Assignments of the players in this 1888 Des Moines Team Composite

This card was auction by Robert Edward Auction in the summer of 2019. The back of the card has names in pencil for some of the players. The inclusion of Schildknecht dates the card to the first half of the season, as he was released to Sioux City when that club joined the Western Association at the end of June.


The names on the back are not behind the player, but rather the list presents the players in the order observed on the front. Thus, the middle row is Stearns, Schildknecht, Morton, Sage and Alvord, from left to right. The top row has Quinn, Shafer and the center fielder Holliday from the middle to the right. The bottom row has Kennedy, (Traffley incorrectly listed), Cushman and Wells. Based on the other Des Moines composites, the rest of the players are quickly identified. Smith is the left-most player on the bottom row. Van Dyke occupies that slot in the top row. The center position in the bottom row is Macullar (not Traffley), while Traffley is second from the left in the top row.