Brockelman & Luckey Spring 2013 Auction

Yes! THE Olympic Base Ball club of Philadelphia, the one formed in 1833 when a town ball club and later converting to baseball as we know it in the 1860's. This 7 3/4" by 5 3/4" photo affixed to a larger mount is in a fragile state of preservation but fully displays the players of the 1884 team and has each named in the photo and on the mount. The names on the mount were put into the negative while the names on the mount along with the date Aug 1884(when the picture was taken) and Orgd. July 1833 have been neatly penned on. Nine players are shown and a tenth person in a suit who would be the Manager. Two have jerseys on which have Olympic penned on them in purple as well as the logo and socks of a player seated. There are four bats in the image, along with a ball and one player holding his wire catchers mask. Players ID'd are Rhoades, Holliwell, Gilbert, Lawson, Nusbaum, Leithman, Cake and Daily. The Manager is Buob, the man holding the Catcher's mask in not identified. To say this is a team of historic proportions in the advent of modern baseball might be an understatement, as it has been historically written that the Olympics were arguably the first and longest running baseball team of the 19th Century, before the fabled Knickerbocker's in many peoples opinion. Records of this club have been kept since their inception and they are very well documented as a team. A few pieces of Olympic Ball Club history have hit the auction blocks, most noticeably their 1838 Constitution which sold for over $141,000 in a REA auction a few years back. As an added piece of history the back has several players penciled with their positions, along with others important to the club. H. Walter Sch__________, probably the owner of this photo. W. Gordon Crowell, Scattergood and others, some mentioned on the front, some not. As can be seen the photo has heavy breaks and has an old time repair, mostly visible on the back, some of this may or maynot be undone. The photo itself presents well and would probably mat out quite nicely. The importance of the piece far outweighs the problems, this one the baseball historian would cherish.