The 1886 St. Louis Maroons

I found the above photo last year in the Albert G. Spalding Collection of Early Baseball Photographs. It's labled "St. Louis Athletic Association" and dated 1886. I saved it thinking that I'd figure out what the "St. Louis Athletic Association" was at a later date. Looking at it today, I realized that the photo is actually the 1886 St. Louis Maroons. Then it dawned on me that I had actually seen the photo before. This exact same picture appears in David Nemec's The Beer & Whiskey League. After finding the photo in Nemec's book, I then proceeded to smack myself in the head for being so obtuse.

Neither Nemec or the Spalding Collection identifies everyone in the photo. Nemec names a few. The Spalding Collection identifies most although it misidentifies one, spells some names wrong, and leaves three players unidentified. However, all the players in the photo are numbered and their names appear, hand written, at the bottom of the photo. While a few names are rather faded, I believe that I've identified everyone in the picture.

In the back row, from left to right, is Al Bauer, Charlie Sweeney, Jerry Denny, Emmett Seery, Tom Dolan, and Jack Glasscock.

In the middle row, left to right, is Henry Boyle, Frank Graves, John Healy, Manager Gus Schmelz, John Cahill, Jack McGeachy, and Alex McKinnon.

In the front row, left to right, is Joe Quinn, Fred Dunlap, and George Myers.

Note the large black diamond on the front of the uniforms that the Maroons wore. They weren't called the Black Diamonds for nothing. And I don't know how comfortable I'd be if I was Jerry Denny and had be standing between Sweeney and Seery.