Jacob Pomrenke

@buckweaver

Curling, cats, and crimes. And occasional baseball. (Also, baseball crimes.) Living in Chicago with @pulhitzherprize.bsky.social. Never quite sure which century I’m in.

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Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· 24d

Here are two photos of the 1908 Brewers, which appear to be a better match for the jerseys and caps. So that might be a possibility. Can’t find any warmup sweaters from that year.

1908 Milwaukee Brewers team photo, possibly from the Reach Guide, courtesy of SABR member Dennis Pajot.

A different team photo of the 1908 Milwaukee Brewers, published in the 1909 Spalding Guide, page 154.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· 24d

Here’s another photo of the 1909 Brewers, showing different variations of their jerseys and warmup sweater. None seem to match this photo. If I had to guess, your photo is from a few years earlier based on the collars.

Newspaper photo from the Milwaukee Journal of April 1, 1909. A group of 7 baseball players stands in a line, sorted by height from shortest (at left) to tallest (at right). The headline says “Brewers have a tall pitching staff.” The caption says: “Brewers pitching staff. Manske, McGlynn, Wallace, Pape, Dougherty, Schneiberg, Curtis.”

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· 24d

I do not think so. Here is a verified photo of the 1909 Milwaukee Brewers with their warmup sweaters on. This team appears to be wearing a different style.

1909 Milwaukee Brewers team photo, courtesy of SABR member Dennis Pajot.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· 25d

Waited out all of this week’s smoke and storms to finally return to the vintage baseball field. Chicago Salmon vs. Valparaiso Lookouts at the historic Stellwagen Farm in Orland Park, IL. Happy to share the field again with @pulhitzherprize.bsky.social, making her Salmon debut. Go Fish!

Two signs for Chicago Salmon Vintage Base Ball Club and a red bell on a metal post stand behind a makeshift home plate on a grassy field. Red farm buildings are visible behind the signs along with a scattering of ballplayers and fans underneath an orange tent. One player in a white button-down shirt and black pants walks across the field before the game. The sky is blue and full of thick white clouds.

Two white jerseys with a black “S” and fish tails are hung on the inside of a wooden barn wall next to a black metal music stand with various music sheets on the podium. The music sheet is titled “Vintage Base Ball - Brass Gig Info Sheet”. The list of songs includes:

Yankee Doodle Dandy (2x)
She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain
School Days
Gay 90s Medley
In The Good Old Summertime
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Shine On Harvest Moon
Red White Blue (2X)
Light of Silvery Moon
Bold Soldier Boy (2x) - spelled Sojer
You're a Grand Old Flag
Star Spangled Banner

Five members of a brass band sit in metal chairs and play their instruments underneath a yellow tent. They each have a metal music stand with sheet music in front of them. They are dressed in button-down shirts, suspenders, and dark jeans, with old-timey hats. The grass is thick and green, and a red farm building behind them casts a large shadow.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· 27d

A few more smoky shots from our trip downtown today. We’ve seen a lot of wildfire smoke in other places, but nothing quite like this here in Chicago.

The smoke-filled orange sky is reflected in the windows of the John Hancock Center in a picture taken from a CTA bus on Michigan Avenue. The sky around the distinctive black skyscraper is a hazy gray.

The sky is filled with smoke looking south on Michigan Avenue outside the Art Institute. The north lion statue is clearly visible in the foreground as people walk down the sidewalk. The street lights are already on despite the time being 5:45 p.m., close to 3 hours before sunset. The Metropolitan Tower with its beehive pyramid is faintly visible just a block away. Farther south, the 600-foot-tall glass tower called Sentral Michigan and the 800-foot-tall skyscraper called 1000M have almost completely disappeared in the haze.

From the top of the Art Institute steps, looking west down Adams Street into a hazy orange sky. The outline of the Sears Tower is faintly visible in between the two large buildings on the corner of Adams and Michigan Avenue. On the right is the Peoples Gas Building, a Beaux-Arts masterpiece that was once home to baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis’s office. On the left is the sleek, boxy Borg-Warner Building with its bright glass facade.

