Artwork > 'Old Time' Sports, All Sculptures, Americana, Multi-Figure Pieces, Townfolk > Base Ball, circa 1890
Base Ball, circa 1890
Specifications:
19″H x 32″W x 11″D
Edition of 50
Price:
$18,000
Scott’s Piece Description
These town boys, barefoot and in overalls, pause for a team tintype (1890’s). Perhaps one of them will go on to play for the Oswego Starchboxes or the Chicago Orphans (now the Chicago Cubs).
Interestingly, Lewis and Clark’s return journey home from the Pacific Ocean included playing a game of “Base” (a form of Baseball) with the Nez Perce Indians? Interestingly, Alexander Joy Cartwright, Jr., who some consider the “Father of Baseball”, made an ‘expedition’ out west (in 1849) to teach the game of Base Ball across the new continent….from New York, to California, and even to Hawaii? Ponder the truth of famed Apache warrior, Geronimo, while a prisoner at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, engaging in a game of baseball.
Two years prior to sculpting this piece, I was perusing the internet, and Googled, ‘images of the old west’. The photo of these boys, Indiana glass factory workers, from 1910, came up. I was so moved by the spirit of the image….I saved it in my research files for over a year, and was later inspired to create this sculpture in clay.
Image Gallery
Curator Review
A timeless nod to small-town America, “Base Ball, Circa 1890” captures more than just a group of barefoot boys in overalls—it memorializes an era. With caps tipped and mitts in hand, this youthful team stands for a tintype photograph, their camaraderie and grit palpable in every gesture. While some may have dreamed of the big leagues—the Oswego Starchboxes or the Chicago Orphans—many were simply working-class boys grabbing a moment of leisure between long shifts, as the historical photo that inspired this sculpture suggests.
Scott Rogers pays tribute not only to baseball’s early days but to the stories we rarely hear—of dusty diamonds, factory-town teams, and games played with passion on makeshift fields. The composition radiates unity, humility, and hope, offering a snapshot of America’s pastime at its purest. This sculpture is a warm reminder: before baseball was a business, it was a boyhood dream.
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