When we unloaded the sixty seven 27" x 16" x 13" blue plastic cartons containing the entirety of the St. Petersburg Times Sports Photo Archive at the MEARS Evaluation & Research Museum we knew that a long road lay ahead in terms of counting and sorting the 125,000 plus photos contained therein.
The entire sports contents, baseball, football, other sports, are being sold during this MEARS Auction Only. Meaning, every single photo has either been listed as a single lot, or packaged into one of the three dealer lot offerings. Meaning, we have not held back one single image. If you see it in this auction, you have only one chance to bid!. Once this lot is sold, MEARS has no more images from the St. Petersburg Times archive.
Offered in this lot are approximately 20,000 of those photos pertaining to all things baseball. The large majority of the photos come from individual player files spanning over 8 decades of the National Pastime with files also being present for each team and many of the stadiums upon which our gazes descend at the start of each spring as hope springs eternal in the hearts of baseball fans everywhere that maybe for their team this will be the year. Approximately 50% percent of the photos are Generation 1 photos with the other 50% being laser and wire photos. While many of the photos feature the more recent stars of the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's there are still a considerable number of images from the 1940's, 1950's and 1960's with some images even stretching back to the early part of the 20th Century. Due to the enormous size of this comprehensive collection shipping will be substantial.
As these 20,000 photos come from the St. Petersburg Times there are more photos present for those teams and their players who have made their spring training homes throughout the years in the legendary Grapefruit League, among them the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, New York Mets, and Pittsburgh Pirates. St. Petersburg was also a long time home to the St. Louis Cardinals affiliate in the Florida State League so there are a sizable chunk of photos documenting the team, its players and some of their FSL competition in the likes of the Clearwater Phillies, Lakeland Tigers and Dunedin Blue Jays. Florida had also been a longtime retirement destination for Americans and ballplayers are no different in their desire to have 12 months of summer in any given year so there are quite a few files depicting retired big league stars with their families or out on the links after their playing careers had come to a close.
Some of the more notable names present in this collection include Big Ed Walsh, Carl Hubbell, Lefty Grove, Dizzy Dean, Dazzy Vance, Bob Feller, Warren Spahn, Whitey Ford, Bob Gibson, Don Drysdale, Jim Palmer, Tom Seaver, Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan, Johnny Bench, Yogi Berra, Carlton Fisk, Willie McCovey, Willie Stargell, Johnny Mize, Eddie Murray, Rod Carew, Joe Morgan, Jackie Robinson, Ryne Sandberg, Wade Boggs, George Brett, Eddie Mathews, Mike Schmidt, Pee Wee Reese, Cal Ripken, Ozzie Smith, Robin Yount, Lou Brock, Ralph Kiner, Jim Rice, Duke Snider, Kirby Puckett, Tony Gwynn, Reggie Jackson, Al Kaline, Dave Winfield, Walter Alston, Sparky Anderson, Leo Durocher, Bucky Harris, Al Lopez, Connie Mack, Joe McCarthy, Bill McKechnie, Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, Bill Veeck and Dock Ellis.
If you would like to view a further sample of this all encompassing lot click on any of the player links below for a selection of some of the Generation 1 photos present in this offering.
Al Hrabosky,
Bert Blyleven,
Bill Veeck,
Bill Virdon,
Bobby Thomson,
Bob Feller,
Bob Gibson,
Branch Rickey,
Bucky Harris,
Curt Flood,
Darryl Strawberry,
Dave Parker,
Dazzy Vance,
Dick Groat,
Dwight Gooden,
Dock Ellis,
Don Drysdale,
Don Newscombe,
Eddie Mathews,
Eddie Stanky,
Frank Howard,
Gary Sheffield,
Gil Hodges,
Jim Palmer,
Jocko Conlan,
Joe Medwick,
Joe Cronin,
Joe Morgan,
Johnny Bench,
Johnny Mize,
Johnny Vander Meer,
J.R. Richard,
Keith Hernandez,
Kirk Gibson,
Lenny Dykstra,
Leo Durocher,
Lou Brock,
Maury Wills,
Monte Irvin,
Moose Skowron,
Ozzie Smith,
Phil Rizzutto,
Ralph Kiner,
Robin Roberts,
Ron LeFlore,
Spud Chandler,
Steve Carlton,
Ted Kluszewski,
Tommy Lasorda,
Tom Seaver,
Vince Coleman,
Wade Boggs,
Walter Alston,
Warren Giles,
Warren Spahn,
Whitey Ford,
Whitey Herzog &
Willie McCovey.
(MEARS Auction LOA~SB)