1877 St. Paul (Red Caps)

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: documented

Visual documentation on this uniform:

Photo A

Hand-dated 1877. Collage of player portraits. All photos have a similar studio background suggesting they may all have been made at the same time. Players were photographed wearing a white uniform with a dark belt and white stockings. The uniform pants may have been slightly darker than the shirts. After researching newspaper accounts, historian Rich Arpi wrote that the 1877 uniforms were white in color, with a red belt and white stockings. The cap was not shown in the photographs in the collage, however a drawing of the cap was shown in the center. Arpi described the St. Paul cap as being red in color with a white stripe. The color of the cap can be confirmed by the team name or nickname, also shown in the collage.

Clockwise from left: H Salisbury (77), E Gross (77), J Miller (77), E Gault (77), J Ellick (StP 77, Mil 77), B McClellan (77), A Allison (StP 77, Bng 77), T Birmingham (77) and S Ely (77). Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Researcher Rich Arpi has written that “the core of the [1877] team was nine imported players: Joe Ellick from Cincinnati, Ed Gault from Milwaukee, catcher Emil Gross from Chicago, William Henry “Little Mack” McClellan from Chicago, Sumner Ely from Girard, Pennsylvania, Art Allison from Philadelphia, Harry Salisbury of Providence, Rhode Island, field captain Joseph W. Miller from Cincinnati […] and William Bohn, pilfered from the Minneapolis club.” Only Bohn was not included in this collage and according to Arpi, Bohn joined St. Paul in August 1877. It is possible that player Birmingham may have been the only man in the collage to play for the team before 1877. Roster info from Rich Arpi, Professional Base Ball Debuts in Minnesota, SABR National Pastime (2012). Image scan from VSA Auctions. Original photographs by Charles A. Zimmerman, St. Paul.

Hand-dated 1877. Two detail views of photo A, showing the portrait of J Miller (77). View at left showed that the player’s pants may have been a slightly darker in color when compared to the shirt, possibly cream in color. View at right showed a long-sleeved collared shirt that was devoid of a team name or insignia. The shirt had what appeared to be a button placket that ended above the belt. This unadorned style of shirt followed the look established by Chicago of the National League one year earlier in 1876, and it was likely that the St. Paul uniform was made by Spalding & Brothers, Chicago. Year Miller with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from VSA Auctions. Original photograph by Charles A. Zimmerman, St. Paul.

Hand-dated 1877. Two detail views of photo A, showing the portrait of S Ely (77). View at left showed the player’s intent to mimic how he appeared in the field as he had only the shirt sleeve on his throwing arm rolled up. View at right showed a thin strap of leather securing a wide fabric belt. Year Ely with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from VSA Auctions. Original photograph by Charles A. Zimmerman, St. Paul.

Hand-dated 1877. Two detail views of photo A, showing the portrait of J Ellick (StP 77, Mil 77). F View at left showed a short-sleeved shirt with a button placket. The player may have further “under rolled” his sleeves into the arms of his shirt to make the sleeves shorter. View at right showed the white stockings and baseball shoes worn by the team, both were similar to the style worn by Chicago of the National League. The shoes had an extra area of dark material above the soles running from toe to heel. Year Ellick with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from VSA Auctions. Original photograph by Charles A. Zimmerman, St. Paul.

Hand-dated 1877. Detail view of photo A showing an illustration of a pillbox-style baseball cap in the center of the collage. This was possibly a depiction of the the St. Paul “red cap.” The pillbox-style cap was introduced by Chicago of the National League in 1876 and may further suggest that Spalding & Brothers, Chicago, was the manufacturer of the St. Paul uniform.

Written documentation on this uniform:
1877: “The [St. Paul] Red Caps dressed entirely in white, including their shoes; a red cap with a white band and a narrow belt with a red edging added color.” From Rich Arpi, Professional Base Ball Debuts in Minnesota, SABR National Pastime (2012), citing the St. Paul Dispatch, March 14, 1877. Note that the portraits shown in photo A show a wide belt, not a narrow belt.

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.

Team genealogy: St. Paul 1875-1877
The St. Paul team formed as a professional independent for the 1875 season, and was known as the Red Caps. They joined the League Alliance (LA) for the 1877 season. The LA was an organization of independent professional teams that had an association with and played exhibition games against the National League. The St. Paul team disbanded after the 1877 season. Info from Rich Arpi, Professional Base Ball Debuts in Minnesota, SABR The National Pastime (2012).