Hi Vianney, thanks, this is very interesting! It would appear Francisco Sostre was a bit like some Latin American players who preceded him, notably Roberto Estalella, who may have had some African ancestry but was able to cross the color line into white baseball anyway.

Claudio and Scott, the Cuban Stars played West Virginia University in Morgantown on May 11, 1909. The Cubans won 5-2 and Méndez did pitch (in relief, it seems). I've got a couple of box scores from Pittsburgh papers, which I'll put up as an update to the original post.

Hi Dody, yes, that's Eugene Bremer with the Broadview team in the late 1930s. They also brought in Lionel Decuir to catch for him.

No, it's not revised--the text is still the same.

Hi J.C., I'm afraid I've not heard of White leaving any of his writings to the library. If anybody has heard anything about this, post here and let us know.

Hello Gloria, I'm afraid I don't know anything about Elijah "Buck" Johnson. Do you know what teams he might have played for?

Here's the Elites/ABCs photo (Hake's posted one high-res detail--wish they had done that with the whole photo): https://www.hakes.com/Auction/ItemDetail/57872/1926-INDIANAPOLIS-ABCs-AND-CLEVELAND-ELITES-OPENING-GAME-NEGRO-LEAGUE-PANORAMIC-PHOTO It was sold again for a lot more money 4 years later by Robert Edward Auctions.

I'm afraid I don't know where Dr. Thomas's family lived or lives currently. Perhaps someone else out there does know?

Hi John, sorry, didn't see your comment until now. No, I don't have the 2nd Cuban Esso guide. I do have 45/46, 46/47, and 48/49 Cuban guides with complete box scores for all the Cuban League games in those seasons (but nothing on Mexico). Yeah, I've seen the '53 Jet article, and know about Downer (he managed the 1921 Pittsburgh Keystones). The Cobb matter is too complicated to go into further for the moment (I guess I should write something longer about it, although I don't really want to). Suffice it to say there are some social media (and regular media) takes out there I don't like at all, and I'm not a big fan of having my stuff dragooned into supporting them.

Hi Bob, you're right--although Owens has always (at least since Riley) been listed as a lefty, it appears that he was a righthander (as was Sarvis). As for their heights, that's a thornier question. The WW2 draft cards for the three (all filled out in Jacksonville on October 16, 1940, just a few months after the photo you're talking about was published in the Chicago Defender & Cleveland Call & Post) list Henry at 5'5", 148; Sarvis at 5'10", 190; Owens at 5'7", 180. (They are definitely the right draft cards, too.) FWIW, Riley lists Henry at 5'4", 135--combined with the draft card it would appear he was probably shorter than the 5'6" listed for him at Seamheads & bb-ref.

Yeah, after due consideration I agree it's Fats Jenkins. The facial expression is one that's not duplicated in other photos of him, and he's also much younger in this picture than in most images of him.

I would love to see an image of the Grant Johnson card.