Jun 12 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2708 -

Sale 2708 - Lot 178

Estimate: $ 600 - $ 900
(SPORTS--BASEBALL.) Team photograph of the Kansas City Monarchs, featuring Hall of Famers Bullet Rogan and Andy Cooper. Photograph, 5¼ x 8¼ inches, unmounted, captioned and credited in the negative, one player's pants retouched in the negative; minimal wear including a ¼-inch corner crease. Spokane, WA: Richards, 4 July 1934
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Additional Details

The Kansas City Monarchs were one of the greatest and most enduring of the Negro League teams, in existence from 1920 to 1965 and winning twelve titles. This photograph was taken during their period as a barnstorming team in the mid-1930s, when their schedule consisted entirely of exhibition games across the country. They came to Spokane, Washington for an Independence Day doubleheader against two local semi-pro teams, beating both of them handily by scores of 13-1 and 9-3.

The players have been identified by the University of Kansas, which owns another copy. Bullet Rogan, the team's Hall of Fame player-manager, has often been mentioned in recent years as the prototype of Shohei Ohtani for his pitching and slugging exploits. He hit a home run in Game One of this double-header and played left field in both games. He's kneeling in the front row, center.

The standing players were Frank Duncan (he caught game two); Hall of Fame pitcher Andy Cooper, who did not play that day; Charles "Slim" Beverly, who was the winning pitcher in the second game; Chet Brewer, who pitched the first game; benchwarmer Sam Crawford (not to be confused with the older Detroit star of the same name); 43-year-old John Donaldson, one of the best pitchers of the 1910s, who led off and played center field in both games of the double-header; first baseman George Giles, and catcher Tom Young. Kneeling in the front row are reserve player Eddie Dwight; shortstop Newt Allen; the great Bullet Rogan; right fielder Hurley McNair; and second baseman Newt Joseph.

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