Missing player's picture found on his tombstone

Hard to believe, but a baseball researcher found what may be the only picture of a long-ago baseball player on a tombstone.

Here's the text of an email from Bill Hickman, chairman of the Pictorial History Research Committee of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR):

"Fred Worth has come up with a unique method for finding an image of a missing player. He took a photo of the tombstone of John E. Bass in a cemetery in Denver, Colo. It turns out that there's a pretty nice carving of Bass in a baseball uniform on his tombstone. Fred theorizes that the carver was probably working from an authentic photo of Bass. At any rate, I've accepted it as a valid image of Bass."


A picture of the image on the tombstone appears on the website of Out of the Park Baseball with the note "Thanks to SABR for tracking this one down!"

Shortstop, catcher and outfielder John Elias Bass was a major league player from 1871-1877. He played for the Cleveland Forest Citys, Brooklyn Atlantics and Hartford Dark Blues. According to one source I saw, in 1871 Bass led the National Association in triples, with 10.

He died on Sept. 24, 1888 in Denver, Colo. No other picture of him is known.

Bass is buried in Riverside Cemetery in Denver. But who would have thought there would be a picture of him on his headstone?

Fred Worth discussed his latest trip to visit ballplayers' graves at the SABR Day event this year in Arkadelphia, Ark.

The picture is a fantastic find but, as always, you can't convince everyone. My son David points out that there is no proof that the artist who carved the stone knew what Basss looked like. If he had, wouldn't he have included more facial features?

SABR say the primary focus of its Pictorial History Committee is to develop a Player Image Index. The goal of this project is to catalog at least one photo image of every man who has played in the major leagues. That means knowing where it has been published or in what collection it has been seen.

We now know were we can find John Elias Bass.

How we found ball player Fern Bell

Hunting for long-lost ballplayers before the Internet called for real persistence. Back in 1988, baseball researcher Bill Haber advised me that Jack Smalling's address book no longer had valid information on Fern Bell — if still living, if so where.

As his last known address was Los Angeles, I was recruited to find out. Trips were made to past addresses, one as close as one mile from my home. Nothing turned up. His schools, Fremont and Jacob Riis, were contacted; fellow researcher Rick Obrand was contacted, as was Joe L. Brown of the Pirates, along with former teammates such as Chuck Stephans and many ball players who attended dinners such as the Professional Ball Players Association, the Second Guessers meeting and so many more. The Post Office where Fern Bell had once worked refused comment. So it went.

Rick Obrand remarked that he had seen in an LA paper that Fern had a daughter. This clue led me to a Los Angeles Times article found and sent to me by Cecilia Rasmussen, who periodically does a great item called "On The Scene" about old LA.

The article stated "Bell Father of Baby Girl," born at San Gabriel Hospital. This information was sent to San Gabriel and a genealogist went to work to find out more from the hospital records on possible names and locations.

The facts found and relayed to Haber were that a baby girl was born to a Jerome Fern Lee Bell. With this information I had a friend check driver licenses in California. A Jerome Fern Lee Bell residing in Palm Desert, Calif., was found, just a few doors down from the home of the friend who located the license information. A questionnaire was given to the friend to deliver.

After a few weeks of no reply, I called Mr. Bell and had a nice conversation and shortly thereafter received his questionnaire.

He told me some great stories but sort of refused an interview. He was always considered a loner by his teammates. His line in the Baseball Encyclopedia states his birth date as Jan. 21, 1913. His questionnaire states Jan. 1, 1918. In 1931, he played for Jackson, Beckley and Memphis; at 13 years of age?

Anyhow, he was a PGA member for many, many years. He taught golf until his death; he was just a short walk from his home to the golf course — that was his life.

Fern, rather Jerome, would have been a very interesting person to have tell his baseball stories — that is if he would have acknowledged such a request.

He wrote a letter to me saying he hadn't kept much from his baseball career and enclosing an article the local paper did after he was found and deluged with requests for autographs.

