1889 Baltimore (Baltimores, Orioles)
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 17, 1889. This drawing was printed in a Baltimore newspaper on this day and represented the new uniform. Full view at left, detail view at right. Drawing shows a striped shirt, dark pants, a dark cap, banded stockings and a banded belt. This may be the uniform that one newspaper described in June 1889 as being “orange and black” in color and that had been worn “earlier in season.” The drawing matches the uniform shown in the Old Judge baseball cards from this same year, see photos below. Image from the Baltimore Daily News, April 17, 1889.
Photo B
Dated 1889. Old Judge baseball card of T Quinn (89), full view at left, detail view at right. Year of photo can be confirmed as this was the only year Quinn played for Baltimore. The uniform matched a drawing printed in a Baltimore newspaper in April 1889, see photo A. Detail view showed stockings with thick horizontal bands, and quilted padding at the knees. Year Quinn with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo C
Dated April to early August 1889. Old Judge baseball card of P Whitaker (88, 89), full view at left, detail view at right. Year of photo can be confirmed as the photo background matches that shown in photo B. Photo date of April to early August 1889 can be determined as Whitaker was released from the team on August 13, 1889. Detail view shows striped shirt with three white buttons, and a belt with horizontal bands. Years Whitaker with team and transaction date from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo D
Dated 1889. Old Judge cabinet card of F Foreman (AA 85, 89, NL 92, AL 01, 02), full view at left, detail view at right. Year of photo can be confirmed as the uniform and studio setting matched that of the Old Judge image of player Quinn, see photo B. Uniform also matched a drawing printed in a Baltimore newspaper in April 1889, see photo A. Detail view showed a pillbox-style cap with a broad white horizontal band at the top of the cap. It is possible the entire top of the cap was white. Detail view also suggests that the cap had a braided cord above the bill of the cap. Year with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Tom Shieber.
Photo E
Dated June 1889. Year of photo confirmed by appearance of players Quinn and Hornung. Based on the ballpark in the background, this photo most likely taken in Philadelphia before a game against the Athletics. If the date of June 1889 in the photo caption is correct, this photo was made between June 23, 1889 and June 25, 1889. These were the only dates Baltimore played at Philadelphia during this month. Players in this photo most likely wore a light blue uniform with red stockings. This uniform was described in a newspaper account from the same month and year as the date attributed to this photo. All of the players wore a shirt with elbow-length sleeves. Two players also wore a white undershirt.
Top row, from left: M Griffin (87-89), C Fulmer (86-89), T Quinn (89), B Shindle (AA 88, 89, NL 92, 93), R Mack (89, 90) and F Foreman (AA 85, 89, NL 92, AL 01, 02). Front: B Cantz (88, 89), M Kilroy (86-89), B Cunningham (88, 89, 91), P Tate (89, 90), (B Barnie mgr 83-91), T Tucker (87-89), J Sommer (84-90) and J Hornung (89). Player IDs handwritten on photo. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee. Original photo published in Athletic Sports in America, England and Australia (1889).
Dated June 1889. Detail view of photo E. Detail view shows city name on shirt with extra letter-spacing around the “I” in Baltimore as the word crossed the shirt opening. This lettering style was similar to that worn by the team in 1888.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1889: “The club will have two styles of uniforms. One will be the oriole, which will consist of black and yellow shirts, stockings and caps. The pantaloons will be black. The other uniform will be gray shirts, caps and pantaloons. The stockings will be maroon. The letter B in maroon will appear on the shirt front.” From the Baltimore Sun, March 21, 1889.
May 1889: “The Baltimore players in their new uniforms look like escaped convicts.” From the New York Evening Telegram, May 28, 1889.
June 1889: “[Baltimore] wore orange and black uniforms earlier in season, now wearing light blue with maroon stockings.” From the Brooklyn Daily Times, June 20, 1889. Research from Clifford Blau.
Circa 1889, reported in May 1891: “Pitcher Frank Foreman, who has just signed with the Washington Club, paid a visit to his former home, in Woodberry [in north-central Baltimore], yesterday [on May 13, 1891]. In the afternoon he donned one of the old gray uniforms in which he did such successful work for the Orioles in 1889 and practiced at Union Park.” From the Baltimore Sun, May 14, 1891. According to baseball-reference.com, Foreman played for Baltimore in 1885 and 1889.
Team genealogy:
Baltimore 1882-1899
Baltimore was formed to join the American Association (AA) in 1882. The AA was a major league operating 1882-1891. Baltimore played in the AA from 1882 to 1889 and then joined the Atlantic Association, a minor league, for the 1890 season. The team rejoined the American Association in late 1890 when the Brooklyn AA team failed. Baltimore played in the American Association for the 1891 season and when the AA folded, Baltimore was added to the National League (NL) for the 1892 season. The NL began operation in 1876. Baltimore played in the NL from 1892 to 1899. After the 1899 season, Baltimore was dropped by the league and the team disbanded. Information from wikipedia.
Rendering posted: October 29, 2020
Diggers on this uniform: Cliff Blau, Mark Fimoff, Tom Shieber,