Looking north on Michigan Avenue from just outside the Art Institute into a hazy late-afternoon sky. At far right, the tall, slender Aon Center and the two Prudential buildings next to it are barely visible through the smoke.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· 27d

Chicago River forever, smoke for now. Grateful to have an air-conditioned bus to take us downtown so we can hear @rogersparkman.bsky.social speak about the Cubs at the Art Institute tonight.

View from the window of a CTA bus looking east over the Chicago River while crossing the Michigan Avenue bridge. The air is extremely hazy with wildfire smoke and the top of the St. Regis skyscraper can barely be seen. A handful of tourists are wearing face masks and walking across the pedestrian bridge. An American flag and a Chicago city flag are flying stiffly in the hot air.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· 28d

If I head over to Binny’s right now, I could actually be able to say Dodgers catcher Norm Sherry. But alas, the real answer is Norm Slurpee.

1960s color postcard of Norm Sherry, Los Angeles Dodgers catcher.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· 29d

Great stuff! Bush/Perry Stadium in Indianapolis was also used as a stand-in for Comiskey Park and Crosley Field during the filming of “Eight Men Out” in the fall of 1987.

Director John Sayles surveys the scene during a break in the filming of “Eight Men Out” in the fall of 1987. Bush Stadium in Indianapolis was used as a stand-in for both Comiskey Park and Redland Field in the film. Photo courtesy of Jason Kaster (@eightmenout on IG)

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 12

There was one (from 1951) but it wasn’t very well known. And you’re right, anyone whining about pitchers being babies wasn’t too interested in facts.

A shadow-filled cell phone photo of “The Official Encyclopedia of Baseball, Jubilee Edition,” by Hy Turkin and S.C. Thompson, published in 1951. The faded red cover is slightly discolored and the spine is taped up from top to bottom. A small yellow price tag in the top-right corner says “Sports, $1.00”.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 12

My friend Mike Anderson, the Warren Ballpark historian, has written about many of the 1,186 miners who were “deported” from Bisbee. Here’s his story of one engineer who remained safe during this world war … but not the next one, Takeo Shimakura of Japan: southernarizonaguide.com/a-jap-in-bis...

Takeo Shikamura in Bisbee, Arizona, in 1909. Takeo had his photo taken in front of Castle Rock, a well-known Bisbee landmark, shortly after his arrival from Japan to work in the copper mining industry.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 8

I had to look up Rocky Colavito pitching. On 8/25/1968, he came on mid-inning to face the first-place Tigers with Al Kaline at the plate. Then he pitched 2.2 scoreless IP and picked up the win in relief! www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NY...

AP newspaper article from August 25, 1968, with the headline: “Colavito Winning Pitcher In Victory Over Detroit” and a picture of Rocky Colavito in a Yankees cap.

NEW YORK (AP) - Rocky Colavito's first pitching victory in the majors Sunday might be his last, but the Detroit Tigers will never forget it.

Colavito, the 35-year-old outfielder picked up by New York last month as a free agent, made his first appearance on the mound in 10 years Sunday.

He fired one hit relief for 2 2-3 innings and
emerged the winner as the Yankees rallied for a 6-5 victory over Detroit in the first game of a doubleheader.

"This is it. This is the only time I've ever won as a pitcher in professional baseball," said the strapping right-hander, whose only other pitching effort in the majors was a scoreless three-inning stint for Cleveland in 1958. The opposition in that one also was Detroit.

"It was a little strange," he said. "When you've been an outfielder all your life it has to be, and a big thrill too.”

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 8

Only a watch, not a warning. O’Hearn singles and then is replaced with a pinch runner.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 6

Tonight on Zoom, @sabrbbcards.bsky.social is honoring the great Gary Cieradkowski with the 2026 SABR Jefferson Burdick Award for significant contributions to the baseball card hobby. sabr.org/latest/gary-...

Illustrated self-portrait of the artist Gary Cieradkowski as a right-handed baseball pitcher in a white Jersey City uniform with 21 on the back.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 6

A new grave marker was recently installed at Mount Hope Cemetery in Chicago for Helen (Cook) Weaver, wife of Buck. A dedication is being planned for later this year with the Weaver family. sabr.org/research/bla...

