Gresham Giants Baseball Team
by Gresham Giants 1900s
Photograph of the Gresham Giants, a local semiprofessional baseball team, in their uniforms. From left: Leslie Merrill, unknown, Charles Larson, Charlie Merrill, Bill Scarek, unknown, Tommy Townsend, Bill Hamlin, coach Joe Patneaude. Players Charles Merrill, Bert Metzger, Carl Wirtz, and Fritz Wirtz are also identified on the back of the photograph, but spelling errors and an extra name make it unclear who is who.
More about this item
- Description
- Photograph of the Gresham Giants, a local semiprofessional baseball team, in their uniforms. From left: Leslie Merrill, unknown, Charles Larson, Charlie Merrill, Bill Scarek, unknown, Tommy Townsend, Bill Hamlin, coach Joe Patneaude. Players Charles Merrill, Bert Metzger, Carl Wirtz, and Fritz Wirtz are also identified on the back of the photograph, but spelling errors and an extra name make it unclear who is who.
- Provenance
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All players switched between positions with versatility, but during this iteration of the team, Tom Townsend appears to have been the best pitcher. Bill Hamlin was usually the catcher (and is often listed in contemporary news articles as manager), and Bert Metzger was first base.
The Gresham Giants baseball team was formed around 1901 and lasted through 1920, due to conflicts between Sunday games and church services. It was semiprofessional by 1908, and part of an inter-city league that included Montavilla, Oregon City, Portland, and other nearby communities. Jimmy Claxton, the first Black player to break the professional baseball color line, was briefly signed to the team in 1915/16, but left prior to the start of the season. - Date
- 1900s
- Creator
- Gresham Giants
- Subject
- Sports
- Baseball
- Baseball managers
- Baseball players
- Rights
- http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/
- Identifier
- ghs1165
- Contributor
- Gresham Historical Society
- Extent
- Print, Photographic
- Type
- StillImage
- Item sets
- Gresham Heritage
Part of Gresham Giants Baseball Team
