Back in the late 60s I had a lot of New York layovers (airline pilot). We stayed at the Commodore Hotel which as I remember was kind of down and across the street from Toots Shor's bar/restaurant. Toots' was a famous hangout of celebs, especially sports figures.
Every time we were in town we'd stop by for a drink or two to scope out which big names were in.
Never ate there. The food was nondescript American fare. But I sure got a kick out of seeing Jackie Gleason, Joe Namath, Mickey Mantle, and others in their 'natural habitat'.
Like many other famous New York clubs, Shor's had their own baseball team. See if you recognize any of these guys before you scroll down and read the names.
Help... Above is a photo taken late 40's early 50's of a baseball team sponsored by TOOTS SHOR. Starting with the top row, left person will be # 1. Starting with the bottom row, left person will be # 11. Who are these guys?
1 - Rocky Graziano
2 - Nat Fleischer (Ring Magazine)?
3 - Rod Steiger
4 - Joe Louis
5 - Toots Shor
6 - Rock Marciano
7 - Peter Donald?
8 - Sid Caesar ??
9 - Frank Morgan?
10 - Willie Pep ??
11 - Frank Sinatra
12 - Alan Dale (Ricardo Montalban?)
13 - Ernie Kovaks
14 - Phil Silvers
Do you agree or not? Please look very closely!
Shelly
Update: Steve writes " he photo was taken in 1948 in Central Park.
The gentleman who was the 2nd from the left was Nat Fletcher who was the owner/publisher of "Ring Magazine"
http://www.bigbandsandbignames.com/Who1.html