Fantography

Fantography is a web-based social media project that provides a forum for baseball fans to view, share and discuss their amateur photographs of baseball scenes and baseball players.[1] The website (www.fantography.net) was founded by former San Diego Padres executive and current Acme Sports Marketing president Andy Strasberg,[2] whose inspiration came in part from a 1960s photo of himself as a teenager at Yankee Stadium with his idol Roger Maris.[3] There are two established guidelines for Fantography submissions: first, player images must not be in an action-shot format, and second, all images must have been taken by amateur photographers rather than professionals.[4]

So far, Strasberg has collected (or "harvested" in Fantography parlance) more than 6,000 photos[5] that span the 1930s up through today, including a cigar-smoking Babe Ruth in street clothes with his daughter,[6] an on-field Howard Cosell interviewing pitcher Vida Blue,[7] and a mid-autograph Roberto Clemente peering up to meet the camera's lens.[8] One contributing "Fantographer" is well-known sportscaster and political pundit Keith Olbermann.[9] A touring exhibit of the Fantography collection has shown in San Diego, CA, and Tucson, AZ, as well as at Kentucky's Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory and the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY.[10] Ultimately, Strasberg intends to publish the best Fantography submissions in a coffee table book.[11]