# Please HELP me identify this (unknown) bassball player!! **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 14, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-unknown-bassball-player/618724 "2012-04-14T01:56:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rtg2002](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecae2f/32.png) [@rtg2002](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rtg2002)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-unknown-bassball-player/618724/1 "2012-04-14T01:56:50Z")
Please help me identify this (unknown) baseball players name and team(s) [circ.1920’s-30’s] I have a very clear picture of this mystery man. …it’s important! Thank you[http://cwpaddock.webs.com/photos/undefined/Paddock%20running%20with%20(unknown)%20baseball%20player.jpg](http://cwpaddock.webs.com/photos/undefined/Paddock%20running%20with%20(unknown)%20baseball%20player.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-unknown-bassball-player/618724/2 "2012-04-14T02:06:58Z")
Your font color is impossible to read against the white background. Perhaps if you reposted using the default font, people could read this more easily and you’d be more likely to get an answer from someone. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-unknown-bassball-player/618724/3 "2012-04-14T02:07:46Z")
Welcome to the SDMB! Just a point to help other people help you – yellow type is darned difficult to read. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-unknown-bassball-player/618724/4 "2012-04-14T02:15:53Z")
Based on looking at your picture, you’ve got a very challenging request. As far as I can tell, there’s no sign of an insignia or any identifying marks on either guy’s outfit. By backtracking your URL, I see that the guy on the left is 1920s track star Charles Paddock, but clearly, you want to know who the other guy is. ---
**Author:** ![mkecane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9e8a1a/32.png) [@mkecane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mkecane)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-unknown-bassball-player/618724/5 "2012-04-14T02:20:44Z")
Babe Ruth? ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-unknown-bassball-player/618724/6 "2012-04-14T02:39:10Z")
So, is bassball an amalgam of two classic time wasters? Do the players have to hit the ball with a fishing pole, or do they stun fish in the lake by beaning them on the head? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-unknown-bassball-player/618724/7 "2012-04-14T02:39:47Z")
> [@mkecane](#): > > Babe Ruth? [Not even close.](http://bioproj.sabr.org/bp_ftp/images3/RuthBabe.jpg) Also, given the nature of the picture (apparently a footrace between the ballplayer and an Olympic track star), I would guess that the baseball player is someone known for his speed. Ruth was known for being a slugger, not a runner. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-unknown-bassball-player/618724/8 "2012-04-14T02:45:55Z")
Welcome to the SDMB, **rtg2002**. I have moved your thread from Cafe Society, which is about the arts, to the Game Room, which is where sports threads go. I also removed the command turning your text yellow, because people found it difficult to read. I recommend that you just leave the default settings for colors. **twickster** , Cafe Society moderator ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-unknown-bassball-player/618724/9 "2012-04-14T14:00:51Z")
Could be Jack Rothrock. There is [an article](http://sabr.org/bioproj/person/6551658d) here that calls him the Charley Paddock of baseball. Also this anecdote: > [@](#): > > Jack’s son has a newspaper clipping telling about when Paddock and Rothrock ran against each other from left field to home plate. Paddock crossed the plate perhaps eight inches ahead. [Baseball reference](http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/rothrja01.shtml) entry here with a picture. ---
**Author:** ![rtg2002](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecae2f/32.png) [@rtg2002](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rtg2002)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-unknown-bassball-player/618724/10 "2012-04-17T22:00:37Z")
Sorry everyone. for the lame faunt colors (Im new). and thanks for fixing it. And our family was pleased to see the responce from our question. Looks like it may be Jack Rothrock running next to Charley Paddock! Everything fit’s… The timing is spot-on, plus the fact that Jack was deemed “The Charles Paddock of Baseball” …And after looking at many many photo’s of Jack, He has large ears and a sheepish grin, just like the man in our mystery picture. THANK YOU mcgato !!! Most of the pictures we have from our Grandpa (Touring the country), seem to be placed in the Boston, Penn and Washington state regions. BTW- When we saw that photo for the first time, My gut told me, it was taken at Fenway Park (Looking at the stands in the background). Babe Ruth?!?.. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-help-me-identify-this-unknown-bassball-player/618724/11 "2012-04-19T17:43:38Z")
Well, Ty Cobb did allow as he could run pretty fast, for a fat man…