With Major League Baseball’s Spring Training in full swing, we thought it’d be fun to take a trip down memory lane with a few variations on a theme of campy group MLB photos. Let’s see how you do figuring out who’s in each of the following three images that have a similar appearance.
Image 1
This fun group was photographed in Vero Beach, FL, circa 1955 or so. At far right is professional tennis player, Gussie Moran, who did some work as a sportscaster at New York’s WMGM radio station. This undated photo may have been while she was there. Moran’s highest U.S. ranking was fourth and she advanced to the U.S. Open singles semifinals in 1948 and the Wimbledon singles quarterfinals in 1950.
The Brooklyn Dodgers leaping skyward with their tennis rackets are, from left, Don Zimmer, Duke Snider, Carl Erskine, Walt Moryn. Erskine was the last surviving member of this photo, dying at the age of 97 on April 16, 2024.
Image 2
The Baltimore Orioles of the late 1960s and early 1970s were a talented team that’s for sure. Most of the notoriety went to the pitching staff that featured the likes of Mike Cuellar, Dave McNally, and Jim Palmer. It’s infield wasn’t too shabby, either. In this undated spring training photo is Baltimore’s starting infield of Brooks Robinson, Mark Belanger, Davey Johnson, and Boog Powell.
Of those Gold Gloves referenced in the clue, 24 of them were on the left side of the infield. Robinson won 16 and Belanger eight!
Image 3
What a star-studded quartet this was in the middle of the California Angels’ lineup during the 1982 season! Sure, each of them was beginning to play the proverbial back nine by the time they gathered in Anaheim, but Don Baylor, Rod Carew, Reggie Jackson, and Fred Lynn posed a formidable heart of the batting order.
Carew and Jackson both have plaques hanging in Cooperstown, Lynn was the first league Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season (1975 Boston Red Sox), and Baylor was as professional a hitter as they came.
Here’s a look at their career totals:
- Baylor – 2,292 Games/2,135 Hits/338 HRs/1,276 RBIs/.260 BA/1979 AL MVP
- Carew – 2,469 Games/3,053 Hits/1,015 RBIs/1,424 Runs/.328 BA/1967 RoY/1977 MVP
- Jackson – 2,820 Games/2,584 Hits/563 HRs/1,702 RBIs/.262 BA/1973 MVP
- Lynn – 1,969 Games/1,960 Hits/306 HRs/1,111 RBIs/.283 BA/1975 RoY/1975 MVP
Just to review, The Fan Teaser was the creation of former Ann Arbor News Sports Editor Geoff Larcom. Longtime friend and fellow Ann Arbor News alum, Pat Schutte, took it to heights previously unknown. We aim to keep it alive here at The Sports Fan Project. The cropped photo and the accompanying clue give you an idea as to who or what the image is of. We invite you to use the Comment option to take a crack at solving the Teaser and, if you’re so inclined, participate in some good-spirited banter with your fellow sports fans. The Fan Teaser will appear each Friday morning with the reveal coming to you Sunday.