Pastime Portraits

The Photographs of Forrest S. Yantis

By National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Forrest S. Yantis captured the faces of his favorite ballplayers in a series of intimate, bust-length portraits. An “ardent admirer” of his local team the Cleveland Indians, the affable, young insurance salesman from Troy, Ohio pursued his passion for baseball by wielding his camera. Between 1928 and 1938, Yantis photographed more than 200 players, producing poster-sized prints of his favorite portraits. When he returned to the ballpark, he presented photographs to the players who posed for him and secured their autographs on copies for his own collection.







Covering every available inch of wall space at his insurance company’s offices, these inscribed, larger-than-life images formed Yantis’s personal baseball portrait gallery. The majority of the images he took and chose for his own gallery capture Cleveland players who he watched on the field over many years. Among his familiar Indians players and those from visiting teams were dozens of outstanding stars and future Hall of Famers.

Forrest S. Yantis photographing an American Association Milwaukee Brewers player, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Forrest Yantis photographing an American Association Milwaukee Brewers player

Odell Hale of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Odell Hale, Cleveland Indians

Gilly Campbell of the Cincinnati Reds, Forrest S. Yantis, 1936, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Gilly Campbell, Cincinnati Reds

Red Ruffing of the New York Yankees, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Red Ruffing, New York Yankees

Frank Pytlak of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Frank Pytlak, Cleveland Indians

Harley Boss of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, 1933, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Harley Boss, Cleveland Indians

Pete Fox of the Detroit Tigers, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Pete Fox, Detroit Tigers

Billy Cissell of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Billy Cissell, Cleveland Indians

Goose Goslin of the Detroit Tigers, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Goose Goslin, Detroit Tigers

Rogers Hornsby of the St. Louis Browns, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Rogers Hornsby, St. Louis Browns

Clint Brown of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Clint Brown,  Cleveland Indians

Frankie Frisch of the St. Louis Cardinals, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Frankie Frisch, St. Louis Cardinals

Boze Berger of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, 1935, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Boze Berger,  Cleveland Indians

Denny Galehouse of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Denny Galehouse, Cleveland Indians

Gus Mancuso of the New York Giants, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Gus Mancuso, New York Giants

Wally Berger of the Boston Braves, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Wally Berger, Boston Braves

Walter Johnson of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Walter Johnson, Cleveland Indians

Bill Terry of the New York Giants, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Bill Terry, New York Giants

Wes Ferrell of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Wes Ferrell, Cleveland Indians

Arky Vaughan of the Pittsburgh Pirates, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Arky Vaughan,  Pittsburgh Pirates

Elden Auker of the Detroit Tigers, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Elden Auker, Detroit Tigers

Milt Galatzer of Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Milt Galatzer, Cleveland Indians

Paul Dean of the St. Louis Cardinals, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Paul Dean, St. Louis Cardinals

George Blaeholder of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, 1936, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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George Blaeholder, Cleveland Indians

Mickey Cochrane of the Detroit Tigers, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Mickey Cochrane, Detroit Tigers

Roy Weatherly of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Roy Weatherly, Cleveland Indians

Ralph Winegarner of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Ralph Winegarner,  Cleveland Indians

Joe Vosmik of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Joe Vosmik, Cleveland Indians

Lefty Gomez of the New York Yankees, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Lefty Gomez, New York Yankees

Roy Hughes of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Roy Hughes, Cleveland Indians

Jo-Jo White of the Detroit Tigers, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Jo-Jo White, Detroit Tigers

Earl Averill of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Earl Averill, Cleveland Indians

Lloyd Brown of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Lloyd Brown, Cleveland Indians

Jim Bottomley of the Cincinnati Reds, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Jim Bottomley, Cincinnati Reds

Mel Harder of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Mel Harder, Cleveland Indians

Monte Pearson of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Monte Pearson, Cleveland Indians

Tris Speaker of the Philadelphia Athletics, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Tris Speaker, Philadelphia Athletics

Tommy Bridges of the Detroit Tigers, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Tommy Bridges, Detroit Tigers

Thornton Lee of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Thornton Lee, Cleveland Indians

Al Simmons of the Chicago White Sox, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Al Simmons, Chicago White Sox

Hal Trosky of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Hal Trosky, Cleveland Indians

Eppa Rixey of the Cincinnati Reds, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Eppa Rixey, Cincinnati Reds

Jimmie Foxx of the Philadelphia Athletics, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Jimmie Foxx, Philadelphia Athletics

Willie Kamm of the Cleveland Indians, Forrest S. Yantis, From the collection of: National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
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Willie Kamm, Cleveland Indians

Credits: Story

The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum gratefully acknowledges the Whitaker Family, the descendants of Forrest S. Yantis, for their generous donation of Yantis’s photographs to the Hall’s Photo Archive.—

Credits: All media
The story featured may in some cases have been created by an independent third party and may not always represent the views of the institutions, listed below, who have supplied the content.
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