Ray Richmond played a grand total of 8 big league games for the St. Louis Browns in the early 1920s. He began his professional baseball career in Bloomington and was a Bloomer from 1914-1916. This Type 1 photo of Ray is a beauty.

@Curt_Burner posted a shot of his Fatima NY Giants team postcard today. In that photo is Art Wilson, who was a back-up catcher for the Giants. Some of his earliest professional baseball experience was with the Bloomington Bloomers from 1906 to 1908. I love this Type 1 photo of Arthur from 1911. He’s built like a brick sh!t house. Love the early uniform and mitt. Along with the fans in their suits and sweet hats. I’ve also included an image of his T207 that calls out his time in Bloomington on the back.

This is a Type-1 photo of Herman Schwartje (misspelled “Schwartze” on the back) posing at old Fans Field in Bloomington. On July 27, 1925, Herman threw a perfect game for the Bloomers against Springfield (IL) in a Three-I League game and this photo was taken for newspaper coverage. I love this photo for a number of reasons. It gives us a glimpse of Fans Field (gone for decades), the conditions of the field, and even a few fans in the stands. Additionally, the Society of Baseball Research, refers to this image as one of the earliest examples of minor league teams using uniform numbers.