1888 St. Louis (Browns)
These renderings are based on visual documentation for uniform style only. An educated guess is made on uniform color and on some important details that may be missing or difficult to determine.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team: documented
Visual documentation on these uniforms:
Photo A
Dated 1888. Year of photo confirmed by the appearance of player McGarr, who only played for St. Louis in 1888. The photo was made by a Brooklyn photographer on the field in Brooklyn at Washington Park. St. Louis played games in Brooklyn on June 3-7, August 3-5 and September 3-5 and this image was made during one of these times. Players wore a white or light-colored uniform in this photo. Based on a newspaper report from this year, the team continued the use of brown as an accent color from previous years. Some of the players in this photo wore 3/4 sleeves. Two of the players wore their collars turned up. The lettering across the chest was larger in size and more blocky in form when compared to previous years. The lettering extended to each arm pit, sometimes obscuring the “S” on either end of “St. Louis.”
Top row, from left: T O’Neil (84-89, 91), H Lyons (StL AA 87, 88, Port 88), S King (87-89), J Devlin (88, 89) and A Latham (AA 83-89, NL 96). Front: J Boyle (87-89, 91), J Milligan (88, 89), C McGarr (88), C Comiskey (82-89, 91), T McCarthy (88-91), E Knouff (Stl AA 87, 88, Cle AA 88), N Hudson (87-89) and Y Robinson (85-89, 91). Player IDs from photo. Photo scan from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Lyons, Comiskey and McCarthy names spelled incorrectly on frame. Original photo by Joseph Hall, Brooklyn.
Dated 1888. Detail view of photo A. Detail view shows dark-colored lace ties, horizontal bands on the cap and a dark trim along the bill of the cap.
Photo B
Dated early 1888. Old Judge baseball card of F Mann (dnp). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date of March-April 1888 can be determined as Mann was signed by St. Louis before the 1888 season, but was released late April 1888 and did not play in a regular season game. Mann wore a uniform in this photo matching that shown in photo A. Mann sign and release info from Dick Leyden, SABR Bio Project. Release info from The Sporting Life, April 25, 1888.
Photo C
Dated early 1888. Old Judge baseball card of N Hudson (87-89). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date can be confirmed as studio background matches photo B. Detail view shows cap with thick and thin horizontal bands. Years Hudson with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo D
Dated 1888. Old Judge baseball card of S King (87-89). Full view at left, detail view at right. Detail view shows decorative stitching around shirt placket and version of shirt with detachable sleeves. Years King with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo E
Dated 1888. Promotional poster for Old Judge baseball cards. Full view at left, detail view of player C Comiskey (82-89, 91) at right. Illustration of Comiskey was based on Old Judge baseball card from this same year and colorized to reflect the white and brown uniform. Years Comiskey 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).
Photo F
Dated early July 1888 to October 13, 1888. Year of photo confirmed by appearance of player White, who only played for St. Louis in 1888 and joined the team after he was released by Louisville on July 2, 1888. An October 1888 date can be suggested for the photo by the printed frame that stated the team was champion of the American Association in 1888. The regular season ended on October 14, 1888, and a drawing based on this image was published in a newspaper on the same day, see below. The print possibly made during the world championship, played October 16-27, 1888, in which St. Louis lost the series to New York. A few players wore their shirt open at the collar. Three wore their collar turned up. Note that the tonal densities of the lettering were not consistent on all shirts. This possibly suggests a suede material was used. It could also suggest there were variations on the color or material used to make the lettering. Also note that photo utilizes the Browns nickname.
Eight players and mascot in top row, from left: B White (Lou AA 88 49 gms, StL 88), J Devlin (88, 89), Y Robinson (85-89, 91), A Latham (AA 83-89, NL 96), (C Latham, mascot), T O’Neil (84-89, 91), T McCarthy (88-91), S King (87-89) and J Herr (AA 88, 90, WA 88). Seven players in front row: J Boyle (87-89, 91), N Hudson (87-89), E Chamberlain on ground (88-90), C Comiskey (82-89, 91), H Lyons on ground (87, 88), J Milligan (88, 89) and T Dolan (AA 83, 84, 88, UA 84, NL 85, 86, WA 88). Player IDs from photo. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. ID of mascot from the Camden (NJ) Daily Telegram, October 19, 1888, which reported that “the mascot of the St. Louis club is Walter A. Latham’s little son, Clifford. Since he joined the club they have lost but five out of twenty-five games they have played. He is 7 years old and is a good base ball player for his age. He is a bright little boy and is a favorite among the base ball men throughout the country.” Camden Daily Telegram research from Tom Shieber, Baseball Researcher blog, retrieved June 17, 2019. See written documentations below for another mention of the St. Louis mascot. Season end date and White release info from retrosheet.org. Original photograph by Fitz W. Guerin, St. Louis.
Dated 1888. Detail view of photo B. Players wore white caps in this photo.
Photo G
Dated October 14, 1888. This drawing, based on the team photo above, was published in a newspaper on this day. Note that the illustrator decided not to include the two dogs sitting in the foreground of the original photograph.
Eight players and mascot in top row, from left: B White (Lou AA 88 49 gms, StL 88), J Devlin (88, 89), Y Robinson (85-89, 91), A Latham (AA 83-89, NL 96), (C Latham, mascot), T O’Neil (84-89, 91), T McCarthy (88-91), S King (87-89) and J Herr (AA 88, 90, WA 88). Seven players in front row: J Boyle (87-89, 91), N Hudson (87-89), E Chamberlain on ground (88-90), C Comiskey (82-89, 91), H Lyons on ground (87, 88), J Milligan (88, 89) and T Dolan (AA 83, 84, 88, UA 84, NL 85, 86, WA 88). Player IDs from item. ID of mascot from the Camden (NJ) Daily Telegram, October 19, 1888. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 14, 1888. Image scan from Gary Kodner.
