Orval Overall, greatest name ever

[Orval Overall, Chicago NL (baseball)] (LOC), originally uploaded by The Library of Congress.

Here, from the Library of Congress collection, is the Cubs player with perhaps the best name in the history of baseball. Pitcher Orval Overall won 23 games for the Cubs in 1907.

The right-hander is the only man to strike out four batters in one inning in a World Series (1908). His lifetime ERA of 2.24 is the eighth best in major league baseball.

Larry Corcoran led the early Cubs

Larry Corcoran led the early Cubs to championships in 1880, 1881, and 1882, originally uploaded by guano.

Here's a photo of an early Cubs hero, posted by a fan who provides this bio for him:

"Back before there was an American League, the Cubs were called the White Stockings and the Pennant was the World Series. Lawrence J. Corcoran took the team to Championships in 1880, 1881, and 1882! A THREE-PEAT! This beat the Chicago Bulls two three-peats by 110 years.

"Little Larry was perhaps 5' 3" and 120 pounds, but he threw serious heat. They called him the 'Indian Pony' because of his endurance. He's a real forgotten hero of the early Cubs. "

Chicago Cubs team picture, 1906

Chicago Cubs team picture, 1906, originally uploaded by Boston Public Library.

From the collection of the Boston Public Library, here is the pennant winning 1906 Chicago Cubs National League Ball Club.

The picture is from a postcard of the team. Players are identified as: Top Row, left to right: M. Brown, J. Pfeister, A. Hofman, C.G. Williams, O. Overall, E. Reulback, J. Kling.

Middle Row: H. Gessler, J. Taylor, H. Steinfeldt, J. McCormick, F. Chance, J. Sheckard, P. Moran, F. Schulte.

Bottom Row: C. Lundgren, T. Walsh, J. Evers, J. Slagle, J. Tinker.

Pen annotation on front of postcard: "Tinker-Evers to Chance, 1906" refers to famous poem by Franklin Pierce Adams entitled, "Baseball's Sad Lexicon." The names of the three players have been underlined. Pen annotation on back of postcard: "Miss Alice E. McGreevy, Roxbury, Mass., from mother & father." Alice McGreevey was the daughter of Michael T. McGreevey.

--BPL Collection: McGreevey Collection

Cap Anson: Another great find on Flickr

Cap Anson, originally uploaded by hunter...

Here's a photo from Flickr posted by Hunter of Versailles, Kentucky. He wrote the interesting background on this Hall of Famer:

Adrian Constantine Anson (April 17, 1852 – April 14, 1922), known by the nicknames "Cap" (for "Captain") and "Pop", was a professional baseball player in the National Association and Major League Baseball. He played in a record twenty-seven consecutive seasons,[1] and was regarded as one of the greatest players of his era and one of the first superstars of the game.[2]

Anson spent most of his career with the Chicago Cubs franchise (then known as the "White Stockings" and later the "Colts"), serving as the club's manager, first baseman and, later in his tenure, minority owner. He led the team to five National League pennants in the 1880s. Anson was one of baseball's first great hitters, and was the first to tally over 3,000 career hits.

After retiring as a player and leaving the Colts, Anson briefly managed the New York Giants. He ran several enterprises in Chicago, including opening a billiards and bowling hall and running a semi-professional baseball team he dubbed "Anson's Colts". Anson also toured extensively on the vaudeville circuit, performing monologues and songs. Many of his business ventures failed, resulting in Anson losing his ownership stake in the Colts (by then called the Cubs) and filing for bankruptcy.

Anson was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.

Summer school baseball team 1912

Summer school baseball team 1912, originally uploaded by Miami U. Libraries - Digital Collections.

There are many team photos on line posted by the Miami (Ohio) University Libraries - Digital Collections. Many features the photos of Frank R. Snyder.

A biography of him on the site says he "was probably the leading Oxford, Ohio, photographer during the early 20th Century. He also worked for Miami University during this period, taking many of the photographs that were used in University publications.

"After his death in 1958, his son Frank King Snyder and daughter-in-law Lois gave the surviving collection of over 4,000 Frank R. Snyder negatives to Miami University.

"In addition to providing a pictorial record of the community and citizens of Oxford, Ohio, the Snyder Collection chronicles buildings, organizations, students, and events at Miami University; Oxford College, which merged with Miami in 1928; and Western College, which merged with Miami in 1973. The Collection spans the years from 1897 to 1955, with the bulk dating from between 1900 and 1930."

Fred Carisch, Cleveland, 1913, just posted to Flickr.com by Library of Congress

[Fred Carisch, Cleveland AL (baseball)] (LOC), originally uploaded by The Library of Congress.

This is a photo just added to www.Flickr.com by the Library of Congress. In addition to books, the Library has photos, maps, databases, movies, sound recordings, sheet music, manuscripts, and information in many other formats. Millions of items are online, and the full array of collections is available in DC, right across from the U.S. Capitol building

What are photographs doing in a library?

They've been acquiring photos since the mid-1800s when photography was the hot new technology. Because images represent life and the world so vividly, people have long enjoyed exploring visual collections. Looking at pictures opens new windows to understanding both the past and the present. Favorite photos are often incorporated in books, TV shows, homework assignments, scholarly articles, family histories, and much more.

The Prints & Photographs Division takes care of 14 million of the Library's pictures and features more than 1 million through online catalogs. Offering historical photo collections through Flickr is an opportunity to share some of its most popular images more widely.