1887 Boston (Bostons, Beaneaters, Reds)

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 rendering.

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on these uniforms:

Photo A

Dated 1887. Kalamazoo Bats baseball card of the Boston team. Year of photo confirmed by the appearance of player Wheelock, who only played for Boston in 1887. Photo was taken in Philadelphia and therefore the Boston players wore their light gray road uniforms in this photo, with red belts and stockings, and white jackets. One contemporary newspaper report described the 1887 road uniform as gray flannel trimmed in red.

Top row, from left: K Madden (NL 87-89, PL 90, AA 91), T O’Rourke (87, 88), E Sutton (77-88), D Conway (87, 88), B Nash (85-95), B Wheelock (87) and C Radbourn (NL 86-89, PL 90). Front: S Wise (82-88), D Johnston (NL 85-89, PL 90), M Kelly (NL 87-89, 91, 92, PL 90, AA 91), J Morrill (NL 76-88, PL 90) and P Tate? (85-88). Player IDs from Nigel Ayres. Years with team from baseball-reference.com.

Photo B

Dated 1887. This image was made during the same session as team photo shown above, see photo A. Several players are in slightly different positions when compared to photo A.

Dated 1887. Detail view of photo B. Detail view showed that some players may have had light-colored bands on their caps, while other players wore caps with no banding. Detail view also showed that the stockings were ribbed.

Photo C

Dated 1887. Old Judge baseball card of B Wheelock (87). Photo date confirmed as 1887 was the only year Wheelock played for Boston. Full view at left and detail view at right. Photo detail shows extra lettering space in between letters “S” and “T”. Years Wheelock with team from baseball-reference.com.

Photo D

Dated 1887. Old Judge baseball card of S Wise (82-88). Full view at left, detail view at right. Note, detail view shows letter forms across the chest, including an “S” that seems to be upside down. The uniform lettering of several other players from this year also seem to show the “S” positioned upside down, see detail view of photo B. Years Wise with team from baseball-reference.com.

Photo E

Dated 1887. Old Judge baseball card of J Morrill (NL 76-88, PL 90). Card misspelled player name. Full view at left, detail view at right. Detail view shows white lace ties on uniform extending down part way between the letters “S” and “T” on Morrill’s uniform. A majority of the uniforms shown in the team photo from this year, see photos A and B, do not show lace ties extending down this far. Years Morrill with team from baseball-reference.com.

Photo F

Dated circa 1887. Left: Allen & Ginter’s baseball card of M Kelly (NL 87-89, 91, 92, PL 90, AA 91). Right: undated studio portrait of Kelly. Note, the Allen & Ginter’s baseball card was most likely drawn from the studio portrait, and not from a photo of Kelly in uniform. The baseball card illustration of Kelly is a transposed image, note hair part in studio portrait which is consistent with other images of Kelly from this period.

Photo G

Dated circa 1887. Buchner Gold Coin baseball cards. Left: M Kelly (NL 87-89, 91, 92, PL 90, AA 91), and right: J Morrill (NL 76-88, PL 90). These renderings show a shirt pocket and red trim on the shirt collar and shirt placket. These features may be the creation of the illustrator and not based on actual uniforms. Images from oldcardboard.com. Years with team from baseball-reference.com.

Photo H

Dated circa 1887. Buchner Gold Coin baseball cards. Left: J Morrill (NL 76-88, PL 90), and right C Radbourn (NL 86-89, PL 90). These renderings show a uniform with blue trim, blue lettering and blue stockings. This may be a variation of the Boston uniform or the creation of the illustrator. Images from oldcardboard.com. Years with team from baseball-reference.com.

Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1887: “The [Boston] club will have two uniforms. One will be for home use only. It will be of the favorite old style—white shirts trimmed with red, with five-inch lace in front, and ‘Boston’ in red letters across the breast. The pants will be white, while the stockings and belt will be red. The second uniform will be of cadet gray flannel, and will be used away from home.” From the New York Clipper, April 2, 1887, story byline dated March 27, 1887.

