First in war! First in Peace! Last in the American League!!

Young Merito has some impressive summer teeth. Some are teeth, some are not.

Back in the day when "uniform" was just being established as a word.

who will be the first to chime in with the standard "weren't they called the Senators?"

Great photo, taken in National Park which eventually become Griffith Stadium.

Germany would have been a great guy to go out drinking with.

The 1913 Washington Senators (often called the Nationals) are the forerunners of today's Minnesota Twins. 1913 is probably the correct year for this picture as that is the only year all three players were on the team at the same time.

In 1913, Washington finished in second place (90-64), led by pitcher Walter Johnson's sterling 36-7 record and 243 strikeouts. Johnson hit two of the team's 19 home runs, good for third best on the team.

Schaeffer, at age 37, hit .320 in 54 games. Acosta hit .300 in 12 games and Calvo hit .242 in 17 games.

Fans of the era probably know "Germany" Schaefer as a bit of a clown but a very solid and popular deadball-era player (best known for supposedly "stealing first base") You can read more about him and his antics here:

http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=1734&pid=12553.

Also, don't know how true this is (from Wiki):

"Schaefer was a pioneer of baseball clowning, and his vaudeville act with teammate Charley O'Leary was inspiration for the MGM musical "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra."

On the left, Jacinto "Jack" [of course] Calvo, was a Cuban player who was both light (and dark) enough to play in both the Negro and White major leagues, back when that sort of thing mattered.

And Acosta, on the right, was apparently only 17 at the time this was snapped. He had a pretty lengthy career as a player for DC, Philadelphia, and the minors, as well as some minor league managing and at some point owned a Cuban league team.

Nats! Nats! Nats!

Ahhh, Germany Schaefer, one of the clown princes of baseball. Perhaps most famous for reputedly being the only player ever to steal first base.

... the Nationals had a winning season.

That was too easy -- I feel so dirty.

From baseballlibrary.com

"One of the zaniest characters in baseball history, Schaefer is most famous for causing a rule change with one of his antics. Actually he had a practical reason for stealing first base. Playing Cleveland, the Tigers had the speed Davy Jones on third base and Schaefer on first in the ninth inning and tried a delayed double steal, but the catcher, Nig Clarke, didn't throw. Schaefer ran back to first base on the next pitch, then shouted across to Jones that he was going to second base again. The catcher, rattled, threw down to second and Jones scored the winning run. That tactic was then outlawed.

Schaefer was a powerless hitter and rarely hit for a good average, but his versatility afield kept him in the majors for 13 seasons (not counting his last two years, when he played in only one game each). In his first two years with the Tigers, 1905-06, he was their regular second baseman, leading the AL in putouts in 1905 and in total chances per game in 1906. He had only one more season in which he played 100 games at a single position. His best season offensively was probably 1908, when he reached career highs with 96 runs (third in the AL), 40 steals (third), and 20 doubles as the Tigers won their second of three consecutive AL pennants (1907-09). Traded to the Senators in mid-1909, he had one more significant season, hitting a career-high .334 in 125 games in 1911, but thereafter spent most of his time on the coaching lines, teamed with fellow clown Nick Altrock. An earlier vaudeville act with Tiger teammate Charley O'Leary was the inspiration for the MGM musical "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," starring Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra. Schaefer's friend John McGraw made him a Giant scout in 1919, and while on a scouting trip to Canada that year, Schaefer died of a massive heart attack. (WOR)"

Merito shows that the National Pastime was truly more of a contact sport early on! Great smile.