PEDANT ALERT: The cover has the Tigers and Pirates as pennant winners, making it from 1909.

Other than that, great image!

1. Awesome.

2. The "Red" made me laugh. I think that is the image conservatives still want to paint about socialists, or even liberals.

3. What is the Philly? Some guy in his pajamas? Shouldn't that have been a horse like the Colts?

4. Is the Brown a specific person named Brown? I don't get that one.

5. My favorite is the guy eating beans.

Man, the St Louis Browns guy already looks depressed. The Cincy Reds is great too; Cleveland Naps and Chicago Colts were a bit unexpected.

Am I the only guy who thinks it looks like the Chicago Cub is trying to grope the New York Giant?

4. Is the Brown a specific person named Brown? I don't get that one.

I think he's browned off.

The Cincy Reds is great too;

He looks like a cross between Trotsky and Fagin (the Alec Guiness version).

I'm guessing the Brooklyn guy is supposed to be a 'Bridegroom' -- the Dodgers were called that in the 1890s...

I'm guessing the Brooklyn guy is supposed to be a 'Bridegroom' -- the Dodgers were called that in the 1890s...

Nah, he's a Superba, whatever the hell that is. I guess a guy in a bowler pushing a shrub in a pram.

In the 1890s there was a circus run by a guy named Hanlon which called themselves Hanlon's Superbas. As Ned Hanlon was managing the Brooklyn baseball team at this time, the Dodgers were also called the Superbas.

Then it's hats off to Old Mike Donlin
To Wagner, Lajoie, and Cobb . . .
Don't forget Hal Chase and foxy Mr. Chance
Who are always on the job . . .
Good old Cy Young we root for,
And Fielder Jones the same . . .
And we hold first place in our Yankee hearts
For the Stars of the National Game.

That "Chicago Colts" is strange, considering that this was a former name for the Cubs, and AFAIK it was never associated with the White Sox. They were called the White Stockings for a few years, but by 1909 they were the White Sox.

And WTH does a guy yawning in a pair of pajamas have to do with the Phillies?

2. The "Red" made me laugh. I think that is the image conservatives still want to paint about socialists, or even liberals.

The Sporting News used a nearly identical logo for the Reds all the way up to about 1950. It looked very much like this, only with a bat in his right hand to go along with the bomb in his left hand.

What is the Philly? Some guy in his pajamas?

Those aren't pajamas. He's a lawyer.

Wow, I went to bed, wake up, and this is still on Hot Topics.

That "Chicago Colts" is strange, considering that this was a former name for the Cubs, and AFAIK it was never associated with the White Sox. They were called the White Stockings for a few years, but by 1909 they were the White Sox.

Same thing with "Beaneaters" and Bosox. If you were going to use an alternate name for the Boston American League franchise circa 1909, wouldn't "Pilgrims" have been a better choice? (It was apparently used earlier in the decade, specifically for the first World Series of modern times in 1903.)

Interesting to see a Roman senator as the drawing for the Washington Senators, sort of along the lines of what the NHL's Ottawa Senators use.

That "Chicago Colts" is strange, considering that this was a former name for the Cubs, and AFAIK it was never associated with the White Sox. They were called the White Stockings for a few years, but by 1909 they were the White Sox.

Same thing with "Beaneaters" and Bosox. If you were going to use an alternate name for the Boston American League franchise circa 1909, wouldn't "Pilgrims" have been a better choice? (It was apparently used earlier in the decade, specifically for the first World Series of modern times in 1903.)

Yeah, you have to wonder where they were getting those names from. They got the "Doves" right, but the "Beaneaters" were what the "Doves" used to be called. And the Red Sox were never the "Beaneaters", although that's what it implies in the picture. In 1909 they were known as the "Red Stockings."

Of course since many nicknames back then were mostly a concoction of local headline writers, you can understand some of the confusion if the illustrator wasn't a subscriber to one of the national sporting weeklies. In fact the annual baseball guides often just used "Americans" and "Nationals" along with the city's name to distinguish between a city's two teams, and never even mentioned the nickname.

Interesting to see a Roman senator as the drawing for the Washington Senators, sort of along the lines of what the NHL's Ottawa Senators use.

The flowing robes, the grace...Striking.

I'm having a very difficult time trying to see if I can find any image of the music inside, mostly as there's a song by Sousa about baseball called "The National Game". Anyone is bored and has any luck, let me know.

MLB team nicknames were pretty informal in the early 20th century -- you look at Mark Okkonen's uniform research, teams really started putting 'official' nicknames on jerseys in the 1920s-1930s. Philadelphia newspapers often called the 1909-era Phillies the Murraymen (the way the A's were the Mackmen) because they were managed by Billy Murray. Maybe the guy in pajamas is a "Groundhog Day" reference...

MLB team nicknames were pretty informal in the early 20th century -- you look at Mark Okkonen's uniform research, teams really started putting 'official' nicknames on jerseys in the 1920s-1930s. Philadelphia newspapers often called the 1909-era Phillies the Murraymen (the way the A's were the Mackmen) because they were managed by Billy Murray.

That habit of informal nicknaming continued well into the 50's, especially in The Sporting News, where you'd see countless references to "Leo's Pets" (the Giants), the "Jungaleers" (the Tigers), the "Yawkeymen" or the "Millionaires" (the Red Sox), the "Stengelmen" (the Yankees), the "Whiz Kids" (the Phillies, and the "Corsairs" (the Pirates).

Pretty sure this isn't the Sousa, Lassus, as I think he wrote that some time in the 20s for the 50th anniversary of the National League.

