Who were these guys? The seated fellow on the far right end seems to be wearing a light cap with the letter "B" in the crown. Could the "B" easily stand for Brownwood, the Texas town where the photo was finished?
According to this marking on its back, this photo was this photo was finished by Taylor Brothers in Brownwood, Tex
This photo is a gift that arrived yesterday from my friend Sumner Hunnewell of Arnold Missouri in the St. Louis area.Sumner knows that I love anything pictorial on the early days of baseball, especially if it has anything to do with early baseball teams in the State of Texas.
We don’t know anything about the photo beyond what’s written on the back that it was “finished” by Taylor Brothers of Brownwood, Texas and that one of the players (front row, far right) appears to be wearing a lighter-colored cap with a “B” on the front crown quadrant. “Brownwood appears to be the obvious locale of the team, but this was real cowboy country back in the day, and still is. The “B” could have stood for the team’s nickname, Something like “Broncos” or “Bulls” would have worked fine, except that most town teams preferred to identify most closely with their places of origin.
A fellow named Ted Kapnick gave the photo to Sumner Hunnewell. Kapnick owned a college wood bat club known as the Farmington Browns of the KIT collegiate summer league program last year. Kapnick had also received the photo as a gift from yet another friend in New Jersey. I’ve also now heard from Ted Kapnick and he has promised to see what the NJ friend knows about the photo too. Who knows? This may be a mystery that’s been passing from hand to hand for something close to a century of time now, but that’s OK. The added mystery simply amplifies the photo’s “orphan in the storm of baseball history” status with me. As for me, the bond with this picture hit instantly. The photo now has a permanent home will give it the best perpetual care I am able to provide – and I also will do what I am able to establish and confirm its identity with the your help of all you out there who also care about and misplaced artifacts.
Is there anyone out there who is familiar with the Brownwood, Texas area? I plan to contact their library and local schools, but any special information you may have too could be very useful here. Feel free to contact me through the comment feature on this article or simply drop me an e-mail message at houston_buff@hotmail.com .
Now that I’ve set forth the straightforward research question at hand, here’s what I came with as my fictional account of who each of these twelve Texas cowboy types are by name, age, position, and local employment as members of the “Brownwood Broncos” (also fictional). As I said earlier to Sumner Hunnewell, these guys look tough enough to have played a triple header on Sunday and then headed out at Monday dawn on a one thousand head of cattle drive from Brownwood, Texas to Dodge City, Kansas. (Sunday blue laws prohibiting the sale of alcohol or the playing of baseball or the general pursuit of pleasure on the Sabbath did not rule all Texas communities.) Naturally, I could only get there by way of a minor digression into lyrical verse.
The Brownwood Broncos: A Fictional Account of the Players in the Photo:
Brownwood
Boys of Brownwood,
Eased away for the day,
From the cattle ranges,
Downtown grain stores and pool halls,
From Sam’s Barber Shop and Jeb Hooker’s Saloon.
Today they each ride a different horse,
Today they mount the diamond range,
Today they are the twelve men of game-heart,
Today they play ball as the Brownwood Broncos.
In fantasy, they ride as follows,
From left to right, back row first:
Back Row, Left to Right ~
Clinton Farley, 24, CF-SS, cowboy, Johnson Ranch;
Shorty Mazar, 29, 2B-LF, barber, Sam’s Barber Shop;
Tillman Stoker, 32, 1B, range foreman, Johnson Ranch;
Harvey Kellogg, 48. Manager-P, Mayor, Brownwood, Texas;
Bitsy Cole, 27, SS-CF, Western Union Telegrapher, Brownwood;
Henry Veselka, 38, OF-P, Smejkal’s Seed & Feed, Brownwood;
Front Row, Left to Right ~
Corky Collins, 31, RF-P, chuck wagon cook, Johnson Ranch;
Billy Bob Johnson, 22, C-3B, rancher’s son, Johnson Ranch;
Theo Hydecker, 26, LF-2B, blacksmith, Brownwood;
Oscar Gruber, 27, 3B-C, clerk, Wells Fargo Bank, Brownwood;
Ashley Taylor, 26, P-1B, photographer, Taylor Bros, Brownwood;
Albert Taylor, 26. P-OF, photographer, Taylor Bros, Brownwood.
Bottom Line: Now let’s find out who these guys really were.
Tags: Baseball, Brownwood Baseball Photo, History
The Pecan Park Eagle 
February 26, 2011 at 2:02 pm |
I see a road trip to Brownwood in someone’s future. 😉
February 26, 2011 at 4:45 pm |
A college that no longer exists, Daniel “B”aker College, once existed in Brownwood at this time (it later merged with Howard Payne), and was a “player” amongst the college athletics circuit during the time of this photo. Just something to consider. And one thing to consider is that these gentlemen don’t really seem to be the academic types. But it’s possible that Howard Payne maintains the archives for DBC, such that you perhaps could find something comparative amongst the collection, or dare I say even another copy of this same said photo? Also, a call to the local historicals society/museum might provide a lead.
February 26, 2011 at 4:54 pm |
According to Peter Filichia’s book on Professional Baseball Franchises,
published in 1993, Brownwood had a “charter franchise” in the 1905
Class D West Texas League. Unfortunately, it “disbanded” during that
same 1905 season. However, I think this item might be suspect because
I find that most of the nearby potential opponents fielded teams much
later….1920-22 to be exact….in a Class D West Texas League. Likewise,
The Encyclopdia of Minor League Baseball shows neither a team from Brownwood nor a West Texas League in 1905. Lots of activity in other
towns in the 1920’s. My bet would be that the “Broncos” played
weekend ball in the fashion described in the great fantasy poem
and lineup! Dates yet to be determined.
February 26, 2011 at 5:45 pm |
Guess we can’t overlook the slim possibility that these stalwarts are
the opponents from Ballinger, Texas, which also had an entry for the
1905 mystery season for the West Texas League. Given the appearance
of the cap Albert’s wearing, it could have been borrowed from most
anyone for the purposes of the photo. It’s fun just to wonder about it.
February 26, 2011 at 5:48 pm |
IMHO, this is a local-9 town team.
February 27, 2011 at 3:02 pm |
Our San Angelo comunity had a team in the short-lived 1905 league as well as the 1920s leagues. The 1905 league had teams in San Angelo, Ballinger, Brownwood, and Dublin, all served by the same rail line. The photo reflects more 1920s uniform/equipment style than 1905. Many of the early 1900s leagues came and went without any official backing by the national organization.
August 15, 2011 at 12:50 am |
joyas…
Unidentified Brownwood TX Baseball Photo « The Pecan Park Eagle…
February 8, 2012 at 9:08 pm |
A good example…
Therefore here’s another demonstration of what Billy was chatting about…
September 18, 2012 at 7:58 pm |
another possibilty…the Zephyr “B”ulldogs were a big town at the time. It is only located 12 miles from brownwood. it is small now due to a tornado in the early 1900s, and doesnt have baseball today.
September 7, 2013 at 7:39 am |
My dad played for several teams around Brownwood in the 40s including Howard Payne, Santa Fe, and the Brownwood Browns! We don’t have any pictures of the team, but we still have his uniform. His father & uncles also played on a team before him. We have a picture of their team from Zurette (a small community north of Brownwood). The photo from the newspaper said the team owned 1 bat, 1 ball, and 2 gloves. I was looking for more information about the teams when I found your photo. No one in the photo looks familiar. Daddy’s uniform for the Browns was white with red lettering.