tommyleach

Thomas William Leach (November 4, 1877 - September 29, 1969) was a center fielder and third baseman in Major League Baseball in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, playing 19 big league seasons. He also participated in the first modern World Series in 1903 with the Pittsburgh Pirates, hitting four triples to set a record that still stands, and he played with legendary players such as Honus Wagner, Dummy Hoy, Three Finger Brown, Frank Chance, Heinie Groh, Max Carey and Casey Stengel. Leach played professionally for the Louisville Colonels, Pirates, Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds. Leach was well-known for his small stature and was nicknamed "Wee Tommy". He once led the National League in home runs with a total of six. Each one was of the inside-the-park variety, which was not unusual in the "dead ball era". 49 of Tommy Leach's 63 career home runs were inside-the-park, which is still a National League record. After his playing career was over, Leach managed in the minor leagues and did some scouting for the Boston Braves. He eventually retired in Florida where he went into the citrus business. from Tommy Leach - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not to argue with whoever captioned the negative, but I think that's Tommy Leach on the left. He was a short guy, and would have been in his late thirties at the time this picture was made. Compare to this picture from Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tommy_Leach_2163486436_01b787e...

Hi, rjones0856, I have passed on your question to a group of baseball experts for their second opinion. While the players on the far right and left look amazingly similar, when examined at full resolution the player you identify as Leach does have facial wrinkles similar to the image in your link while the player on the left currently identified as Leach appears to be wrinkle free.

Just occurred to me to look up the other guy, too. Here's a picture of Jimmy Lavender's other profile: www.retrosnapshots.com/images/sports253.jpg I think I'm right. Dunno about the guys in the middle though. :)

rjones0856, Good eye! Several other avid baseball fans have checked in and they agree with you -- it appears that the names of the players are reversed in the picture. The photo should read from left to right: Tommy Leach, Charlie Smith, Ward Miller and Jimmy Lavender. We'll note the error when we update this record.