Iconic image of Willie Keeler snapped by the Pictorial News in Spring Training in Atlanta in 1903. The Highlanders/Yankees franchise was created in mid-March 1903 and accepted into the American League. This image was taken a couple of weeks later and is likely one of the first photos of a Yankees player ever shot.

We know it is 1903 in Atlanta based on the uniform and newspaper accounts. Here is our photo used in the June 2, 1903 The Morning Telegraph a New York area broadsheet.

The March 20th copy of The Atlanta Constitution shows Keeler in the same cap and sweater which has the same rolls at bottom as our Keeler image. Our photo was likely taken around March 20, 1903. The article also confirms this image was taken at Piedmont Park in Atlanta where the Highlanders trained that year. Note the back of our photo has “3-20” on the back, this likely correlates with the publishing of this photo.

The Pictorial News stamp on back is their earliest stamp and that is the known address for Pictorial News in 1903.

Our photo was also used for the Keeler 1909 E97 baseball card.

1903 press photos are incredibly rare, not to mention for a Hall of Famer during the first few weeks of the Yankees franchise!