George "Del" Howard was with Pittsburgh in 1906 and Boston in 1907 before coming to the Cubs during the 1907 season. He was a utility man, playing first base and the outfield position. Though he hit only .243 while with the Cubs, he was a part of the team's two World Series winners. He stayed with the Cubs through the 1909 season, and then bounced around the minors as a player and a manager until 1922.
Arthur "Solly" Hofman had a 14 year big league career, with 10 of those spent with the Cubs. He was a part of the team during its four pennants in five years run, 1906-1910. He was an outfielder, playing mostly centerfield. He was in center field during the "Merkel's Boner" game. His wild throw of the ball, which ended up in the crowd, touched off the controversy of which ball was used to record the out at second base.
This is a card I made of Hofman a couple years ago, when I made a set of the entire 1908 team. The pose on this card and the T206 look very similar. At first I thought that they were the same, but his hands are in different spots on the bat.
I've always wondered how it was financially feasible for companies commission hundreds of individual player paintings instead of simply using photos on the cards. I would think such an endeavor would be absurdly expensive considering the likely income generated by the product.
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