Bone up on one of the great 19th Century baseball teams with these (4) editions of The Sporting Life newspaper. Dating from 1889 and 1894, these antique periodicals all feature front page illustrations of the Baltimore Orioles. Began as a charter member of the American Association in 1882, this long-defunct Orioles team merged into the National League in 1892 after the AA folded at the end of 1891 season. By 1894, this rough and ready team was fielding six future Hall of Famers who won three consecutive Temple Cups, reigning as NL champions from 1894-1896. The glories of the 1894 squad are chronicled in three of the offered The Sporting Life editions, while the fourth edition trumpets the batting prowess of 1889 star Tommy Tucker. All (4) editions are brittle, and suffer some degree of splitting/separation along the original period vertical and horizontal folds, while the illustrations are generally pleasing.



Featured are:



11/17/1889 with Tommy Tucker as American Association batting champion. Has 50% split along the horizontal fold, and 4" split on the vertical fold;



5/12/1894 with Baltimore Orioles team composite portraits, including Hall of Famers John McGraw, Joe Kelley, Wilbert Robinson, "Wee Willie" Keeler, Dan Brouthers, and Hughie Jennings. Has tape repair along the vertical fold, and surface loss at the center intersection of the vertical and horizontal folds.



7/14/1894 with Wilbert Robinson, has complete separation of the top-left quadrant.



9/29/1894 with Championship 1894 Orioles team composite portraits including McGraw, Kelley, Keeler, Jennings, Robinson, "Kid" Gleason, and manager Ned Hanlon. The image of Brouthers has been removed, leaving an irregular hole near center. There is also a 4" tape repair at the top of the vertical fold. Opening Bid $150.