NOTE: Lot description has been changed. Further research has revealed that although the 1885-6 Cuban Giants were the first professional black ball club that traveled internationally when they visited Cuba in the winter of 1885, there are reports of some white professional baseball teams traveling to play outside of the United States prior to 1885.
The original Cuban Giants from 1885-6 were unquestionably the most important and significant black ball club of the 19th century. What the Cincinnati Red Stockings team of 1869 is to white baseball, the 1885 Cuban Giants are to black baseball. Both teams mark the respective points, one in the white major leagues and the other in the Negro Leagues, when astute owners made the crucial decision to forgo “under the table” payments and regularly pay salaries to their players as professionals. Shortly after their inception in 1886 the Cuban Giants ball club, featuring some of the best black ball players of their era, headed south from New York to play ball in St. Augustine, Florida. That is where this original cabinet photo was taken. On this trip south the team won almost all of their games. That summer the club returned home winning 40 barnstorming games along their way up the east coast before eventually finding a permanent home in Trenton, New Jersey.
For the next year the original Cuban Giants took on all comers and continued to make history as the first all black team to play against white major league teams when they battled clubs from both the American Association and the National League. But fate was to cruelly intercede and their string of games against major leaguers ended in 1887 when the color barrier was raised. Though the Cuban Giants continued their winning ways for several years (e.g. The New York Sun called them “one of the best teams in the city to see” in 1888), their heyday, without question, belonged to the group of pioneers captured in this photograph.
The only example known, the photo includes; Standing from left: Andrew Randolph, 1st base; Harry Johnson, 2nd base; Ben Holmes; Shep Trusty dubbed “the best pitcher in the country” by the Trenton Times; Art Thomas, the catcher who in the mid 1880’s was offered but turned down a contract to play in the major leagues; G. Day; sitting left: Billy Whyte; Ben Boyd; George Parego; Clarence Williams, l.f.: bottom sitting left with bats: G. Shadney; Milton Dabney (original owner of this photo); S. Epps. The team name and years of existence is written in ink on the top of this 7” by 9” cabinet photo, most likely rendered by the family of ballplayer Milton Dabney, the photo’s original owner. On the bottom, Dabney himself is identified by handwritten initials. The back is stamped “Jeb Dabney” twice and the original stamping from a St Augustine photographic studio likewise appears. There are light pencil notations on the back and two tiny tack holes on the top and left side of the photo. They do not in anyway detract from the crystal clear image of the team. The photo has been minimally restored and this lot comes with articles and materials attesting to its extraordinary historical importance.
Estimate: $4,000-6,000