Cool Papa. The Babe. The Old Perfessor. The Mick and Campy.
Cool Papa
James “Cool Papa” Bell tracking down a flyball in an amazing Homestead Grays jersey. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the Grays easily had one of my favorite uniforms in baseball history.
The Babe
Some people view Babe Ruth‘s time in as Brooklyn’s first base coach as the sad last chapter in his amazing baseball life. This may be true to an extent due to his expectation that the job would open the door to managing a big league club, which unfortunately never happened. For some reason I’ve always been fascinated by this time in his career, in addition to him wrapping up his playing days with the Braves. One thing that can’t be denied, is that he looked pretty cool in a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform.
The Old Perfessor
1962. A then 71 year old Casey Stengel stands in the doorway of the Mets’ clubhouse at the Polo Grounds while New York fans admire the baseball legend. I love the fact that the clubhouse was located in the outfield at the Polo Grounds and I love the history of the early Mets teams of the 1960s, regardless of how bad they were.
The Mick & Campy
Roy Campanella waits on Mickey Mantle and the homeplate umpire. Any photo featuring Yankees and Dodgers stars from this era is amazing to me, especially if the involve Mantle and Campanella. I assume this photo is from a World Series (it looks like it could be Ebbets Field to me), but I don’t any patriotic post-season draping anywhere. With that said, it very well could have been taken at a spring training game between the clubs.
Baseball in Hollywood
1939. Bill Norman of the Hollywood Stars slugs a homerun at Gilmore Field against the Seattle Rainiers, while catcher Gilly Campbell watches from a vintage high stance crouch. As always, I can’t get enough of photos from the old Pacific Coast League and this is definitely one of my favorite photos that I’ve come across in recent years.
ninety feet of perfection. 
Those are all great shots. You don’t see very many of the Babe in a Brooklyn uniform. Hard to figure when the Mantle-Campanella shot was taken. As you said, if it was the World Series, you’d have all the decorations up.
All terrific photos. Who needs freshly painted lines, bright green grass and pitch counts when Mickey Mantle has a bat in his hands?
Mick’s wearing the pinstripes, so that’s not Ebbets. I would bet on it being either a spring game or maybe an in-season exhibition (a benefit, possibly?) Fabulous shot, in either case.
And I agree about those Grays unis. Absolute classics.