A new grave marker for Helen Cook Weaver was recently installed at Mount Hope Cemetery in Chicago. Helen was a popular vaudeville singer in an act with her three siblings known as the Cook Sisters. She married Buck Weaver of the Chicago White Sox in 1914 (and another sister also married his teammate, Jim Scott.) Helen and Buck were married for 41 years, and helped raise two of their nieces during the Great Depression. Buck died in 1956 and he was buried at Mount Hope with a modest gravestone. When Helen died in 1965, she was buried next to him in an unmarked grave. In the fall of 2025, Dr. David Fletcher raised funds to pay for Helen’s grave marker. A dedication ceremony is being planned with the Weaver family for later this year.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 6

Tom Hufford, the last living SABR founder, tells the story of how he began corresponding with Black Sox outlaw Chick Gandil as a college student in the 1960s — and how he was the first to publicly report on Chick’s death in The Sporting News. sabr.org/research/bla...

Chick Gandil of the Chicago White Sox stands at first base and throws a ball back toward home plate during infield practice.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 6

Bill Lamb also looks at the history of the Warner Hotel in Chicago, where Eddie Cicotte found $10,000 under his pillow a few nights before the 1919 World Series began. sabr.org/research/bla...

1910s color illustrated postcard of the Warner Hotel in Chicago, where the Black Sox fix to throw the 1919 World Series was sealed. Eddie Cicotte, who lived at the Warner along with several other White Sox players, found $10,000 under his pillow here following a pre-Series meeting with gamblers Sport Sullivan and Nat Evans. The Warner Hotel — at 33rd Street and Cottage Grove Ave. in the Bronzeville neighborhood on Chicago’s south side — was torn down in the early 1950s.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 6

Bill Lamb takes a deep dive into the secret “fix revival” meeting hosted by St. Louis gamblers Carl Zork and Ben Franklin (not that one!) after the White Sox surprisingly won Game 3 of the 1919 World Series. So many layers to this stinky game-fixing onion! sabr.org/research/bla...

St. Louis-based gamblers Carl Zork, Ben Franklin, Joe Pesch, and Harry Redmon (clockwise from top-left) were among the participants in a secret meeting at the Sherman Hotel in Chicago during the 1919 World Series. Following the White Sox’s win in Game Three, Zork and Franklin assumed the White Sox players had called off the fix.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 6

For the SABR newsletter, Bruce Allardice digs into the accusation made against Black Sox fixer Fred McMullin — and whether he returned from Cincinnati with a false scouting report on the Reds before the 1919 World Series. sabr.org/research/bla...

In September 1919, White Sox infielder Fred McMullin was sent to Cincinnati by manager Kid Gleason to scout the Reds, their likely opponent in the upcoming World Series.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 6

First, we’ll have a terrific Authors Panel with @jimleeke.bsky.social and Bruce Allardice on August 1 at the SABR 54 convention in Cleveland. They have each published new books this spring about the Chicago White Sox before and after the 1919 World Series. sabr.org/convention/s...

Covers for two new books: Jim Leeke's "Battlefields: The Chicago White Sox and the Great War" and Bruce Allardice's "After the Black Sox: The Chicago White Sox in Transition, 1920–1926"

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 6

Here are a few highlights from our new issue of the SABR Black Sox Scandal newsletter, available for all to read here: sabr.org/research/bla...

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 4

Cobble, cobble.

A rectangular glass pan full of cherry cobbler, just pulled out of the oven. Can’t walk past all those fresh Michigan cherries at the market and not find a good home for them.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 3

Hard to find a high-res photo, but here’s a decent angle of the Puckett banner.

Joe Mauer #7 of the Minnesota Twins displays his awards with former Twins batting champions Tony Oliva and Rod Carew (far right) during a pre-game ceremony to commemorate the 2008 Golden Glove, Silver Slugger, and Batting Title Awards he won before the game against the Seattle Mariners on May 9, 2009 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins won 9-6. (Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/Getty Images)

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 3

When Farrell interviewed Buck Weaver in 1953, Buck was still using that phrase like he must have as a kid.

