1875 San Francisco (San Franciscos)

This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style only. Color information is unknown and the uniform is rendered in values of gray. Minor details may also be undocumented or difficult to determine and an educated guess is made to complete the rendering.

Rendering accuracy:

Year: documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on this uniform:

Photo A

Dated 1875. Top row, from left: T Gill, R Walker, T Brown and C Keating. Front: E Taylor, J Aitken, J Williams, W Williams and J Curren. Image date and player IDs from photo. Image from Angus Macfarlane and also from Frederick W Lange, History Of Baseball In California and Pacific Coast Leagues, 1847-1938: Memories And Musings Of An Old-Time Baseball Player (1938).

Photo B

Dated 1875. Same team photo as photo A, but with one player photographically added and with some uniforms retouched. This version of photo was printed in the San Francisco News-Cal Bulletin, April 4, 1950, and stated the original image was from the San Francisco Public Library. Date at top of this version suggests photo was made between 1875 and 1877. Per researcher Angus Macfarlane, in 1876 this team did not play together as many members joined the centennial team that traveled to Philadelphia, and in 1877 most of these players regrouped with different clubs in San Francisco. Note that the image of one player, A Piercy, has been added to the top row, second from right, in this version of the photo, replacing T Brown. Per Macfarlane, both Piercy and Brown played on the 1875 team. Note also how the bibs of players Gill and Keating, in top row, have been altered in this photo so that all uniforms were matching.

Written documentation on this uniform:
1876 (possibly related): “Yesterday [June 24, 1876], the Centennial Base-Ball Club started for the East on their tour of contemplated field triumphs. Whether they will return as jubilantly as they started out remains to be seen. […] The Centennial nine is composed of Thompson, catcher; O’Brien, pitcher; Williams, first base; Keaton, second base; Piercy, third bass; Curren, short-stop; Taylor, left field; Gilk, center field; Parrant, right field, with Walker, Cullen and Ashley as substitutes. The short-stop Curren is the captain. Before the Club left this city, Colonel Andrews, the jeweler, presented then with a badge, a gold shield suspended from a scroll, which was surmounted with the California coat of arms.” From the San Francisco Chronicle, June 25, 1876. The August 27, 1876, issue of the Chronicle reported the team played the following games: Eureka, Camden NJ, July 10; Westchester of Westchester, NY, July 11; Eureka, Camden NJ, July 14; Quickstep, Wilmington DE, July 18; Kleins Club, Philadelphia, August 2 and 5.

Team genealogy: San Francisco was formed in 1874. –Info from Angus Macfarlane.