Saturday, April 9, 2011

Unidentified Player Identified

I saw this yesterday on facebook...


The link takes you to a set of photos by Leslie Jones.  Photo #30 caught my eye.  Not so much the photo as the caption.


It reads:
A scuffle broke out as an unidentified Detroit Tigers player, left, tried to assist George Vico (50), who was restrained by Boston Red Sox pitcher Jack Kramer (18), while Johnny Pesky ran in from third base.  The original dispute was between Red Sox Catcher Birdie Tebbetts (obscured) and Vico.
Who was this mystery "unidentified Detroit Tigers player"?  A quick search on Google News Archive produced this set of photos and short clip from the St. Petersburg Times from May 8, 1948.













Here's a slightly different image from the Nashua Telegraph.

Hal White, wearing uniform number 17 (holding the bat), is the unidentified player. Retrosheet's box score for this game indicates that Red Jones was the home plate umpire.

Now you know.

image credits:
The Boston Globe.  Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection. 
Google

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