Photos H & I
Dated October 27, 1888. These drawings of C Comiskey (82-89, 91), left, and A Latham (AA 83-89, NL 96), right, were published in a newspaper on this date. The illustrations were based on photographs made by a New York studio. St. Louis played games in Brooklyn on June 3-7, August 3-5 and September 3-5, and it is possible these images were made during one of these times. Drawings show a uniform, possibly light gray in color, with a dark-colored cap and shirt cuffs. Shirt lettering matched that shown in photos A thru F. Image and player IDs from Harper’s Weekly, October 27, 1888. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Drawings based on original photos by Pach Brothers, New York.
Dated 1888. Detail view of photo I, Latham drawing. Detail view shows suggestions of decorative stitching around the shirt placket, see photo D for a better view of similar stitching.
Photo J
Dated 1887 to 1889, probably 1888. Cabinet card of S King (87-89), full view at left, detail view at right. Player wore a white uniform in this photo with a dark-colored shirt collar and large dark-colored cuffs on the shirt sleeves. The city name was displayed on the chest in square letter forms and the shirt had lace ties. The cap was dark in color and featured a white braid above the visor and white trim along the front edge of the visor. These features were very similar to the uniforms depicted in drawings made in 1888, see photo G. Years King with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Oliver Kodner. Original photo by Ludwig Frederick Hammer, St. Louis.
Photo K
Dated October 1887 or 1888. Montage of player portraits. Montage shows all but one of the St. Louis players wearing a cap with vertical stripes. These renderings were based on the photo portraits originally made in 1885 or early 1886. Player Boyle, top left, joined the team in 1887 and therefore was not included in these earlier portraits. Boyle was shown in the montage wearing a cap with two horizontal bands and a striped shirt. Contemporary newspaper accounts report the St. Louis team wore a brown and white striped shirt in 1887. Of the ten players shown in montage, five last played for St. Louis in 1887 and were not on the team in 1888. The dates of “1886 – 1887 – 1888” listed at the bottom of this item referenced championships won by St. Louis in 1885, 1886 and 1887. Often teams that won the pennant were deemed the champion for the following year. The 1887 season ended on October 9, 1887, and this item may have been issued as a souvenir for the championship series with Detroit of the National League, October 10-26, 1887.
Top row, from left: J Boyle (87-89, 91), B Caruthers (AA 84-87, NL 92), T O’Neil (84-89, 91) and B Gleason (82-87). Middle: Y Robinson (85-89, 91), C Comiskey (82-89, 91), (C von der Ahe, president), D Bushong (85-87) and C Welch (85-87). Bottom: A Latham (AA 83-89, NL 96), and D Foutz (84-87). Player IDs from item. Years with team from baseball-reference.com.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1888: “The St. Louis Browns have not changed their uniform.” From the St. Paul Globe, March 25, 1888. Research from Don Stokes.
June 1888: “The Browns have a new mascot. His name is Rudy Hahn and he is a native of St. Louis. Rudy is 17 years old and a great lover of the game. Rudy would be a player, but he only has one finger on his left hand. He lost the other three in a St. Louis box factory three years ago while fooling with a buzz saw. Rudy […] caught the baseball fever as soon as the season opened. He quit work and followed the St. Louis club to Kansas City in the latter part of April. He went home to St. Louis with the club, but was with the Browns when they went to Cincinnati. He journeyed to Baltimore, but did not go to Cleveland because he thought the champions could get along without a mascot there. […] Rudy said the trade of a mascot is not a profitable one. ‘I have saved about $5 since I left Kansas City,’ said he. […] President Chris Von der Ahe was not aware that his cub had a mascot until he was introduced to Rudy yesterday.” From the Kansas City Times, June 9, 1888, citing the New York Sun. In his book, Chris Von der Ahe and the St. Louis Browns (1999), author J. Thomas Hetrick wrote that “when Chris Von der Ahe was finally told about Rudy, the owner ordered a suit of clothes for him in New York City.”
October 1888: “[The Cuban Giants] play is of the hurrah order, resembling that of the Browns.” From the Detroit Free Press, October 2, 1888.
October 1888: “[Player/manager] Comiskey was being complimented the other day for having again captured the pennant, and in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles.[…] ‘There,’ said he, pointing to Latham, ‘is the man that won half my games for me.’ The angelic faced little cherub who marches on the field with the Browns, dressed in one of their uniforms, is Master Cliff Latham, the champions’ mascot. He is the son of the Browns’ inimitable third baseman, and they have not lost a game since he joined them. — Kansas City Times.” From the Paterson (NJ) Sunday Call, date not included with scan. The newspaper included drawings of the St. Louis team before the championship series with New York.
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:
St. Louis 1882-
St. Louis was formed to join the American Association (AA) in 1882. The AA was a major league operating between 1882 and 1891 and St. Louis played in the AA in every year of the league’s existence. The team moved to the National League (NL) for 1892 season. The NL began operation in 1876 and St. Louis has played in the NL every year since 1892. Information from wikipedia.
Rendering posted: February 12, 2021
Diggers on this uniform: Don Stokes, Gary Kodner, Oliver Kodner, Tom Shieber,