxHFW1qcl7wao1_500.jpg
Young Teddy Roosevelt in shorts!! With hankie on head! All together now – durrrrrr.
June 4, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Oh yes, he’s a gumby.
This is such fun!
June 4, 2011 at 4:50 pm
Nice looking young men, especially the one with the basball in his hand and notice the player behind him resting his hand on his shoulder and quite close to his cheek? Hmmmm.
LOL, my imagination or wishful thinking.
Thanks for sharing.
June 4, 2011 at 7:23 pm
I hadn’t noticed that stray hand. Hm, yes. Food for thought indeed (although I suspect men in those days may have been a bit more tactile).
June 4, 2011 at 10:23 pm
I wish I’d been able to send the image that led me to the archive in the first place: an action shot from a 1920s baseball game of a burly, grinning fellow making the throw that ended the game. Such joy and power, all together. (It appeared only in the magazine.)
Thanks for posting these, Charlie! I’m glad you liked them.
L xo
June 5, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Liked them? I loved them. Just my cup of tea. (I can’t resist buying the original Victorian photos of young men which sometimes turn up in our local market. The pictures, not the men alas.)
That action shot sounds brilliant. Any chance of a scan?
June 5, 2011 at 2:28 pm
I’ll see what I can do.
I might have recycled the mag once I found my way to the archive, but I may be able to liberate a copy from somewhere…