1886 Nashville (Nashvilles)

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 1886 to early May 1886. Year of photo determined by the appearance of players Bittman, Dundon, Schellhase, Earle, Goldsby and Smith, all of whom only played for Nashville in 1886. Date range of April to early May determined by the non-appearance of player Hellman, who joined the team on May 13, 1886 and played his first game for Nashville on May 15. The appearance of player Baker in the photo wearing street clothes may suggest the photo was made in early April or mid-April 1886. Baker had agreed to play for two teams before the 1886 season, Syracuse of the International League and Nashville. He preferred Nashville and was granted his release from Syracuse on April 17. This release may have been only a formality as Baker had already been playing in exhibition games for Nashville and was the team’s opening day started on April 15. It is unknown if this was the reason Baker was not wearing a Nashville uniform at the time of the team photo. Players wore a white or light gray uniform in this photo, with dark caps, belts and stockings. The shirt had lace ties down the front and many of the players tied their laces in an “X” pattern. The majority of shirts were short sleeved. A newspaper report from March 1886 stated that the Nashville uniforms were “made of pearl gray cloth, with red caps, belts and stockings.”

Top row of four men, from left: R Bittmann (Nas 86, Syr IL 86), J Hillery? (Nas 85, 86, Osh NWL 86), E Dundon (86) and A Schellhase (Nas 86, AI GL 86). Middle row of seven men: (N Baker Nas 85, 86, Roc IL 86), T Brynan? (Nas 86, Mem SA 86), B Earle (Nas 86, Mem SA 86), O Beard? (Nas 85, 86, 94, AI GL 86), W Goldsby (Nas 86, Was NL 86), B O’Brien (Nas 86, 93, StP NWL 86), L Sowders (Nas 85, 86, Bal AA 86). Front: G McVey? (Nas 86, Cha SA 86), L Marr (Nas 86, Syr IL 86, Cin AA 86), E Smith (86). Player IDs from Carson Lorey and Nigel Ayres. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Hellman dates from the Nashville Daily American, May 14, 1886. Baker dates from the Nashville Daily American, April 19, 1886. Image scan and documented research from wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville_Americans.

Dated April 1886 to early May 1886. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed the city name in block letters arched across the chest. Detail view also showed that several players wore neckties tucked into the openings of their shirts.

Dated April 1886 to early May 1886. Another detail view of photo A. This detail view showed the team cap in the foreground. The cap was in the pillbox style and featured a white braid above the visor and several subtle horizontal bands encircling the body. The cap at top left showed that a white button was featured on the top panel.

Written documentation on this uniform:
March 1886: “The [Nashville] club’s new uniforms have arrived. They are made of pearl gray cloth, with red caps, belts and stockings. They were made by Spaulding [sp] & Bro., Chicago. […] The perfect fitting is largely due to Mr. W. M. Rowen, the well-known tailor of this city, who was kind enough to take the measures. The shoes were made by a Nashville firm.” From the Nashville Daily American, March 15, 1886. Research from wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville_Americans. According to an 1881 Nashville city directory, William M. Rowen was a merchant tailor and draper with a store at 37 North Cherry Street and a residence at 96 Carroll Street.

Team genealogy: Nashville 1884-1887
The Nashville team was founded as the American Baseball Club in October 1884 and joined the Southern League (SL) for its inaugural season in 1885. Nashville played in the SL in 1885 and 1886, and disbanded after the 1886 season. The Southern League reorganized in 1887 and a new Nashville team was also organized and accepted. Nashville played in the SL until they disbanded in August of 1887. Info from wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville_Americans and wikipedia.org/wiki/Nashville_Blues.