Newly discovered information as to exactly who the player is. Description has been totally updated from what is printed in the catalog.

3.5x5.5" c. 1908 w/"AZO" divided back w/four triangles pointing upward. Top margin has a penciled notation but is o/w unused. Great photo image of Chappie in his St. Paul Colored Gophers uniform.  A baseball lays on the ground several feet in front of him. In the bkg. are two other black players although details are a bit blurry as are the spectators that line a fence in the far bkg. Lt. aging but Exc. From the Richard Merkin Collection and comes with Hake’s COA.

The St. Paul Colored Gophers lasted only few years, as the market in St. Paul was too small. Like other barnstorming teams of the time, however, they had considerable impact on the desegregation of baseball. In 1909, the Colored Gophers defeated what was considered to be the most powerful Negro baseball team, the Leland Giants. Currently, the Colored Gophers are rarely mentioned in Negro baseball history, and statistics and rosters are hard to find. On occasion, the Minnesota Twins have honored them by wearing replica throwback jerseys of the 1909 team.  

Chappie played for many of the best teams from 1895 to 1920 and he crossed racial boundaries as a teacher and coach. He was one of Negro League baseball's earliest stars, and the first catcher of note.