1888 Brooklyn (Brooklyns, Bridegrooms)
Left: This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style only. Color information is unknown and the uniform is rendered in values of gray. Minor details may also be undocumented or difficult to determine and an educated guess is made to complete the rendering.
Rendering accuracy: Year: documented Team: documented
Center: This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style and color. Minor details may be undocumented or difficult to determine and an educated guess is made to complete the rendering.
Rendering accuracy: Year: documented Team: documented
Right: This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style only. Color information is unknown and the uniform is rendered in values of gray. Minor details may also be undocumented or difficult to determine and an educated guess is made to complete the rendering.
Rendering accuracy: Year: documented Team: documented
Visual documentation on this uniform:
Photo A
Dated 1888. Old Judge baseball card of B Holbert (88). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date of 1888 can be confirmed as this was the only year Holbert played for Brooklyn. Photo shows a white uniform and cap, with dark-colored lace-ties, belt, stockings and pant seam trim. Detail views of other players from this same photo session show a subtle pinstripe pattern on the uniform, see photos C & D. Note that lace ties in this photo extended only partially down the shirt front. Also note player wearing gloves on both hands. Year Holbert with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo B
Dated 1888. Old Judge baseball card of D O’Brien (AA 88, 89, NL 90-92). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date of 1888 can be confirmed as background matches Holbert card, see photo A. Detail view shows lace ties and placket, and a shirt pocket on the left breast. Note that the shirt opening and surrounding placket extended further down the shirt than did the lace ties. This suggests the shirt lace was not long enough to be strung through all of the eyelets on the shirt. Detail views of other players from this same photo session show a subtle pinstripe pattern on the uniform, see photos C & D. Years O’Brien with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo C
Dated 1888. Old Judge baseball card of D Orr (88). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date of 1888 can be confirmed as this was the only year Orr played for Brooklyn. Detail view shows a subtle pinstripe on the uniform shirt and pants. (This feature may not be visible when viewing image on a small screen). Detail view also shows a lace tie that was not long enough to be strung through all of the shirt eyelets, matching that shown in photos A and B. Year Orr with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo D
Dated 1888. Old Judge cabinet card of D Bushong (AA 88, 89, NL 90). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date of 1888 can be confirmed as photo background matched photos A & C. Detail view shows a subtle pinstripe on pant leg. (This feature may not be visible when viewing image on a small screen). Subtle pinstripes were also visible on the shirt and collar of this uniform. Note, the player wore fielding gloves on each hand, the glove on his throwing hand had open fingers. Years Bushong with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from wikipedia and Tom Shieber.
Photo E
Dated 1888. Old Judge baseball card of D Foutz (AA 88, 89, NL 90-96). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date of 1888 can be confirmed as background matches Holbert card, see photo A. Player wore a cap with dark-colored bands. Years Foutz with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo F
Dated April 1888 or earlier. A drawing made from this photo was published on April 19, 1888. Photo date further confirmed by appearance of players Orr, Holbert, Silch, Radford and Mays, all of whom only played for Brooklyn in 1888. Photo shows team wearing a uniform that featured checks on the shirt and pants. Newspapers reported in March 1888 that the team would wear blue checks. However, reports in April 1888 as well as color-renderings of this uniform suggest the checks were red or maroon in color.
Top row: B Clark (AA 86-89, NL 90), A Terry (AA 84-89, NL 90-92), D Foutz (AA 88, 89, NL 90-96) and D O’Brien (AA 88, 89, NL 90-92). Middle: B McClellan (85-88, Cle 88), J Peoples (85-88), B Caruthers (AA 88, 89, NL 90, 91), D Orr (88), B Holbert (88) and D Bushong (AA 88, 89, NL 90). Front: G Pinkney (AA 85-89, NL 90, 91), E Silch (88), M Hughes (AA 88, 89, NL 90), (B McGunnigle, mgr AA 88, 89, NL 90), G Smith (AA 85-89, NL 90, 97), P Radford (88) and A Mays (88). Player IDs from newspaper engraving based on this photo, see photo F. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee.
Dated 1888. Detail view of photo E. Detail view shows checks on shirts and pants, as well as, detachable sleeves.
Dated 1888. Another detail view of photo E. Detail view shows quilted padding on the knees.
Photo G
Dated April 19, 1888. Drawing made from photo E and printed in the New York Evening World. Drawing included player IDs. Drawing confirms the uniforms had a check pattern. Research and image scan from Ken Samoil.
Photo H
Dated 1888. Promotional poster for Old Judge baseball cards. Full view at left, detail view of player D Orr (88) at right. Illustration of Orr was based on Old Judge baseball card dated circa 1887 when Orr played for Metropolitan, New York. The image has been colorized to reflect the 1888 Brooklyn uniform, including the check pattern shown in red. Year Orr with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from Jay Miller, Joe Gonsowski and Richard Masson, The Photographic Baseball Cards of Goodwin & Company, 1886-1890 (2008).
