1877 Minneapolis (Brown Stockings, Browns)

This rendering is based on written documentation only 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 this uniform:

None

Written documentation on this uniform:

April 1877: “The boys are expected to arrive here [in Minneapolis] by April 20th at the latest, and will be immediately put in training preparatory to opening the season in Minneapolis the first week in May, when they will appear in a fine white uniform, brown stockings and belts, with caps of distinguishing colors.” From the Minneapolis Tribune, April 5, 1877. Research from Don Stokes.

April 1877: “The Blue Stockings of Minneapolis have completed their team for 1877. […] Considerable care has been used in the selection of this nine, and, as special rivalry exists between this club and the State champions — Red Caps of St. Paul — creditable playing may be looked for this season.” From the Evansville Journal, April 17, 1877.

1877: “White uniform with brown belt and brown stockings and different colored caps for each position. St. Paul papers first called team the Blue Stockings erroneously…started calling Minneapolis the Brown Stockings in mid-May.” From Richard W Arpi, Red Caps and Brown Stockings: Professional Baseball’s Origins in Minnesota (SABR presentation, May 11, 2002).

1877, referenced in 1886 in a biography of Bill Phillips: “The following season [of 1877], [Phillips] was engaged by the Blue Stockings of Minneapolis.” From the New York National Police Gazette, September 11, 1886. Phillips only played for Minneapolis in 1877. Phillips info from baseball-reference.com.

Team genealogy:
 Minneapolis 1876-1877
The Minneapolis team formed as a professional independent for the 1876 season and joined the League Alliance (LA) for the 1877 season. The LA was an organization of independent professional teams that had an agreement and scheduled games with the National League. The Minneapolis team disbanded on August 15, 1877. Info from Rich Arpi, Professional base Ball Debuts in Minnesota, SABR The National Pastime (2012).