March 1887: “The Boston League team will have two uniforms this year. The first will be for home playing only and will consist of white shirt trimmed with red, with a five-inch lace in front and ‘Boston’ in red across the breast. The pants will be plain white, and the cap will be plain knickerbocker. The stockings and belt will be red. The second uniform will be used away from home entirely and will consist of cadet gray flannel, and trimmed the same as the white uniform.” From the New York Evening Telegram, March 30, 1887. Note, this report report differs from the entry above as it describes the cap.

April 1887: “[Jack] Burdock’s practice uniform must be seen to be appreciated.” From the Boston Globe, April 1, 1887.

April 1887: “The Bostons will wear gray uniforms this season [1887].” From the Kansas City Journal, April 12, 1887.

April 1887: “[Boston’s] Mike Kelly is wearing his last season’s Chicago uniform [from 1886] just for luck.” From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, April 17, 1887.

April 1887: “Much confidence prevails among local enthusiasts as to the ability of the Statesmen to win their first contest, and if the they are defeated this afternoon [April 28, 1887] the Beaneaters will have to play all the ball that they are capable of.” From the Washington (DC) National Republican, April 28, 1887. Use of the Beaneaters nickname. The April 28th game was rained out.

April 1887: “The [Boston] Globe announces its intention today [April 28] of presenting a silver bat of regulation size to the leading batsman and a handsome gold medal to the best baserunner on this season’s [National] League team, and also gold medals to the members of the team winning the New England championship.” From the Washington (DC) Critic and Record, April 28, 1887. Not uniform related, but still interesting.

June 1887: “The color of a least one uniform of each club in the [National] League and American Association is given below. It would be next to impossible to give the several different uniforms of each club, as they change the different pieces of one uniform to another, and may appear on the field in a different make-up every day for a week. However, one complete uniform of each club is as follows: […] Boston — The uniform of this club is in general style as old as the club itself. The Red Stockings the club was called years ago, and red stockings are still the most striking tenure of their rig. The suit is white, or cream-color, with red trimmings and bearing the name of the club in red letters across the breast. The only change made this season is the substitution of a white cap for a red-trimmed one of last year [1886]. The members of the club have a pet grievance over the uniforms. The management refuses to bear the expense of washing the suits. It is said that as a matter of fact this bit of ‘nearness’ on the part of the management has an effect on the boys’ play. More than once a player had saved 50 cents laundry expense and been put out [at a base] rather than cover himself with dirt by sliding to a base. Protests have been made in vain for several seasons.” From the St Louis Post-Dispatch, June 14, 1887, citing the New York Sun. Research from Todd Radom.

June 1887: “If the [Boston team] directors would pay for the washing of the Bostons’ uniforms, they would slide more frequently to bases. It would be a paying investment.” From the Detroit Free Press, June 14, 1887, citing the Boston Globe.

June 1887: “Boston management is getting it again from a portion of the Boston press for its meanness. It is alleged that the players must pay for the washing of their own uniform, and for this reason the players refuse to slide to bases more often.” From the New York Evening Telegram, June 23, 1887.

June 24, 1887, Boston v. Chicago at Chicago: “At half-past one the Boston club, attired in their neat uniforms of gray and red, came back from lunch, and as they entered the hotel were greeted with cheers and applause.” From the New York Herald, June 25, 1887.

July 1887: “The Bostons don’t dress like pennant winners. They wear the slouchiest and cheapest looking suits of any club in the [National] league.” From the Chicago Tribune, July 13, 1887, citing the Detroit Free Press.

Team genealogy:
 Boston 1871-1952
Boston was formed to enter the National Association (NA) in 1871. The NA was baseball’s first league, operating 1871-1875. Boston played in the NA in every year of the league’s existence and moved to the National League (NL) upon its start in 1876. Boston played in the NL from 1876 to 1952 and moved to Milwaukee for the 1953 NL season. Information from Paul Batesel, Players And Teams of the National Association, 1871-1875, from baseball-reference.com and from wikipedia.com.