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.

I missed out on a Type-1 of Leslie Nunamaker at an auction last week. Still bummed I didn’t get that one. In lieu of that 1911 photo and to ease the pain of losing, I bought this 1922 E121 American Caramel card of Leslie Nunamaker. Les played for the Bloomers in 1910. I love seeing the old catcher’s mitt!

This is one of my favorite Bloomington pieces. On June 30, 1939 the Pittsburgh Pirates stopped in Peoria (IL - about 35 miles west of Bloomington) for an exhibition game against the Bloomers. Look at the Hall of Famers on the Pirate roster! And a couple of all-time greats in the dugout. It’s probably the closest I’ll get to a Honus Wagner card. The game was played at Woodruff Field - and while the stadium is gone, the LF wall is still there!

Another piece from my Bloomington, IL player collection. Fred Beck played a couple of games for the Bloomers in 1905, and then spent most of 1906-08 with the Bloomers. His best season in the Big Leagues was 1914 with the old Chicago Whales of the Federal League. Anyone know where the Whales played their home games?