Photos I & J
Left: dated 1887, Allen & Ginter baseball card of B Caruthers (AA 88, 89, NL 90, 91). Right: dated 1888, Goodwin Champions baseball card of B Caruthers. The Allen & Ginter card at left may depict Caruthers in the 1888 Brooklyn checked uniform. Caruthers played for St. Louis in 1887. Card issue date of 1887 from oldcardboard.com. The portrait of Caruthers on the Goodwin Champions card may be based on the 1888 Old Judge baseball cards of the player. Illustration depicted a plain white cap and red lace ties. Card issue date of 1888 from Jay Miller, Joe Gonsowski and Richard Masson, The Photographic Baseball Cards of Goodwin & Company, 1886-1890 (2008).
Photo K
Dated 1888. Photo date confirmed by appearance of players Radford and Orr. Photo shows a uniform similar to that worn during the Old Judge photo sessions from same year, but differentiated by a small letter “B” on the shirt pocket. Almost every player was wearing short sleeves with bare arms in this photo, and one player wore a colored undershirt. One player, Radford, top row far right, wore a short-sleeved shirt with wide color bands at the ends of the sleeves. Another player, Caruthers, top row second from right, wore a white coat over his uniform.
Top row, standing, from left: B Clark (AA 86-89, NL 90), J Burdock (AA 88, NL 91), D Bushong (AA 88, 89, NL 90), D Foutz (AA 88, 89, NL 90-96), B Caruthers (AA 88, 89, NL 90, 91) and P Radford (88). Front, sitting: G Pinkney (AA 85-89, NL 90, 91), J Peoples (85-88), G Smith (AA 85-89, NL 90, 97), D O’Brien (AA 88, 89, NL 90-92), D Orr (88), A Terry (AA 84-89, NL 90, 91), M Hughes (AA 88, 89, NL 90) and B McClellan (85-88, Cle 88). Player IDs from photo. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee. Original photo by Joseph Hall, Brooklyn.
Dated 1888. Detail view of photo I. Detail view shows small letter “B” on shirt pocket, colored trim along the bill of the cap, and the varying ways players laced their shirts.
Written documentation on this uniform:
March 1888: “The [Brooklyn] championship season’s uniform will consist of white and maroon check or plaid for shirt and pants, with white and maroon stockings, and cap of same material. The practice uniforms will not be quite as stylish.” From The Sporting Life, March 7, 1888. Research from Chuck McGill. Note, this report indicated the team planned to wear maroon and red striped stockings. To date, there is no other documentation found to confirm this.
March 1888: “[Brooklyn owner] Brynes’ big team will appear in blue stockings, belts and caps, with shirts and pants made of white, stamped with small blue check.” From the St. Paul Globe, March 25, 1888. Research from Don Stokes. Note, other documentation from later in 1888 suggested the checks were red, not blue.
March 1888: “The Brooklyn sluggers will appear in a peculiar uniform consisting of shirts and pants made of pure white flannel stamped with small blue checks and with blue stockings, belts and caps.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 26, 1888, citing the Cincinnati Commercial. Research from Gary and Oliver Kodner. Note, other documentation from later in 1888 suggested the checks were red, not blue.
April 18, 1888, Brooklyn v. Cleveland at Brooklyn, Washington Park, opening day: “The sixteen [Brooklyn] men wore their new uniforms for the first time. As they came on the field the crowd burst into hearty applause. The new suits are of white, with a narrow maroon check. The visor caps have a wide maroon stripe running from end to end in a white ground. The stockings and belts are also maroon.” From the New York Press, April 19, 1888.
April 1888: “Brooklyn–Maroon and white striped hats, red and white checked uniforms.” From the New York Times, April 19, 1888. Research from Clifford Blau.
August 1888: “Good luck to the Grooms. When will the new uniforms be worn?” From The New York Evening World, August 9, 1888. Research from Don Stokes.
1888: “From the St. Louis Republican—The [American] association clubs should follow the example of the [National] league and have uniforms made to fit the players. The Browns, Brooklyn and Cincinnati are the only teams whose uniforms approach a fit.” From the Buffalo Courier, December 30, 1888.
Team genealogy:
Brooklyn 1883-1957
Brooklyn was formed as a minor league team in 1883 and joined the American Association (AA) in 1884. The AA was a major league operating 1882-1891 and Brooklyn played in the AA between 1884 and 1889. Brooklyn moved to the National League (NL) for the 1890 season. The NL began operation in 1876. Brooklyn played in the NL between 1890 and 1957, when the team moved to Los Angeles. Information from wikipedia.
Rendering posted: October 24, 2016
Diggers on this uniform: Chuck McGill, Cliff Blau, Don Stokes, Gary Kodner, Ken Samoil, Mark Fimoff, Oliver Kodner, Tom Shieber,