1890 Chicago (White Stockings, Pirates)
Left: This rendering is based on written documentation and partial visual documentation for uniform style and color. Minor details may be undocumented or difficult to determine and an educated guess is made to complete the rendering.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team: documented
Right: This rendering is based on written documentation for uniform style and color. No visual documentation is known and an artist’s conceptualization is used to create the rendering.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team: documented
Visual documentation on these uniforms:
Photo A
Dated 1890. Score card cover. Full view at left, detail view at right. Illustration depticted player with a white uniform, white stockings and a black cap, lettering and belt. This illustration matched descriptions of the Chicago uniform printed in newspaper reports from this same year. Note that program displays the name of the Players’ League as the “Players’ National League.”
Written documentation on these uniforms:
November 1889: “The Chicago Brotherhood team is to be called the White Stockings.” From the Buffalo Express, November 17, 1889.
January 1890: “The Chicago Players’ League Club has already chosen its uniforms for next season. Keefe & Becannon will make them. The home suit will be of white, except a black belt and cap and the word ‘Chicago’ in black on the breast. The traveling suit will be of black cloth, with white cap, belt and stockings, and ‘Chicago’ in white on the breast. A black jacket will complete the uniform.” From the New York World, January 5, 1890. Also from The Sporting Life, January 15, 1890. The Sporting Life research from Chuck McGill.
January 1890: “Chicago Brotherhood Club Adopts Two New Uniforms. — Chicago, January 11. […] The team will have two outfits made by Tim Keefe, one for home use and the other for use while abroad. The home uniform will consist of white shirts, trousers and stockings of jersey cloth, with black caps and belts, and a narrow black ribbed seam on the side of the trousers. The word Chicago will be lettered on the breast of the shirt in plain black letters. The other uniforms will be made of expensive black cloth, with white stockings, belts and caps. The lettering will also be in white. Each suit will have [a] black cloth jacket.” From the Philadelphia Times, January 12, 1890. Research from Don Stokes. Note that this report mentioned the pants had trim running down the seam.
January 1890: “The White Stocking team of the Players’ League was completed this afternoon by the signing of Comiskey.” From the New York Sun, January 18, 1890. This report referenced the stocking color.
January 1890: “All the secretaries of the clubs in the Players’ National League [i.e., Players’ League] have sent their club uniform colors to Secretary Brunell. All the clubs, except Philadelphia, have selected white home and colored traveling uniforms, so that the audience can readily distinguish the teams in the field. The teams will be dressed as follows: […] Chicago– Home: White suits, black trimmings, cap and belt, ‘Chicago’ in black on breast of shirt, white stockings. Traveling: black suits, white cap, belts and stocking, ‘Chicago’ in white on breast of shirt, black cloth jacket.” From the Chicago Daily Tribune, January 29, 1890. Research from Don Stokes. A similar report was published in the Buffalo Courier, January 30, 1890, and The Sporting Life, February 5, 1890.
March 1890: “The Chicagos wore pretty uniforms of pure white, with black trimmings. Considering that all the stars of the St. Louis Browns are with the combination, and that Comiskey is at the helm, it would be more appropriate to trim white with brown.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 19, 1890. Research from Gary Kodner.
March 27, 1890, Chicago (PL) v. Cleveland (PL) at Memphis, exhibition game: “Memphis, March 27— […] The White Stockings won.” From the New York Press, March 28, 1890. This report referenced the stocking color.
April 21, 1890, Chicago (PL) v. Pittsburgh (PL) at Pittsburgh: “The laurel wreath of victory which adorned the camp of the Pirates, as the Chicago team has been dubbed on account its colors, has been supplanted by crepe tonight, and gloom reigns supreme.” From the Chicago Tribune, April 23, 1890. Research from Peter Reitan. Chicago, nicknamed Pirates because of their black road uniform, lost to Pittsburgh, 5 to 2.
April 1890: “Preparations are being made to receive 20,000 people on the Chicago grounds when the White Stockings [of the Players’ League] open the season here either May 3 with Cleveland or May 5 with Pittsburg[h]. It is likely that the local season will open here May 3. Anson and his colts [of the National League] open here that day, but the White Stockings are scheduled to play in Cleveland. By arrangement, however, the Cleveland game will be transferred to Chicago and the National League given another of the things it professes to love so well—conflicting dates. A special train carries the Chicago White Stockings and thirty admirers to Pittsburg[h] tonight. The latter go to see the opening series [Chicago at Pittsburgh] of the Players’ National League season.” From The Sporting Life, April 19, 1890. This report identified the Players’ League club as the “White Stockings.” Report also identified the PL by its official name, the Players’ National League of Professional Base Ball Clubs. Note that the Chicago PL team opened the season on the road at Pittsburgh (PL) on April 19, 1890 and that their home opener was May 5 v. Pittsburgh (PL). The Chicago NL home opener was April 29, 1890 v. Pittsburgh (NL), not May 3 as reported above. Full name of Players’ League from wikipedia.com. Game dates from retrosheet.org.
May 1890: “The Chicago White Stocking Club will play the Chicago Black Stockings [in] a series of four, seven, or nine games in October.” From The Sporting Life, May 10, 1890. This was part of a letter written to the public by Charles Comiskey in response to Cap Anson’s challenge for the Chicago NL and PL teams to play each other. Note that article differentiated the teams by their stocking color.
May 26, 1890, Chicago (PL) v. Boston (PL) at Boston: “Boston, May 26—[…] The White Stockings forged ahead in the fourth…” From the New York World, May 27, 1890. This is one of several in-game reports describing the Chicago PL team’s stocking color.
August 15, 1890, Chicago (PL) v. Pittsburgh (PL), at Chicago, Brotherhood Park: “The Pirates wore their old dark-blue uniforms. They looked rather odd in them.” From the Chicago Tribune, August 16, 1890. It is undetermined if this was a reference to the Chicago team or the Pittsburgh team.
Team genealogy: Chicago 1890-1890
Chicago was formed to join the Players’ League (PL) at the league’s inception in 1890. The PL was a major league that played for one season before folding. The team subsequently disbanded after the 1890 season and was merged into the Chicago National League team. Info from wikipedia and from Gordon Gattie, sabr.org/research.
Rendering posted: March 30, 2017
Diggers on this uniform: Chuck McGill, Don Stokes, Gary Kodner, Peter Reitan,