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Washington, D.C., circa 1926. "Modoc baseball team." Who seem to have been a rather short-lived club. National Photo Co. glass negative. View full size.
From Washington Post, March 29,1926 p. 15
"Red Eagles Triumph
The Red Eagles showed the heavier hitting in a slugfest game against the Modoc baseball team yesterday, and triumphed 9 to 7 at the Tenleytown diamond."
and from Washington Post, May 8, 1927, p. 26
"The Modoc baseball team wants an unlimited game for today. Call Manager J. Gilbert Markham at Cleveland 4828 if interested."
Images of both clippings available if someone wants them.
So the house has a street number of 5118 (see both columns), the Cleveland exchange at that time covered the Tenleytown and Cleveland Park neighborhood. If that house still exists, it's on a north south street. There's no 5100 block on an east west street up there.
What in the world would have caused such careful blocking out? Of what? It couldn't be a person, given the seating arrangement of the other guys. And yet the blocking was done so carefully. Another mystery on Shorpy!
[The background was inked out to get this standalone photo ("mug shot") of the kid. - Dave]
The fellow on the left resembles "Shoeless" Joe Jackson (also featured in the above post). Floppy ears and all. Obviously it's not him, but they sorta do bear a likeness. Either that or John Sayles.
The ears suggest a few blood relations amongst these players.
The team was understandably morose when they posed for this picture, only two weeks after teammate "Mac" had been killed by a runaway trolley car.
But lo and behold, when the photo was developed, there he was, sitting with them!
Have you ever noticed that baseball players look the least mentally gifted of almost all athletes?
Did you white-out the background behind the young fellow pictured above? Or has he suddenly sprouted angel wings? By the way, I think the younger boy in front is his little brother.
[Not me! The background has been blacked out on the negative, probably with ink. The opposite of what we see in the positive image. - Dave]
Half these boys look like they'd take off in a headwind. Jughead on the left there must be at least a little special to have been dropped out like that.
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