1877 Louisville (Louisvilles, Grays)
This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style and written documentation for color. Minor details may be undocumented or difficult to determine. An educated guess is made to complete the rendering.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team:
Visual documentation on this uniform:
Photo A
Dated 1877. Photo date confirmed by the appearance of players Shaffer, Nichols, Hall, Craver, Lafferty and Crowley, all of whom only played for Louisville in 1877. Players wore a light gray uniform with a square-serif letter “L” on the shirt bib. A newspaper described this uniform as having “gray caps, shirts, and pants, trimmed with red, red belts, and red stockings.”
Top row, from left: O Shaffer (77), P Snyder (76, 77), J Devlin (76, 77) and A Nichols (77). Middle row: G Hall (77), B Craver (77), J Gerhardt (76, 77), J Latham (77, AA 83, AA 84) and B Hague (76, 77). Front row: F Lafferty (77) and B Crowley (77). Player IDs from Nigel Ayres. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. This image was published in the Louisville Courier-Journal, October 4, 1903. Image scan from Ken Samoil.
Photo B
Dated 1877. This was the same image as shown above in photo A. This version was published 7 years later in the Louisville Courier-Journal on July 17, 1910. In this version the studio background was not removed from the image. The newspaper also included player identifications under the photo. However these IDs do not match other known references for these players, suggesting the newspaper transcribed the order of the names incorrectly from the back of the original print. Image scan from Ken Samoil.
Written documentation on this uniform:
1876/1877, described in 1892: “The Louisville Club was the first base ball organization to wear gray uniforms. In 1876 the Louisvilles, then under management of Manager Chapman, went on their Eastern trip and created a sensation by appearing on the Eastern diamonds wearing suits of gray. Previous to that only white was worn by ball tossers. The Kentuckians were immediately dubbed the ‘Johnny Rebs,’ which [was a] name [that] clung to them while they remained in the [National] League.” From The Sporting Life, May 28, 1892. Note that this research project has shown that Louisville first wore gray during the year of 1877, not 1876, and that several teams were documented to have worn gray before the Louisville team did.
January 1877, National League rules of 1877 regarding uniforms: “We […] hereby notify all players now under contract, or that may hereafter contract with either club subscribing hereto, that each player must pay thirty dollars ($30) for the uniform furnished him by the club for the season of 1877, and must, at his own expense, keep the same clean and in good repair.” From the New York Clipper, January 27, 1877. This agreement of “Special League Rules” was signed by officers of the Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville, Boston, Hartford and St. Louis teams.
February 1877: “Most of the [National] League clubs have drawn up special rules for government. […] Below we give the rules of the Louisville: 1. Each player must keep his uniform clean, neat and in good repair, at his own expense, and must see that he spikes in his shoes are securely fastened. 2. Players in uniform must not converse or mingle with friends in the audience. 3. Smoking while in uniform or drinking at a bar is forbidden. […] 5. When at home, players must not appear on the ground in uniform earlier than thirty minutes previous to the hour advertised for commencing the game.” From the New York Clipper, February 3, 1877.
April 1877: “The uniform of the Louisville club this season will consist of gray caps, shirts, and pants, trimmed with red, red belts, and red stockings.” From the Chicago Daily Tribune, April 8, 1877. Research from Don Stokes. This same report was published in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, April 15, 1877.
April 1877: “This is the season of busy preparation in base ball circles. An excellent evidence of the general interest felt everywhere in the game is gleaned by visiting the Base-Ball Emporium of Messrs. A. G. Spalding & Brother, No. 118 Randolph Street [in Chicago]. This firm has been hard at work for the past month making uniforms for some of the foremost clubs of the country — the Cincinnatis, Louisvilles, Chicagos, Stars of Syracuse, Milwaukees and St. Pauls, as well as the Acmes, Dreadnaughts, and other local amateur organizations.” From the Chicago Tribune, April 15, 1877.
April 1877 “Having gazed with more wonder than delight upon the new Louisville uniform, the Tribune reporter hastens to fit out Devlin’s team with the name ‘Blue Jeans,’ the fitness of which will be acknowledged as fast as the club is seen.” From the Chicago Tribune, April 15, 1877. A second entry for the same issue as above. Possibly this entry was a reference to the Louisville uniforms being loose-fitting.
May 10, 1877, Louisville v. Cincinnati, at Louisville, home opener: “The same good-natured applause was accorded the Louisvilles as they stepped upon the scene in the glory of their gray and red uniforms.” From the Louisville Courier-Journal, May 11, 1877. This report also called the Louisville team the “Grays.”
Team genealogy: Louisville 1876-1877
Louisville was formed to join the National League for its inaugural season in 1876. The team played 2 years in the NL and disbanded after the 1877 season. –Information from wikipedia.
1877 Louisville summary
Uniform: gray, red stockings
First worn:
Photographed: during year, unspecified
Described:
Material:
Manufacturer: Spalding & Bros.
Supposition:
Variations:
Other items:
Home opener report: yes, May 10 v. Cincinnati
Rendering posted: February 10, 2015
Diggers on this uniform: Don Stokes, Ken Samoil, Nigel Ayres,