Volume 11 , Issue 50

1909 Guthrie Team Photo

The photo on the left is a rescan of the 1909 Guthrie Baseball team. William J. McGill is on the back row, third from left. Clare Patterson is on the back row, second from the left.

Jan in Topeka, Kansas says, "Linda, I have visited your website several times, and really appreciate that you have made such an effort to share the wonderfully detailed documentation about your grandfather's baseball exploits.

"I enjoy researching early Kansas baseball history, and have an interest in some of your grandfather's teammates. I am currently working on a biographical article about one of them -- Clare Patterson -- who played on the 1909 Guthrie team.

"The reason I'm writing you now is because of the photo you posted of this team. I was wondering if you would be willing to share a high-resolution scan of the photo? Good close-ups of Patterson in uniform are hard to find, but I would like to be able to include one when I submit my article for posting. I have seen another copy of the Guthrie photo, but the image I've seen has flaws in it around his face. If I could get a good, high-resolution copy of the team photo, I might be able to crop a decent close-up of him out of it. Patterson is standing in the top row, second from the left, next to your grandfather.

"Let me tell you a little more about the project. For the past few years I have been a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR). One of the SABR committees which I belong to is called the Baseball Biography Project. As the name implies, the members of this project write biographical articles about players. The articles are all posted online; if you'd like to check it out, here is the link. I have completed two bios, on Jesse and Virgil Barnes, and am close to finishing the one on Patterson.

"I have other projects underway as well. I am building a database that includes major league players who had some connection to Kansas. Within that group, I am actively collecting more detailed biographical and baseball record information on several dozen Dead Ball Era players (from the early 1900s).

"Your grandfather is on my list because of his ties to Kansas, although I admit I haven't done much research on him since so much info is already available on your website. Other of his teammates, besides Patterson, that I'm interested in are Warren Gill and Harry Suter. Gill played for Austin in 1906 and Suter played for Austin in 1906-07. Harry Suter, turns out, is buried in the cemetery directly across the street from where I went to school in the small town of Assaria, KS.

"After I finish the Patterson project, if you're interested, I would really like to correspond with you about your grandfather, his childhood in Kansas, his college days at Friends, and the timeline of his career.

"I really appreciate that you were willing to share your copy of the 1909 team. I haven't actually done much research on the Austin and Guthrie teams, other than what I've done for the Patterson article, and that was pretty much centered on him. My focus so far has been mostly on players, and less so on team history."
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