1916 CHICAGO AMERICAN GIANTS PANORAMIC PHOTO W/HOFERS RUBE FOSTER, POP LLOYD & PETE HILL.
Item Description
Presented here is one of the most highly sought after images among all Negro League baseball collectibles. This amazing panoramic photo, taken inside Athletic Park, Vancouver, British Columbia, depicts 13 members of the Chicago American Giants baseball club of 1916, highlighted by the presence of Manager, Rube Foster, dressed in formal attire and standing prominently at the center of the team. Further research has dated this image to mid-April, 1916 with credit to famed photographer of the era, Stuart Thomson. Joining Foster as fellow National Baseball Hall of Fame members who are pictured here are John Henry "Pop" Lloyd (third from right) and Pete Hill (far left). Other stars of the day whom we have also identified are: Bruce Petway (sixth from left), Leroy Grant, Judy Gans, Pete Duncan and Edgar Washington. Remaining team members (some of whom are undoubtedly pictured here) from this historic club include: Bill Francis, Jesse Barber, Frank Wickware, Dick Whitworth, Harry Bauchman, Clarkson Brazelton and Tom Johnson.
The Chicago American Giants ball club was originally established back in 1910 when Rube Foster, team manager, and Frank Leland, team owner, divided up the previously recognized Leland Giants into two separate teams. Rube's team would continue with the Leland Giants moniker for one more season before officially changing their name to the Chicago American Giants prior to the 1911 season. Beginning that year the American Giants would claim every western independents title for the remainder of the decade with the exception of 1916, when they lost the championship to the Indianapolis ABC's. Once Foster and several owners joined forces to establish the Negro National League in 1920, Rube would begin selling off some of his star players, thus creating better balance for the remainder of his league. Although they would go through many peaks and valleys over the years, the Chicago American Giants would eventually become the longest running continuous franchise in Negro League baseball history.
As founder of the original Chicago American Giants back in 1910, Rube Foster is widely regarded as the father of Negro League baseball and a true visionary, without whom organized black baseball would likely have never reached the heights that it ultimately did during the 1920s-40s. At the dawn of the 20th Century, Foster was one of the top pitchers in the land, starring for the 1902 Chicago Union Giants team before joining one of the earliest black baseball powerhouses, the 1904-06 Philadelphia Giants, where he joined fellow Hall of Famers Frank Grant, Sol White and Pete Hill as well as the legendary middle infield combo of Charlie Grant and Grant "Home Run" Johnson. Rube would eventually leave Philadelphia in 1907 to join the Leland Giants, where he would spend the next three seasons before forming his own new club in 1911. Foster would be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981.
Like Rube Foster, Pete Hill would join the American Giants in 1911, following three previous seasons with the Leland Giants from 1907-10, also starring for the 1904-07 Philadelphia Giants. Pete would become a vital cog in the championship club from 1911 to 1918, after which, he would join the Detroit Stars and lead that formidable club from 1919-21. Hill was widely regarded as one of the top hitters for both average and power in black baseball for nearly two decades. Although he was long underappreciated, his accomplishments would ultimately enable him to join Rube in Cooperstown after his 2006 selection.
Pop Lloyd would be the last of the terrific trio to join the American Giants, playing with the club from 1914-17, during the prime years of his career. Lloyd would become known as the "Black Honus Wagner" as his shortstop skills, both in the field and at bat, would be unmatched in the annals of black baseball. Prior to joining the Chicago team, Lloyd would spend his earliest professional baseball years starring for the Philadelphia Giants from 1907-09 before joining the Leland Giants for one season and following that up with four more years with the New York Lincoln Giants. Following his days with the American Giants, Pop would spend much of his remaining playing career with the Atlantic City Bacharach Giants during the 1920s. Lloyd was enshrined in Cooperstown in 1977.
6.5x16.5" original photo with superb clarity and sharp details. Moderate margin wear w/three .25" tears. Tip off top left and bottom right corner. 3" vertical hairline crease running diagonally from bottom edge across center of body of second player from the left. All margin defects would easily matte out. Entire photo remains totally glossy. VG.
This fascinating relic is one of only six known surviving examples, all of which surfaced at the same time back in 2007-08, when a relative of the original photographer, Stuart Thomson, was performing an audit of the remaining photographic archives. The importance of these six pieces was not immediately known but, with the assistance of SABR research, each image was deemed to be extremely valuable. Beginning in 2008, all six of these panoramic images would come to public auction over the next several years with prices realized exceeding $30,000 on three separate occasions, peaking at $38,513 in 2012. Since the last of the original six sold at auction nearly 10 years ago, these have rarely resurfaced and several are tucked away in permanent collections. Don't pass up this opportunity to own one of the most important artifacts in Negro League baseball history. The Black Ball Collection.
