1913-14 Joe Gedeon - Chicago Black Sox Scandal CHARLES CONLON PORTRAIT Type 1

Charles M. Conlon Born November 28, 1868 Albany, New York, U.S. Died June 2, 1945 (aged 76) Troy, New York, U.S. Occupation Baseball photographer Charles Martin Conlon (November 28, 1868 – June 2, 1945) was an American photographer born in Albany, New York who grew up in the neighboring city of Troy. Conlon started his career working for New York City newspapers in the early 1900s, as a proof-reader, and took up landscape photography as a hobby. New York Evening Telegram editor John B. Foster, who also produced the annual "Spalding Base Ball Guide", asked Conlon to take photographs of the players for the well known annual. Conlon later wrote in The Sporting News that Foster “came to know about my hobby—taking pictures. He said to me one day, ‘Charley, they need pictures of ball players for the Guide, and there is no reason why you can’t take pictures of the players, as well as landscapes. It will be a good pickup for you, and it will be something for a day off.”[1] Conlon used a Graflex View camera and large format glass plate negatives before switching to film, in all he created at least 30,000 images over his career that spanned 1904–1941.[2] Most of his archive consisted of thousands of portraits of major league baseball players, however his most famous photo is a fortunate action shot of Ty Cobb sliding into third base at Hilltop Park in 1910, upending the fielder, Jimmy Austin. This photo, and many of his images, of baseball's early stars are instantly recognizable, due to having been frequently reprinted over the years and the subject of several books, trading cards and documentaries. The Cobb photo is considered the first "action" sports photo.[citation needed] The Cobb photo Conlon's most famous picture: Ty Cobb stealing third, sliding into Jimmy Austin On July 23, 1910, Conlon snapped an action photo of Cobb sliding into third. For publication, the original photo was cropped on the right, taking away almost half of the image. That is the version everyone saw until Baseball's Golden Age: The Photographs of Charles M. Conlon was published in 1993. The excised portion is included and shows more of the right-side bleachers, as well as the left arm of the third base coach. Conlon was actually on the field, being a common practice of the day, "behind third base, under the hood of a large, tripod-supported Graflex camera".[3] He was positioned to the outfield side of the third base coach's box, in foul territory. Cobb was on second. New York third baseman Jimmy Austin was playing in for a possible sacrifice bunt. Cobb took off for third, directly toward Conlon, but batter Sam Crawford did not get the bunt down. Austin backpedaled to take the throw from the catcher. Cobb tipped Austin over and the throw from catcher Fred Mitchell sailed away into left field. Cobb got up and scored on the throwing error[4]. Initially, there was a question as to whether Conlon got the shot or not. He changed plates, just to be safe, because he did not remember if he had squeezed the shutter bulb or not, and he knew it had potential to be a great shot. It turned out that he had, it was, and baseball had one of its most iconic images. Conlon however did not see much of a financial reward from his most famous image. In 1937, Conlon estimated he had received more than 1,000 royalty payments for the famous image, however these all ranged from only a dime to 50 cents. Many of his most famous photos now sell for five figures.[5] Later life and death Conlon destroyed possibly thousands of his original glass plate negatives to clear space in his small home, stating in 1937 "Some years ago, I found that my plates were running me out of the house, so I destroyed hundreds of them. Perhaps it was a mistake, but where would I have kept them? It is possible that had we had a Cooperstown museum at the time, they would have found a haven there."[quote needs citation] Conlon retired to his hometown of Troy and died in 1945, predeceased by his wife and having no children or siblings. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Joe Gedeon Second baseman Born: December 5, 1893 Sacramento, California, U.S. Died: May 19, 1941 (aged 47) San Francisco, California, U.S. Batted: Right Threw: Right MLB debut May 13, 1913, for the Washington Senators Last MLB appearance October 3, 1920, for the St. Louis Browns MLB statistics Batting average .244 Home runs 1 Runs batted in 171 Stats at Baseball Reference Teams Washington Senators (1913–1914) New York Yankees (1916–1917) St. Louis Browns (1918–1920) Elmer Joseph Gedeon (December 5, 1893 – May 19, 1941) was an American second baseman in Major League Baseball. He played for the Washington Senators, New York Yankees, and St. Louis Browns. Biography Born in Sacramento, California, Gedeon started his professional baseball career in 1912 in the Pacific Coast League. He won a job with the Senators the following season. Gedeon hit poorly in limited action and went back to the PCL in 1914. In 1915, he had the best offensive season of his career with the Salt Lake City Bees, batting .317 and slugging .514 in 190 games.[1] For most of the next five seasons, Gedeon was a regular with the Yankees and Browns. He was an above-average defensive player, leading all American League second basemen in assists once (1918) and fielding percentage twice (1918 and 1919). In 1920, he led the AL in sacrifice hits with 48; this total is still a Browns/Orioles single season record. Gedeon – who was a friend of Black Sox conspirator Swede Risberg – was present during a meeting with gamblers, as they were discussing the plot to fix the 1919 World Series. He was later called as a witness in the trial. On November 3, 1921, Gedeon was banned for life from organized baseball for "having guilty knowledge" of the Black Sox Scandal.[2] Gedeon spent three months (February–May 1941) at San Francisco Hospital with a liver ailment. He died May 19, 1941 of the ailment, at age 47.[3] The official cause of death was bronchial pneumonia. His nephew, Elmer Gedeon, was one of only two Major League Baseball players to be killed in World War II, dying in 1944. Gedeon was reinstated by Commissioner Rob Manfred on May 13, 2025 along with other deceased players who were on the ineligible list.[4]