These two real photo postcards were produced by Lee L. Stopple. They depict Frank “Home Run” Baker and Christy Mathewson during Spring Training exhibition games against the Galveston Sand Crabs of the Texas League in March 1912 at Beach Park in Galveston, Texas. The reverse of the postcards are inscribed with a pithy accolade for each player in Stopple’s own hand and bear his signature and brag about the shots.
Stopple tells us the Mathewson was taken on Saturday, March 16, 1912 at Galveston. The Galveston Daily News and New York Times each confirm that the Giants did indeed play an exhibition game against the minor league Galveston Sand Crabs (they became the Galveston Pirates in 1913) on March 16th in Galveston. Mathewson pitched the last three innings in a 15-1 Giants victory. Matty is wearing the dark uniform and solid white socks that were only worn by the Giants during the 1911 World Series. Also notice Matty’s superb tweed overcoat! A smart move on Matty’s part as the Galveston Daily News weather section indicates a game time temperature of 58 degrees with a brisk wind of 13 mph.
The game was played at Beach Park which was hastily completed the week before the Giants came to town. The stadium was used by the Galveston Sand Crabs (became the Pirates in 1913) from 1912 to 1914. Here is a real photo postcard of the 1914 Galveston Pirates at their Beach Park home field.
Notice the top right of the photo. The trim at the bottom of the roof and railing along the back row match up with the Mathewson and the Baker postcards. The netting matches in all the photos and even the four high, field level boards shown in 1914 can be seen in an enlargement of the Baker photo. Also note the sandy ground under Baker’s feet, this was “Beach Park” after all!
This photo of the Giants game against the locals appeared in the March 24, 1912 Galveston Daily News showing a panoramic view of Beach Park during the Mathewson game! The stands, dugout and even the lean to on top of the roof match with the postcard photos.
Clearly the photos were all taken at Beach Park, but when was the Baker photo taken? The answer is Friday March 22, 1912. The Galveston Daily News and the Philadelphia Inquirer confirm that the Athletics came to Galveston to challenge the Sand Crabs the Friday following the Giants game. Twelve hundred persons turned out to see the game. The A’s had been in Houston and it wasn’t until 1 P.M. of the game day that Connie Mack committed to journey the 50 miles from Houston to Galveston to play the game. The Galveston Daily News reports Baker, the hero of the World Series the previous Fall, received a standing ovation upon his first appearance at the plate. He hit a home run, his first of the Spring, during the game, but the local Galveston press remained unimpressed, publishing “He got a home run all right, but it wasn’t as good as it might have been.” The A’s enjoyed an oyster supper after the game before boarding a trolley car for the ride back to Houston. Chief Bender pitched in the game and I can only dream what a Stopple Bender RPPC would look like!
Who was Lee L. Stopple? According to his obituaries published in the California papers and in the online information below, he was born in Bellville, Texas (close to Houston) in 1888 and died in Santa Rosa California in 1960. According to the Houston Post June 1914 posted real estate transfers, Stopple bought a lot in Houston, which places him as settled in the Galveston vicinity at the time he took the postcard pictures. Stopple subsequently moved to the San Francisco Bay area where he lived the rest of his life. He was a book collector, newspaper owner, Photostat and lithography business owner. His twin passions, books and mountaineering, are evident in his personal bookplate shown below!
He was also an avid mountaineer and noted amateur photographer. His photos appeared alongside photographs by a young Ansel Adams in a 1926 Sierra Club Bulletin Volume XII Number 3, see below.
