STEVE O'NEILL 1935-37 Cleveland Indians GEORGE BURKE Original Photo

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LF01

DATE SHOT: 1935-37

SUBJECT: Steve O'Neill

PHOTOGRAPHER: George Burke

APPROXIMATE SIZE: 4"x6"

COMMENTS / CONDITION: Offered is an original 4"x6" photo of Steve O'Neill, pictured in his Cleveland Indians uniform circa 1935-37. The photo was taken and produced by George Burke and bears his stamping on the verso as shown. Please see scans of the actual photo for further details including condition.

Stephen Francis O'Neill was born in Minooka, PA and died in 1962 in Cleveland, OH. He played major league baseball from 1911 to 1928 as catcher for the Cleveland Naps, Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and the St. Louis Browns, and appeared in the 1920 World Series. O'Neill managed the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League from 1929 to 1931. As a major league manager with four teams—the Indians (1935-37), Tigers (1943-48), Red Sox (1950-51) and Philadelphia Phillies (1952-54)—O'Neill never had a losing record. He also served as a coach for Cleveland, Detroit and Boston. O'Neill was inducted into the International League Hall of Fame.

A case of mistaken identity made by the Chicago Cubs resulted in George Burke becoming the official photographer for the Chicago Cubs. In 1929, Cubs manager Joe McCarthy and Gabby Hartnett sought out the ballclub's previous photographer. They could only remember his last name, Burke, so they looked him up in the phone book. A listing leapt out at them: studio photographer George C. Burke, whose office was near Wrigley Field. Thus began the baseball photography career of George Burke, who had no prior sports experience whatsoever, and thus ended the career of photographer Francis Burke - the Cubs' time-honored official cameraman and an unwitting victim of mistaken identity. To undertake his new "big league" endeavor, Burke hired the young (age 15) baseball-knowledgeable George Brace as his assistant, and the two soon became a Chicago institution. Ever-present at Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park, Burke and Brace shot not only for the Cubs, but also for the White Sox and football's Chicago Bears. They also endeavored to amass a complete portfolio of player portraits - a daunting task made possible by the fact that Chicago was the only city with both an American League and a National League franchise from 1929 all the way until Brace's retirement in 1993. As the official photographer for the Chicago Cubs, Burke quickly became renowned for his candid pre-game photos and thought-provoking portrait depictions, and his posed portraits and action photos were published in The Sporting News, Who's Who in the Major Leagues, and Baseball Digest as well as other publications, and provided the necessary photos for numerous 1930's and later baseball card and premium issues.