3-3/8x5-3/8" c. 1908 Solio pc showing nine team members around their manager who is seated at the center. Team members shown include Chappie Johnson and Bill Gatewood. Reverse has lt. aging but is unused. Front has a bright and glossy appearance, overall team image is sharp and clear. VF. The St. Paul Colored Gophers lasted only few years, as the market in St. Paul was too small. Like other barnstorming teams of the time, however, they had considerable impact on the desegregation of baseball. In 1909, the Colored Gophers defeated what was considered to be the most powerful Negro baseball team, the Leland Giants. Currently, the Colored Gophers are rarely mentioned in Negro baseball history, and statistics and rosters are hard to find. On occasion, the Minnesota Twins have honored them by wearing replica throwback jerseys of the 1909 team. Chappie played for many of the best teams from 1895 to 1920 and he crossed racial boundaries as a teacher and coach. He was one of Negro League baseball's earliest stars, and the first catcher of note. Gatewood is a Negro League legend having pitched for over a dozen teams starting in 1905 with the Leland Giants and ending in 1928 with the Birmingham Black Barons. He threw the first no-hitter in Negro League history in 1921 with the Detroit Stars. He was also a manager and is credited with giving James Bell the nickname "Cool Papa" and helping a young Satchel Paige learn his famous "Hesitation Pitch." An early and truly historic postcard. From the Richard Merkin Collection and comes with Hake's COA.

UPDATE- An expert on this team just identified the full team and they are:
Standing L-R: Haywood Rose (1b) George "Chappie" Johnson (c) Clarence Lytle (p) Phil Reid (owner, seated) Bill Gatewood (p) Sherman Barton (cf) Will McMurray (p) Seated L-R: Frank Davis (ss) Felix Wallace (2b) Willis Jones (lf).