A new Bloomers…no, wait…Bloomington Cardinals photo. Here we have Ol’ Stubblebeard himself, wearing his Cardinals uniform on May 4, 1935 - the day before they opened the season in Terre Haute, IN against the Tots.

Grimes, the 270 game winner and Hall of Famer, finished his pro career as player/manager for the Cards. He went 10-5 on the mound that year and the Cards finished 75-44 to win the Three I League by one game over the Springfield (IL) Senators.

Fun fact: the uniforms the ‘35 Cards wore were worn by the 1934 STL Cardinals when they won the World Series.

Bob “Fats” “Fatty” “the People’s Choice” Fothergill was a Bloomer back in 1920. He went on to have a great 12-year career that ended with a .326 (.3255) average - ranking him in the top 50 all-time. In 1927 he batted .359 and drove in 114 runs for the Tigers. I was excited to pick up this type-1 photo of him from that 1927 season.

Throwback to an amazing piece I sold years ago - PSA Authenticated Jackie Robinson Type 1 Photograph. I believe this was a scene from the Jackie Robinson Story movie. Amazing image - I regret selling this one

This 1919 photo of Paul Zahniser arrived today! Pretty excited. He was a Bloomer in 1919 and 1920 and had a lengthy pro career, including spending parts of 5 seasons in the Big Leagues. Two of those seasons were with Walter Johnson and the Washington Senators, owned by former Bloomington Red, Normal, IL native, and Hall of Famer, Clark Griffith. This is my first photo of a future big-leaguer in a Bloomers uniform. Plus, I believe that’s Fan’s Field, home of Bloomington pro baseball for almost 40 years. I love seeing the fellas in hats and ties.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=zahnis001pau

I was able to pick up this killer 1921 type-1 of Ray Schmandt. He was a Bloomer for parts of the 1915 and 1916 seasons. I also have his 1922 American Caramel card. Ray had a nice pro career and was on the pennant-winning 1920 Brooklyn Robins.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=schman001ray