--- title: Celebrate Baseball Opening Day With Vintage Player Portraits description: These photographs were once in the collection of baseball pioneer A.G. Spalding canonical: https://time.com/4268232/vintage-baseball-photos/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-01T15:00:03.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:00:13.815Z article:section: History og:title: Celebrate Baseball Opening Day With Vintage Player Portraits og:description: These photographs were once in the collection of baseball pioneer A.G. Spalding og:url: https://time.com/4268232/vintage-baseball-photos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6204449e0a45c190/69888c1a428a9e8b09cd1ec6/160322-vintage-baseball-nypl-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Vintage Baseball Photographs og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Celebrate Baseball Opening Day With Vintage Player Portraits twitter:description: These photographs were once in the collection of baseball pioneer A.G. Spalding twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6204449e0a45c190/69888c1a428a9e8b09cd1ec6/160322-vintage-baseball-nypl-01.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Start the Season Right With These 19th-Century Baseball Portraits  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Apr 1, 2016 3:00 PM CUT  Charlie Ferguson and Tommy McCarthy of the Philadelphia Quakers. From the A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection. Charlie Ferguson and Tommy McCarthy of the Philadelphia Quakers. From the A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection.From The New York Public Library  by [Lily Rothman](/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Apr 1, 2016 3:00 PM CUT The beginning of April means one thing for American sports fans: baseball is back. This year’s first game will be held on Sunday, when the Pittsburgh Pirates host the St. Louis Cardinals. [According to legend](http://time.com/4160583/baseball-hall-of-fame-history/ "undefined"), the game of baseball was born in 1835 in Cooperstown, N.Y.; the MLB was founded about sixty years later. And, though lots has changed between now and then, a game of late-19th-century baseball would still be recognizable to today’s fans—including, as these photos show, the socks. And, though the modern baseball card is attributed to [Sy Berger](http://time.com/3633137/sy-berger-baseball-card-topps/ "undefined"), who introduced Topps cards in 1951, its precursors were already around at that time, often in the form of studio portraits of players demonstrating the athletic poses that would have been seen on the field. (It was around that time, as _The Atlantic_ has [explained](http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/12/a-cultural-history-of-the-baseball-card/383784/ "undefined"), that players’ images also began to show up in cigarette packs as a “marketing gimmick.”) [_Get your history fix in one place: sign up for the weekly TIME History newsletter_](http://time.com/newsletter "undefined") These photos—some of which are undated but which appear to all come from the 1870s and ’80s—are part of the A.G. Spalding [baseball collection](http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/collections/a-g-spalding-baseball-collection?format=html&id=a-g-spalding-baseball-collection&per%5Fpage=250&page=1#/?tab=about "undefined") of the New York Public Library. Spalding, who will probably be most familiar today for the sports equipment that still bears his name, was a star in the early days of professional baseball, as a pitcher for the Chicago team that would eventually become the Cubs. He was also an aficionado of the game, publishing an annual guide for fans and gathering a large personal collection of baseball memorabilia, which his widow gave to the Library after his 1915 death.  Charlie Ferguson and Tommy McCarthy of the Philadelphia Quakers. From the A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection. From The New York Public Library  Tommy Beals, 1874 Change 2nd base. Boston. From the A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection. From The New York Public Library  Deacon McGuire of the Philadelphia Quakers. From the A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection. From The New York Public Library  Tommy McCarthy of the Boston Reds. From the A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection. From The New York Public Library  Deacon McGuire of the Philadelphia Quakers. From the A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection. From The New York Public Library  Joe Mulvey, baseball infielder in Boston. From the A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection. From The New York Public Library  Deacon White, 3rd base for the Detroit Wolverines, 1888\. From the A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection. From The New York Public Library  Deacon McGuire of the Philadelphia Quakers. From the A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection. From The New York Public Library  Jack Clements of the Philadelphia Quakers. From the A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection. From The New York Public Library  Deacon McGuire of the Philadelphia Quakers. From the A. G. Spalding Baseball Collection. 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