Cleveland Indians - 1916, BP (Before Photoshop)

You may need to click on the picture above to get a feel for what I am about to say. Then again, if you stick with the post long enough, I'll post a closeup for your amusement.

You see, while trolling the Internet one day, Kevin M (as opposed to Kevin B or Kevin Z or Bobby M for that matter) came across a couple of cool Indians-related pictures. What you see above is one of them. It is a 1916 photo of the Cleveland Indians.

What strikes me as interesting is the fact that the photography company (Heiser Co.) put the names below each of the players! If you notice, there is a dog in the middle of the picture. That would be Larry, the team's 'unofficial' mascot during the time. Larry was Jack Graney's dog. Also pictured is Ray Chapman. If you don't know, he is the only ball player to be killed during a game. And, of course, Tris Speaker! I read that Tris Speaker and Jack Graney got into a fight over Chapman's burial plans (as Catholic or Protestant) and that the fight may have been the reason they could not attend Chapman's funeral.^*

Now, this post is not about the people (or the animal) per se, but rather what's going on over on the left side of the photo. Since it is very hard to see in the picture above, I zoomed in a bit for your perusal:


Do you notice the second guy there, Tuck Turner? Take a good look at him. See it yet? Take a look at the bottom half. See it yet? He appears to have been 'pasted' in there. Before there was Photoshop, there were scissors and glue. I don't know if he wasn't there that day, so they took another photo and put it there or if he moved during the taking of the panoramic shot and they 'fixed' it, or if they had made a cut-out of the guy and had someone standing behind it for the photo.

Look closely near his head. It almost looks like someone is standing behind the ball player. Well, it does to me anyway.

Did you know that Terry "Tuck" Turner pioneered the head-first slide? Apparently, sliding the 'safe' way hurt his ankles too much! But, his Indians greatness does not stop there. You see, he is credited with playing in the most games in a career with Cleveland - 1,619. Which, if you pull those numbers apart and rearrange them, gives you 1916 - the year of the photo. That part doesn't mean anything in relation to this post really, just throwing it out there. Feel free to discuss among yourselves.