I'm having a very difficult time trying to see if I can find any image of the music inside, mostly as there's a song by Sousa about baseball called "The National Game". Anyone is bored and has any luck, let me know.

The sheet music is here:

Stars of the National Game

That habit of informal nicknaming continued well into the 50's, especially in The Sporting News, where you'd see countless references to "Leo's Pets" (the Giants), the "Jungaleers" (the Tigers), the "Yawkeymen" or the "Millionaires" (the Red Sox), the "Stengelmen" (the Yankees), the "Whiz Kids" (the Phillies, and the "Corsairs" (the Pirates).

There are a couple names like that that The Sporting News kept using well into the 1990s. I remember various NFL columns that seemed to use the word "Pokes" ten times as often as "Dallas" or "Cowboys" combined. Quite confusing to a youngster.

Vortex - Thanks! If I can get my crap together, I think I may try and record this for the site.

What is the Philly? Some guy in his pajamas?

That's a lesser known nickname for the Philadelphia National League franchise - the Bloggers.

That habit of informal nicknaming continued well into the 50's, especially in The Sporting News, where you'd see countless references to "Leo's Pets" (the Giants), the "Jungaleers" (the Tigers), the "Yawkeymen" or the "Millionaires" (the Red Sox), the "Stengelmen" (the Yankees), the "Whiz Kids" (the Phillies, and the "Corsairs" (the Pirates).

What if American sportswriters took up the English practice of calling a team by the river. So a Cincinnati team becomes the Ohiosiders. Sometimes I've heard Jon Miller call a team by a plural of the city as in,"Tonight the Giants play the Pittsburghs."

Vortex - Thanks! If I can get my crap together, I think I may try and record this for the site.

You're welcome. It would be great to hear it!

Pretty sure this isn't the Sousa, Lassusas, as I think he wrote that some time in the 20s for the 50th anniversary of the National League.

Not to mention that whole "Words by James O'Dea; Music by Anna Caldwell" thing. :-)

But we still haven't figured out the baby carriage with the plant coming out of it. Brooklyn Pod People? Brooklyn Body Snatchers? Brooklyn (Those Damn Immigrants are Spreading like) Weeds?

But we still haven't figured out the baby carriage with the plant coming out of it. Brooklyn Pod People? Brooklyn Body Snatchers? Brooklyn (Those Damn Immigrants are Spreading like) Weeds?

I think AndrewJ in #7 got it right - Brooklyn Bridegrooms (although they dropped the name a decade before the song was written).

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PEDANT ALERT: The cover has the Tigers and Pirates as pennant winners, making it from 1909.

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But we still haven't figured out the baby carriage with the plant coming out of it. Brooklyn Pod People? Brooklyn Body Snatchers? Brooklyn (Those Damn Immigrants are Spreading like) Weeds?

I think AndrewJ in #7 got it right - Brooklyn Bridegrooms (although they dropped the name a decade before the song was written).

I think it's the Brooklyn Infants.

The last games of the 1909 season were in early October and the series started October 8. So, this sheet music was either published in the last three months of 1909, or more likely, in 1910.

On Google News, there are newspaper articles that refer to the team as the 'Infants' starting in 1910 after club President Charles Ebbets said he had seen "baseball grow into its infancy."

Pittsburgh Press:

January 16, 1910 ...
"President Charles Ebbets, of the Brooklyn Club, was a ticket seller for the club 18 years ago. Since then, according to his own statement, he has seen 'baseball grow into its infancy.'"

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ESwbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=2UgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4405,3314668&dq=infancy+ebbets&hl=en

May 9, 1910 ...

BROOKLYN INFANTS MAKE BOW TO PITTSBURG CROWD TODAY ...

"The Infants are in our midst. Maybe you don't know them by that name. Well, to be plain, the Brooklyn Superbas are here for a series of four games with Fred Clarke's World-Beaters."

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QRYbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BEkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=2035,2520100&dq=brooklyn+infants&hl=en

Chicago Daily Tribune:

The Ball Team That Is of No Use to Itself Is Useful to Others.

CUBS SPLIT FROCK UP BACK AND WIN Mordecai Brown Outpitches Boston Twirler in Contest Won 3 to 0. EVERS LEADS BIG RALLY. Steinfeldt and Schulte Uncork Triples and Enough Runs Cross Pan to Beat Doves.
Chicago Daily Tribune (1872-1922) - Chicago, Ill.
Author: I E SANBORN
Date: Jul 22, 1910

"It required just half as long for the Cubs to trim the Doves of Boston yesterday by a score of 3 to 0 as it did to spank Brooklyn's Infants 1 to 0 the day before. A volley of three solid shots in the sixth inning compiled Chicago's trio of tallies, but the other..."

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/387462891.html?dids=387462891:387462891&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Jul+22,+1910&author;=&pub=Chicago+Tribune&desc=The+Ball+Team+That+Is+of+No+Use+to+Itself+Is+Useful+to+Others.&pqatl=google

Boston Globe:

IT'S YOUR TURN, MR BAILEY
?Pay-Per-View - Boston Daily Globe - May 11, 1910
The Pirates knocked out by the Brooklyn infants. ...

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/boston/access/705800932.html?dids=705800932:705800932&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=May+11,+1910&author;=&pub=Boston+Daily+Globe&desc=IT'S+YOUR+TURN,+MR+BAILEY&pqatl=google

That's a great bit of research and deductive thinking, Bob, and the chronology makes total sense. Now figure out those Phillies' pajamas and you'll really get my shock and awe.