1890 Brooklyn (Brooklyns, Ward's Wonders)
Left: This rendering is based on written documentation and partial 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 and written documentation for color. Some important 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 1890. Photo date confirmed by players Sunday, Bierbauer, McGeachy, Cook, Seery and Murphy, who only played in Brooklyn for the 1890 season. The team was most likely photographed in Boston at Congress Street Grounds, which suggests the team was photographed wearing their road uniforms. This uniform was described in an 1890 preseason newspaper account as being gray in color, with blue trimmings and stockings. Based on this photo, and that of a printed score card from 1890 (see photo G), the stockings were light blue in color. All but one of the players in this photo, see player Orr in back row, wore a jacket, suggesting an early season photo date. Brooklyn opened the 1890 Players’ League season at Boston, April 19-24, and it is likely this photo was made during this opening series. Player Orr wore a short sleeved shirt with a button placket, and with no visible lettering on shirt.
Top row, from left: B Joyce (PL 90, NL 92), T Kinslow (PL 90, NL 91-94), C Dailey (PL 90, NL 91-95), D Orr (AA 88, PL 90), G Van Haltren (PL 90, NL 92), A Sunday (90) and E Andrews? (90). Middle: L Bierbauer (90), J McGeachy (90), P Cook (90), J Ward (PL 90, NL 91, 92), P Conway (dnp), E Seery (90) and J Hayes (AA 84, 85, PL 90). Front: G Weyhing (PL 90, NL 00) and C Murphy (90). Player IDs, except that of Andrews, and image scan from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image published in Baseball Treasures, by Douglas Congdon-Martin and John Kashmanian (2007). Original photo by G. Waldon Smith, Boston.
Photo B
Dated 1890. Full view of collage at left, detail view at right. Issue date of collage confirmed by appearance of players Sunday, Seery, Andrews, Cook, Sowders, Bierbauer, McGeachy and Murphy, each only played in Brooklyn during the 1890 season. Portraits show a collared shirt with a button packet, and a cap with four subtle horizontal pleats.
Clockwise from top: D Orr (AA 88, PL 90), A Sunday (90), E Seery (90), E Andrews (90), J Hayes (AA 84, 85, PL 90), G Van Haltren (PL 90, NL 92), B Joyce (PL 90, NL 92), C Dailey (PL 90, NL 91-95), P Cook (90), G Weyhing (PL 90, NL 00), T Kinslow (PL 90, NL 91-94), J Sowders (90), L Bierbauer (90), J McGeachy (90) and C Murphy (90). Middle, top: J Ward (PL 90, NL 91, 92). Middle, bottom: P Conway (dnp). Player IDs from collage. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee. Original photos by Joseph Hall, Brooklyn.
Photo C
Dated early April 1890. Cabinet card of E Seery (90). Full view at left, detail view at right. Year of photo can be confirmed as Seery only played for Brooklyn in 1890. Date of early April 1890 can be determined by the fact that a drawing made from this portrait was published in a newspaper on April 20, 1890, see below. Detail view showed a button placket on the shirt and the absence of a shirt pocket. The letters “LY” of the city name, Brooklyn, can barely be seen on the left breast of the shirt. The faint visibility of these letters would indicate they were white, light gray or light blue in color. Light blue does not reproduce well in black-and-white photography. This image of Seery was included in a series of portraits made of Brooklyn players by a Boston photographer. This may indicate that the players were wearing a light-gray road uniform when the photographs were made. Years Seery with team from baseball-reference.com. Original photo by G. Waldon Smith, Boston.
Photo D
Dated early April 1890. Cabinet card of C Dailey (PL 90, NL 91-95). Full view at left, detail views at right. Year of photo can be determined by similarities to the Seery portrait shown above. Date of early April 1890 can be determined by the fact that a drawing made from this portrait was published in a newspaper on April 20, 1890, see below. Player Dailey wore a light-gray buttoned shirt with a necktie tucked into the shirt opening. The detail view at top right showed that the shirt had lettering. The faint visibility of these letters would indicate they were white, light gray or light blue in color. Light blue does not reproduce well in black-and-white photography. The detail view at bottom has been enhanced to better show the lettering. Note that the letter “K” was shown centered on the button placket, resulting in the city name to be positioned off-center on the shirt — unless the word “Brooklyns,” with an “S,” was used, then the word would be centered. The image of Daily was included in a series of portraits of Brooklyn players not wearing caps. These portraits were made in Boston and possibly suggests the team wore a light gray road uniform while in Boston. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Original photo by G. Waldon Smith, Boston. Image scan and input on faint lettering from Ken Samoil.
Photos E and F
Dated 1890, possibly early April 1890. Cabinet cards of P Cook (90), left, and B Joyce (PL 90, NL 92), right. Similarities to the Seery and Daily portraits above suggest all were made at the same time. However the drawn portraits of the team that were published on April 20 showed different poses for Cook and Joyce. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Original photos by G. Waldon Smith, Boston.
Photo G
Dated April 20, 1890. These player portraits were published in a newspaper on this date and were based on portraits made by G. Waldon Smith, Boston, see above. Image from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 20, 1890. Image scan from Don Stokes. These portraits were also published in The Sporting Life, May 3, 1890.
