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John McGraw and the New York Giants Photo Gallery
Click on any image below to see photos in full size and to start Photo Gallery:
Spring Training, 1912 Style
With spring training finally starting to heat up, here’s a neat photo from the Giants spring training camp in 1912. After a little sleuthing we were able to determine it was from Emerson Park in Marlin, Texas where the Giants held spring training from 1908-1918. Besides McGraw, we identified Heine Groh (to the right of McGraw), probably minor leaguer Gus Gardella holding the bat, coach Arlie Latham in the middle, and Jeff Tesseau (without the cap). Not sure who the player on the far right is. Check out the dilapidated conditions of the field. Not exactly up to 2016 standards!
Here’s some interesting information about the Giants in Marlin, Texas. It’s from an article in “Sports Day” by columnist Kevin Sherrington:
“Marlin fulfilled the desires of Giants manager John McGraw, who wanted a place where the world’s greatest baseball team could train without getting in trouble. The team holed up in the Arlington, one of three hotels serving a town noted for its healing waters. Christy Mathewson would set up on the front porch of the Arlington for the duration, taking on all comers in checkers.
The team practiced twice a day at Emerson Park, a mile from the hotel. The players walked the train tracks both ways. Between workouts, they took advantage of the hot baths and found entertainment where they could. Occasionally, they might go stir-crazy. One player attacked a Giants coach unprovoked, biting him on the cheek. Rube Marquard once fired a pistol from his hotel room out of boredom. When authorities responded, McGraw threatened to take his team and never come back. No charges were filed.
Marlin loved its big league team, and McGraw loved it back. Every year, the town hosted a fish fry before the Giants headed north. A benefit and dance were social highlights. The Giants became part of the town’s life cycle. ‘I still stick to my assertions,’ McGraw told a local newspaper in 1912, ‘that Marlin with its famous water is the finest place on earth for a ball team.’
Alas, the marriage didn’t last. Baseball broke it up after World War I with travel restrictions. When the Giants returned to Texas in 1920, they jilted Marlin for San Antonio, a popular baseball destination three hours south.”
-Gary Livacari
Photo Source -Featured photo from Higgins and Scott Auctions
Others from public domain
Information: Excerpts edited from article in “Sports Day’” by Kevin Sherrington
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Thanks to Don Stokes for help with the identifications
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