1889 Boston (Bostons, Beaneaters, Reds)
Left: 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 renderings.
Rendering accuracy: Year: documented Team: documented
Center: This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style only. An educated guess is made on uniform color and on minor details that may be missing or difficult to determine.
Rendering accuracy: Year: documented Team: documented
Right: This rendering is based on partial or inconclusive documentation for uniform style and an educated guess on color. Important details may be undocumented or difficult to determine and an artist’s conceptualization is used to the complete rendering.
Rendering accuracy: Year: documented Team: documented
Visual documentation on these uniforms:
Photo A
Dated circa May 1889. Illustration depicts Boston v New York at Boston, Opening Day, May 8, 1889. Color illustration shows Boston wearing a white uniform with white cap and red stockings. Note how the artist positioned the outfielders so they would fit into the frame (or maybe this is the first use of “the shift”?). Game date from retrosheet.org.
Dated circa May 1889. Two detail views of photo A. Left detail view shows collage of player portraits. These portraits were based on the fifteen G Waldon Smith studio portraits printed in a photo collage from this same year, see photo B. Illustrated portraits show red lettering across the chest. Right detail view shows players in the field. Illustration depicts that players wore white caps. A team photo from later in the same year shows that players also wore a cap with horizontal bands.
Photo B
Dated early 1889. Full view at left, detail view of player Nash at right. Date of collage determined by use of these same portraits in an illustration depicting opening day on May 8, 1889, see photo A. Date of 1889 also confirmed by appearance of manager Hart, and by players Ganzel, Brouthers, Richardson and Bennett in combination with players Sowders and Ray, all of whom only played together for Boston during this year. 13 of the 15 portraits, excluding those of manager Hart and player Brown, appear to have the same subject lighting and background. This suggests these 13 portraits were made during the same session. Two players shown in collage were sold by the team during the season, confirming an early 1889 issue date for the collage. Player Sowders was sold to Pittsburgh on July 20, 1889 and player Ray was sold to Baltimore on August 16, 1889. Portrait of player Brown, top row second from left, was made at a different session than the others. In addition to the differences in studio lighting, he was the only player photographed wearing his cap. It is possible all of the players wore a light gray uniform for their portraits. Detail view of player Nash shows lace ties ending above the city lettering.
Top row, from left: K Madden (NL 87-89, PL 90, AA 91), T Brown (NL 88, 89, PL 90, AA 91), C Ganzel (89-97) and J Quinn (NL 88, 89, PL 90, NL 91, 92). Second row: B Sowders (NL 88, 89, Pit NL 89), J Clarkson (88-92), (J Hart mgr 89), M Kelly (NL 87-89, 91, 92, PL 90, AA 91) and I Ray (NL 88, 89, Bal AA 89). Third row: D Brouthers (NL 89, PL 90, AA 91), D Johnston (NL 85-89, PL 90), B Nash (NL 85-89, 91-95, PL 90) and C Radbourn (NL 86-89, PL 90). Fourth row: H Richardson (NL 89, PL 90, AA 91) and C Bennett (NL 89-93). Player IDs from collage. Years with team and Sowders and Ray transaction info from baseball-reference.com. Original portraits by G. Waldon Smith, Boston.
Photo C
Hand-dated 1889 on back of card. Cabinet card of T Brown (NL 88, 89, PL 90, AA 91). Full view at left and detail view at right. Portrait is same as shown in photo collage, see photo B. Detail view shows white cap with white cord above the bill. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Original photo by G. Waldon Smith, Boston.
Photo D
Dated 1893. Honest cabinet card of B Nash (NL 85-89, 91-95, PL 90). Portrait was based on photo shown in 1889 photo collage, see photo B. This colorized portrait shows red lettering across the chest and may suggest a light gray shirt color. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Card issue date from oldcardboard.com.
Photo E
Dated late July 1889. Photo date of 1889 confirmed by appearance of manager Hart. Date of late July 1889 determined by appearance of player Smith, who was purchased by Boston from Pittsburgh on July 30, 1889, in combination with a printed version of this team photo with a July 1889 date in the caption, see photo below. Players in photo wore a uniform similar to the Boston uniform of 1888 and to the uniform shown in illustrations and photos from early 1889 with the exception of a banded cap. Two players in back row, Brown and Smith, wore caps without bands, possibly similar to the cap shown in photo C.
Top row, from left: J Quinn (NL 88, 89, PL 90, NL 91, 92), T Brown (NL 88, 89, PL 90, AA 91), P Smith (Pit NL 89, Bos NL 89, 90), D Brouthers (NL 89, PL 90, AA 91), C Ganzel (89-97) and C Bennett (NL 89-93). Middle row: H Richardson (NL 89, PL 90, AA 91), C Radbourn (NL 86-89, PL 90), J Clarkson (88-92), (J Hart mgr 89), M Kelly (NL 87-89, 91, 92, PL 90, AA 91), D Johnston (NL 85-89, PL 90) and B Nash (NL 85-89, 91-95, PL 90). Front row: B Daley (NL 89, PL 90, AA 91) and K Madden (NL 87-89, PL 90, AA 91). Player IDs from Nigel Ayres. Years with team and Smith sale date from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee.
Dated late July 1889. Detail view of photo E. Detail view shows lace ties ending above the lettering and fabric belt.
Dated late July 1889. Detail view of photo E. Detail view shows pillowed bands on cap.
Dated late July 1889. Detail view of photo E. Detail view shows high-cut and low-cut shoes. Four of the five players in the front row of photo A wore low-cut shoes.
Dated July 1889. A published version of photo E with a July 1889 date in the printed caption. It is possible this team photo was taken July 31, 1889 as player Smith was purchased by Boston from Pittsburgh one day earlier on July 30. Photo caption attributed original photo to G Waldon Smith, Boston. Original photo published in Athletic Sports in America, England and Australia (1889).
Photo F
Dated April 29, 1889, Boston v. Philadelphia at Philadelphia, home opener. Photo shows the similarity between the uniforms of the two teams. It appears that Philadelphia, the team at bat in this photo, was wearing a white uniform and Boston, the fielding team, was wearing a light gray uniform. The traditional stocking color for both teams was red. Original photo published in Athletic Sports in America, England and Australia (1889). Game date from retrosheet.org. Original photo by Levitype Co., Philadelphia.
Dated April 29, 1889, Boston v. Philadelphia at Philadelphia, home opener. Detail view of photo F. Photo shows similarity of uniforms between home and road teams.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
April 1889, referencing Boston uniform: “I see that Burnham’s boys, of Worcester, will have the regular Boston uniform—white, with red stockings and trimmings.” From The Sporting Life, April 3, 1889. Research from Chuck McGill.
October 2, 1889, Boston v. Cleveland, at Cleveland, League Park: “Right fielder [Mike] Kelly claimed to have injured a finger in pre-game catching practice and would be relegated to a seat on the bench. However, it was clear to all of the onlookers that Kelly was ‘considerably under the influence of liquor.’ Although dressed in his Boston uniform, Kelly sat on the Cleveland bench next to the Spiders team manager.” From J. P. Caillault, A King’s Downfall, a chapter in Inventing Baseball (SABR, 2013), citing the Boston Herald and the Boston Journal, October 3, 1889.
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.
Rendering posted: September 4, 2016
Diggers on this uniform: Chuck McGill, Mark Fimoff, Nigel Ayres,