baseballcap

beautiful !

that bain collection certainly made my day !

If this photo was taken in 1911, it would have been during Alexander's rookie season. He won 28 games that year, a modern day rookie record. He pitched for the Philadelphia from 1911 to 1917, then was traded to the Cubs.

Alexander was one of the all-time greats and probably would have won 400 games if not for World War I. He missed most of the 1918 season and returned with a bad case of shell shock or post traumatic stress syndrome.

Rookie? He looks like he's in his mid-late 40's.

he is a little wrinkly, but he was in his mid to late 20's when he was a Phillie..

"A for Alex
The great Alexander
More goose eggs he pitched
Than a popular gander."
- Ogden Nash

More on pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grover_Cleveland_Alexander

The first catcher to use shin guards.

Roger Philip Bresnahan (June 11, 1879 – December 4, 1944), nicknamed "The Duke of Tralee" for his Irish roots, was an American player in Major League Baseball who starred primarily as a catcher and a player-manager. He introduced the use of the catcher's shin guard in 1907 and was elected in 1945 to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Bresnahan

Of course: a chew of 'baccy firmly in place.

Baseball stats for Fred Luderus here: www.baseball-reference.com/l/luderfr01.shtml