Dated April 20, 1890. Detail view of photo F. Detail view shows that two types of caps were rendered, the cap at left showed a cord above the brim and the cap at center showed rows of horizontal pleats. Also note the similarity of the portrait of player Kinslow, right, with the drawing of Kinslow printed on July 6, 1890, see below.
Photo H
Dated July 6, 1890. This illustration of T Kinslow (PL 90, NL 91-94), full view at left, detail view at right, was published in a newspaper on this date. This portrait matched that of Kinslow included in the montage of portraits published May 3, 1890, see above, and was most likely based on a portrait made by G. Waldon Smith, Boston. This illustration suggested that the shirt had the city name across the chest. The letter “K” was shown centered on the button placket, resulting in the city name positioned off-center on the shirt — unless the word “Brooklyns,” with an “S,” was used, then the word would be centered. Years Kinslow with team from baseball-reference.com. Image and player ID from the Wilkes-Barre Sunday Leader, July 6, 1890.
Photo I
Dated July 16, 1890. This illustration of D Orr (AA 88, PL 90), full view at left, detail view at right, was published in a newspaper on this date. The portrait was similar to a portrait of Orr made by Joseph Hall, Brooklyn, see above. The shirt collar and tie were almost identical in both images, however the original photo showed the player wearing his cap. The artist signed the drawing and the signature matched that shown on the Kinslow drawing above. This may indicate that a Brooklyn newspaper artist made drawings of Brooklyn players from both the Hall and Smith portraits shown above. Years Orr with team from baseball-reference.com. Image and player ID from the Cheyenne Daily Leader, July 16, 1890. Image scan and newspaper citation from Ken Samoil.
Photo J
Dated 1890. Printed score card cover. Full view at left, detail view at right. Illustration depicts a player wearing a white uniform and cap, with a light blue belt and stockings. Detail view also shows the word “Brooklyns” across the chest in thin, light blue lettering.
Photo K
Dated June 17, 1939. This photo of G Van Haltren (PL 90, NL 92) and his framed enlargement of the 1890 Brooklyn team was published on this date. Full view at left, detail view at right. This suggests that many players cherished their photos and keepsakes from their playing days. The photo essay also showed a silver bat that Van Haltren awarded to him. Photo from the Oakland Post Enquirer, June 17, 1939. Research from Carson Lorey.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
January 1890: “All the secretaries of the clubs in the Players’ National League [i.e., Players’ League] have sent their club uniform colors to Secretary Brunell. All the clubs, except Philadelphia, have selected white home and colored traveling uniforms, so that the audience can readily distinguish the teams in the field. The teams will be dressed as follows: […] Brooklyn- Home: white suits, blue trimmings and stockings. Traveling: Gray suits, blue trimmings and stockings. From the Chicago Daily Tribune, January 29, 1890. Research from Don Stokes. A similar report was published in the Buffalo Courier, January 30, 1890, and The Sporting Life, February 5, 1890.
April 1890: “Delegate Beatty announced today that a strike would be ordered tomorrow on the work being done at the brotherhood base ball grounds, in the Twenty-sixth Ward, unless Cousins, the contractor in charge, discharges non-union men in his employ. This is in accordance with the wish of the brotherhood ball players.” From the Brooklyn Eagle, April 2, 1890.
April 12, 1890, Brooklyn (PL) v. Philadelphia (AA), at Brooklyn, Atlantic Park, exhibition game: “The Philadelphia Club wore a uniform of light blue similar to that of the Brotherhood club, and the spectators were puzzled during part of the game to tell which club was having an innings.” From the Brooklyn Citizen, April 13, 1890.
April 19, 1890, Brooklyn (PL) v. Boston (PL), at Boston, Congress Street Grounds, home opener: “The two teams met at the United States Hotel and in full uniform were driven through the city, headed by a brass band of 30 pieces. […] The Boston men looked well in their new uniforms of white knickerbockers, shirts and caps and red stockings. The name of the club was worked in scarlet letters across the bosom of the shirt. The Brooklyns made a neat appearance in their handsome uniforms and received a warm welcome.” From the Brooklyn Eagle April 20, 1890.
April 28, 1890, Brooklyn (PL) v. Philadelphia (PL), at Brooklyn, Eastern Park, home opener: “At 3:15 the boys from the Quaker city, dressed in suits of dark blue, appeared upon the grounds and began practicing. […] A half hour afterward, however when captain John Montgomery Ward and his players, attired in suits of clean white, with black stockings, appeared on the field to practice, the shout that went up must have been heard miles away.” From the Brooklyn Citizen, April 29, 1890.
September 1890: “The mosquitoes in the outfield at Eastern Park make life a misery for the fielders. All the boys have taken to wearing paper under their stockings’—from the New York World. They’ll be out of their misery in a few days.” From The Sporting Life, September 13, 1890.
Team genealogy: Brooklyn 1890-1890
Brooklyn was formed to join the Players’ League (PL) at the league’s inception in 1890. The PL was a major league that played for one season before folding. The team was bought out by the Brooklyn National League team after the 1890 season. Info from wikipedia.
Rendering posted: March 25, 2017
Diggers on this uniform: Carson Lorey, Don Stokes, Ken Samoil, Mark Fimoff,