'Shorty' Gallagher played in more cities than any other ballplayer I know

Charles "Shorty" Gallagher, Cleveland Indians Major League Baseball player, got around. I firmly believe this individual played baseball in more cities than any other player.

His career was extensive in travel but short at each location. It is hard for me to be concise in his travels, his number of games and performance averages. One highlite of his career was his ability to throw a baseball to long distances and he had to show this talent where ever he went.

Shorty was born in Detroit, Mich. and started playing baseball at an early age. At 16 he was captain of a newspaper delivery boys team and played other such teams in other cities.

Being a Detroit boy, he was picked up by a local semi-pro team then called the Wolverines. From there he was on the road constantly.

Many small articles in the Sporting Life paper of the day mentioned "The little ball player 'Shorty' Gallagher."

The list of cities where I have picked out his name is extensive. Here are some that one will find in the baseball guides with his records: Denison, Ulrichsville, Wheeling, Patterson, Peoria, Rockford, St. Joseph, Chatham, Twin City, New Castle.

And now here are more that I am aware of, although not in the guides: Savannah, New Orleans, Erie, Ashtabula, Flint, Portsmouth, Grand Rapids, Birmingham, and no doubt more.

Charles William Gallagher, born April 30, 1872, died June 23, 1921 in Detroit. He was only 5' 8", an outfielder with a good arm but lousy bat and always on the go as anyone can see.

SABR closes in on missing player pix

Pictures of fewer than 600 ballplayers are needed to complete the pictorial record of the more than 17,000 men who ever played major league baseball.

Chairman William Hickman says the Pictorial History Committee of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) has only to find pictures of 593 more players to complete the project.

"Expressed on the positive side, we have been able to catalogue images for 16,558 players, which equals 96.5 per cent of those who have ever played major league ball," he writes.

Here is Hickman's report on formerly missing players found since the committee's February newsletter:

William E. Smith. Found by Lefty Blasco in an 1885 Erie team photo.

Robert M. Gibson. This player was one of the steps backward in the February newsletter when it was thought that he never appeared on an Old Judge baseball card. Thanks to Lefty Blasco, it is now known that he was an "old judge" of another sort. Robert M. Gibson spent his later years as a Federal District Judge. Upon his death, his photo appeared prominently in the Pittsburgh Gazette.

Ernie Diehl. Found by Lefty Blasco in the Cincinnati Enquirer of Sept. 1, 1902. The image is a head shot among the Saturday afternoon League All-Stars.

Charles Hallstrom. Found by Cary Smith in the book History of the Swedes in Illinois, by Ernst Olson and Martin Enberg, published in 1908.

Lester Carrington Dole. Found by Bill Hickman in the 1919 yearbook of the St. Paul's School, Concord, N.H., where he was the school's first athletic director. That yearbook was dedicated to him.

Philip Saylor. Found by Bill Hickman by contacting the town historian of West Alexandria, Ohio. Saylor was the mayor of that town and a prominent attorney there. The historian located the photo in a circa 1900 book of biographical sketches of prominent citizens of Preble County, Ohio. The photo can be viewed on the OOTP Baseball website.

John A. Haldeman. Found by Bill Hickman in The City of Louisville & Glimpse of Kentucky, by Young Ewing Allison. Haldeman was business manager of the Louisville Times. The photo can be viewed on Google Books.

George Henry Knight. Found by Bill Hickman in Taylor's Legislative History & Souvenir of Connecticut: Portraits, 1908. Knight became a noted physician who headed the Connecticut Committee on Public Health & Safety. At the time of his death, he was the superintendent of the institution with the impolitic name of the Connecticut School for Imbeciles. His photo can be seen here.

Alexander B. Nevin. Found by Hickman in Biographical Record of the Class of 1874 in Yale College. Can be seen via Google Books here.

George W. Noftsker. Found by Hickman in a family photo in the photo archives of the Shippensburg Historical Society, Shippensburg, Penn. Noftsker was the borough treasurer of that town in 1911.

Joseph H. Berry Sr. Found by Lefty Blasco in a Bristol, Conn. minor league photo from the 1902 Spalding or Reach Guide.