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.

Baseball researchers turn to Facebook

The Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) is turning to social networking programs like Facebook and Twitter to accomplish its mission. The non-profit organization obviously doesn't want to fall behind the times, and doesn't mind having some fun along the way.

We learn on SABR's Facebook fan page that Zip Code 20008 has more SABR members than any other (14). Ironically, that Zip Code (it's in Washington, D.C.) also includes my granddaughter Anna. Anna is not a member of SABR but she may know someone who is.

Catch up on what's going on with SABR by checking out the Facebook fan page. Unfortunately, I can't just give you a link because Facebook requires that you sign in to view the page. So, hit the SABR logo here, sign in to your Facebook account, search for "SABR", scroll past all the pretty girls named Sabrina, and there you are.

Or, just take my word for it. It's there.

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. "