1885 Cincinnati (Cincinnatis, Red Stockings)

These renderings are 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 renderings.

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on these uniforms:

Photo A

Dated April 1885 to early July 1885. Year confirmed by appearance of player Clinton, who only played for Cincinnati this one year. Date range of April 1885 to early July 1885 determined by the appearance of players Mountjoy and Powers, both were released on July 15, 1885. Players wore a plain white uniform in this photo with white caps, red lace ties on the shirt and red stockings. One player, Mountjoy, standing far left, wore a shirt with the city name across the front.

Top row, from left: B Mountjoy (Cin 83-85, Bal 85), H Carpenter (82-89), P Corkhill (83-88), G Shallix (84, 85), W White (Cin NL 78-80, Cin AA 82-86), P Powers (Cin 82-85, Bal 85) and F Fennelly (84-88). Front: K Baldwin (85-90), J Peoples (84, 85), B McPhee, (Cin AA 82-89, Cin NL 90-99), (P Snyder 82-86), C Jones (Cin NL 76-78, Cin AA 83-87), J Clinton (85) and J Reilly (Cin NL 80, 90, 91, Cin AA 83-89). Player IDs from photo. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Release date of Mountjoy and Powers from the Cincinnati Enquirer, July 16, 1885. Original photo by B. H. Herman, Cincinnati.

Dated 1885. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed the lace ties on the shirt and the one player, top left, with the city name on his shirt.

Written documentation on these uniforms:
April 30, 1886, Cincinnati v. Louisville, at Cincinnati: “The sharp fielding of the visitors prevented the Red Stockings from scoring but once.” From the Pittsburgh Daily Post, May 1, 1886. Use of the nickname, Red Stockings, based on the color of the hose.

May 1885: “Spalding made the Cincinnati suits, and after one washing the good shrunk so much that it is had to make ‘ends meet.’ Another washing may compel some of the boys to put buttons to the tail of the shirt and button on the pants after the fashion of little boys’ suits. Spalding’s flannel seems to be as uncertain as his base ball principles.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 12, 1885, citing the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette. Research from Ed Morton.

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.

1885, referenced in 1886: “In 1886, the St. Louis-Dispatch noted […] various ‘mascottic tastes’ of the teams [in baseball]. The paper said the success of the Cincinnati Red Stockings the previous season [of 1885] was attributed in part to ‘Kid Baldwin’s pink jersey,’ but the team’s fortunes turned in 1886 after ‘a St. Louis laundry woman’s daughter eloped in Kid’s jersey.'” From baseballhistorydaily.com, posted November 26, 2018 and retrieved December 11, 2018.

Team genealogy:
 Cincinnati 1881-
Cincinnati was formed in 1881 to join the American Association (AA) for its inaugural season in 1882. The AA was a major league operating between 1882 and 1891. Cincinnati played in the AA throughout the 1880s and then joined the National League (NL) for the 1890 season. The NL began operation in 1876. Cincinnati has played every year in the NL from 1890 to present time. Information from wikipedia.com.

1885 Cincinnati summary

Uniform: white, red stockings
First worn:
Photographed: team photo, April to early July
Described: April to June
Material:
Manufacturer: Spalding & Bro.
Supposition:
Variations: one player wore city name on shirt
Other items:
Home opener report: none, April 20 v. Louisville