1885 Baltimore (Baltimores, Orioles)

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

Dated April 1885. Photo year taken from photo B, and confirmed by appearance of player Evans in image. Photo was most likely taken in April 1885 as a newspaper account from this month stated the team was recently photographed. An early 1885 date is confirmed by appearance of players Emslie and Manning, who both later joined other teams in 1885. Photo shows uniform of striped shirts and matching caps, with dark stockings. A newspaper report from 1885 described the team uniform as red striped shirt and caps, with red stockings.

Top row, from left: T York (Bal NA 72, 73, Bal AA 84, 85), B Emslie (Bal 83-85, Phi AA 85), D Stearns (Bal 83-85, Buf 85), M Muldoon (85, 86), S Trott (84, 85, 87, 88), D Casey (84, 85), J Evans (85) and J Sommer (84-90). Front, sitting: S Nava (85, 86), O Burns (84, 85, 87, 88), (B Barnie, mgr 83-91), B Traffley (84-86), H Henderson (83-86), T Manning (Bal 83-85, Pro 85) and J Macullar (84-86). Player IDs from photo B. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Photo most likely by James S. Cummins, Baltimore. This photo was published in the Baltimore Evening Sun, April 13, 1914, and credited to the collection of August E. Wagener.

Dated April 1885. Detail view of photo A. Note white buttons down front of shirt, and how striping on top of cap extended from front of cap to back.

Photo B

Dated April 1885. Same image as in photo A. This version includes player IDs.

Written documentation on this uniform:
April 1885: “The Baltimore Club will appear today [on April 20, 1885, in the home opener v. Metropolitan] in their new uniforms.” From the Baltimore Sun, April 20, 1885.

April 1885: “Manager Barnie […] engaged the services of the best photographer of the city and had views taken of his team complete—one in uniform and another in civilian dress. There are two sizes of each, viz.: 8×11 and 11×14. They are certainly fine works of art and reflect credit on even that prince of photographers Mr. James S. Cummins. They are on sale, at 25 cents for the smaller and $1 for the larger size, at the office of the club, 134 W. Baltimore street, or at the grounds, or may be ordered by mail.” From The Sporting Life, April 22, 1885.

June 1885: “The Baltimores had their photo taken in Louisville.” From The Sporting Life, June 3, 1885. Baltimore last played in Louisville on May 7-9, 1885. Game dates from retrosheet.org.

June 1885: “The uniforms of the various clubs in the American Association are as follows: Louisville, white with dark red stockings and caps; Cincinnati, white with scarlet stockings; Pittsburg[h], gray, with red stockings; St. Louis, white, with brown stockings; Athletics; white, with blue stockings; Baltimore, white pants, pink-striped caps and jackets and red stockings; Brooklyns, gray, with red stockings; Mets, blue suits, with white stockings.” From the Ellicotville (NY) Post, June 15, 1885. A similar report was included in The Sporting Life, June 17, 1885, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 20, 1885, and a research pamphlet by Preston Orem, Baseball From Newspaper Accounts, 1885 (early 1960s). Specific documentation was not provided by Orem but his finding most likely came from a newspaper from the June 1885 time period. Orem passage from John Thorn. Sporting Life research from Chuck McGill.

October 1885: “The Oriole and National baseball clubs began a series of games in this city yesterday [Baltimore, October 5] for the championship of Baltimore and Washington.” From the Baltimore Sun, October 6, 1885. An example of the Orioles nickname in use.

Team genealogy:
 Baltimore 1882-1899
Baltimore joined the American Association (AA) in 1882. The AA was a major league operating 1882-1891. Baltimore played in the AA from 1882 to 1889 and then joined the Atlantic Association, a minor league, for the 1890 season. The team rejoined the American Association in late 1890 when the Brooklyn AA team failed. Baltimore played in the American Association for the 1891 season and when the AA folded, Baltimore was added to the National League (NL) for the 1892 season. The NL began operation in 1876. Baltimore played in the NL from 1892 to 1899. After the 1899 season, Baltimore was dropped by the league and the team disbanded. Information from wikipedia.com.

1885 Baltimore summary

Uniform: white shirt and cap with red stripes, white pants, red stockings
First worn: April 20, Baltimore
Photographed: team photo from April, also had photo taken in Louisville in early May (today unknown)
Described: June
Material:
Manufacturer:
Supposition:
Variations:
Other items:
Home opener report: none, April 20 v. Brooklyn