Excerpt from James T. Farrell’s 1957 book, “My Baseball Diary,” from a chapter titled “Buck Weaver’s last interview”:

“You know he's going to waste one. The infielders know it. So what do they do? They relax. So I have nothin' and two on me and the infielders are relaxed. They throw it outside or inside, but what difference does it make? I'd hit it and be off and the infielders were relaxed. They'd ask me how come I done a thing like that. I'd say, 'I don't know why I done it. I must have been a goof."

Another excerpt from James T. Farrell’s 1957 book, “My Baseball Diary,” from a chapter titled “Buck Weaver’s last interview”:

Like many others who saw him spear hot ones at third with graceful ease, who cheered and watched him, I also considered myself as one of those who was in Buck Weaver's corner. And now, on reflection, I have a hunch that when Buck said to me,
"Landis wanted me to tell him something
that I didn't know. I can't accuse you and it comes back on you and I am . .. a goof. That makes sense to me. I didn't have any evidence," he was telling his real story. I suspect that he did not know what to do. And because of a moral dilemma he suffered a lifelong torment. Could he have accused? And had he, would he have been a "goof?"

Now, it is all over and long ago. But Buck Weaver was a great ball player and very likeable. He was caught in a net of circumstances as are many characters in tragic novels. For to him, baseball was a way of life, and his barring was a supreme defeat.

"Those fellows suffered Hell," Ray Schalk often says.

Buck did.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 3

Am I allowed to say “we needed this rain” during the heat dome? Because it sure feels nice to finally be under 90 degrees again. Even if I did have to take cover for a while on my walk tonight.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 2

It’s so random. And on the other side of that parking lot is another bland landmark: the Wisconsin Athletic Hall of Fame, with dozens of plaques installed on an empty sidewalk next to the arena.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 2

And in case you’re curious, the current White Sox corporation — called Chisox Corp. — filed its articles of incorporation under Jerry Reinsdorf on January 29, 1981. It remains active today, per the Illinois Secretary of State. One of many now registered at 333 W. 35th St. in Chicago.

Business Entity Search on the Illinois Secretary of State website for Chisox Corporation, filed on January 29, 1981, under President Jerry Reinsdorf (who bought the White Sox from Bill Veeck and took over before the 1981 season.)

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 2

Postscript: The American League Base Ball Club of Chicago remained incorporated until 1962, after Chuck Comiskey II sold off the last of the family’s White Sox shares in the Bill Veeck era. The Allyns changed the name to Chicago White Sox, Inc., then dissolved it into a holding company.

Chicago White Sox management in 1959. From left to right: Hank Greenberg, John Rigney and Bill Veeck. (Photo: National Baseball Hall of Fame Library)

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 2

While Shoeless Joe Jackson was seeking back pay in a Milwaukee courtroom, Charles Comiskey was busy making sure all future business dealings involving the team would (finally) occur in Illinois. By the time Joe’s case went to trial in 1924, the White Sox were no longer incorporated in Wisconsin.

Joe Jackson, left, and Oscar “Happy” Felsch sit together in a Milwaukee courtroom during Jackson’s civil trial in 1924. The players filed breach-of-contract lawsuits against the Chicago White Sox in the state of Wisconsin because that is where the team was incorporated at the time. (Courtesy of Mike Nola / BlackBetsy.com)

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 2

Following the Black Sox Scandal, Shoeless Joe Jackson sued the Chicago White Sox for breach of contract. His case was filed not in Illinois — but in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, the proper jurisdiction for a Wisconsin-based corporation. (Oh hey, buy my book!) eckhartzpress.com/shop/joe-jac...

Joe Jackson vs. Chicago American League Baseball Club (Never Before Seen Trial Transcript), edited by Jacob Pomrenke and Dr. David J. Fletcher. Published by Eckhartz Press in 2023. Illustrated cover design by Todd Radom.

Jacob Pomrenke@buckweaver· Jul 2

The White Sox remained a Wisconsin-based corporation for nearly a quarter-century, through their first two World Series championships … and the Black Sox Scandal. Charles Comiskey signed this annual report listing the club’s officers a few weeks after the 1919 World Series.