Baseball was the most popular game in town when these images were made, before the meteoric rise of the Irwinville Farmers basketball teams of the 1940s. The first two of these images are among my favorite from the entire Irwinville Farms archive and have achieved widespread popularity among fans of FSA photography.
According to Zoe Hobby: “The manager on the far left in the top photo is Jim (James) McDuffie, my grandfather. He was not actually a member of the team, according to his son, Bob McDuffie. They needed an extra man for the picture, so he jumped in to fill the spot.”
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Above Images: John Vachon/Library of Congress. (May 1938)
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A less-organized but equally fun pick-up game was captured a year later during the May Day-Health Day festival. All three of the following images were made by Marion Post-Walcott in May 1939 and courtesy of the Library of Congress.
“Baseball game after May Day-Health Day festivities at Irwinville Farms, Georgia.”
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Above Images: Marion Post-Wolcott/Library of Congress. (May 1939)
The manager on the far left in the top photo is Jim (James) McDuffie, my grandfather. He was not actually a member of the team, according to his son, Bob McDuffie. They needed an extra man for the picture, so he jumped in to fill the spot. He’s the son of “Grandmother” Toby McDuffie.