1890 Cleveland (Clevelands)
These renderings are based on visual documentation for uniform style and written documentation for color. Important 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 19, 1890. This drawing of the team was published in a newspaper on this date. The drawing was made from a photo taken in early April 1890. This can be confirmed by the appearance of players Delahanty, Browning, Larkin, Hemming and Brennan, who only played in Cleveland in 1890. Drawing suggests that the players wore a white uniform when photographed, with a white cap and belt, and dark stockings. The city name was positioned high on the shirt. The drawing does not definitively show whether the shirt had lace ties or buttons. One player, seated front left, may have worn a sweater with a buttoned closure. It is likely the uniform worn in this photo was the “home uniform” as described in an 1890 preseason report and consisting of a white suit with “bright” gray trimmings and stockings.
Top row, from left: J McAleer (NL 89, 91-98, PL 90, AL 01), E Delahanty (90), P Browning (90), H Larkin (90), G Hemming (Cle PL 90, Bklyn PL 90), L Twitchell (Cle NL 89, Cle PL 90, Buf PL 90), S Sutcliffe (NL 89, PL 90) and H Gruber (NL 89, 91, PL 90). Front: C O’Brien (AA 88, NL 89, PL 90), J Bakely (AA 88, NL 89, PL 90), P Tebeau (NL 89, 91-98, PL 90), C Stricker (AA 87, 88, NL 89, PL 90) and J Brennan (90). Drawing and player IDs from The Sporting Life, April 19, 1890. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Research from Ken Samoil.
Dated April 19, 1890. Detail view of photo A. Detail view shows the city name positioned high across the chest.
Photo B
Dated 1890. This team photo was most likely taken in Boston at Congress Street Grounds. Cleveland played at Boston in 1890 on May 16-18, July 7-9 and September 1-3. Players wore a dark uniform in this photo, with white cap, lettering, belt and stockings. Similar to the white uniform shown in photo A, the city name was positioned high on the chest of this dark shirt. This uniform was called the “traveling uniform” in a preseason newspaper report from 1890 and was described as being black in color with light gray trimmings. The quality of the image scan makes it hard to determine whether the shirt had laces, buttons, or neither. Thirteen players were included in this photo and it is possible these were the same thirteen men that were also shown in photo A. Photo scan from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee. Boston game dates from retrosheet.org.
Photo C
Dated 1890. Portrait of E Delahanty (90), full view and left, detail view at right. Year of photo determined by fact that Delahanty only played for Cleveland in 1890. Player wore a dark-colored top with lace ties and the city name positioned high on the chest. The item appeared to be made of wool with thick ribbing, and the lettering may have been made of white chenille. It is unclear if this was the team’s uniform shirt or the team’s sweater. This may be the same item that the players wore in the team photo above, see photo B. If this was the same item as shown in photo B, this would have been considered the team’s uniform shirt as it was tucked into the pants and did not overhang at the belt. Player ID and image scan from Carson Lorey. Year Delahanty with team from baseball-reference.com.
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: […] Cleveland- Home: white suits, bright gray trimmings and stockings. Traveling: Black suits, white gray trimmings and stockings, gray cloth jacket.” 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.
May 1890: “[The visiting Cleveland uniforms] are almost the counterpart of the Bostons’ traveling suits – dark blue, with white caps and stockings, only that the Bostons wear dark blue caps.” From the Boston Herald, May 17, 1890. research from Mark Pestana.
1890: “The Cleveland Blues Brotherhood team of the 1890 Players League dressed its players in the traditional Cleveland blue uniform stripes and blue stockings, forcing the Cleveland Nationals to switch to black stockings.” From Richard Worth, Baseball Team Names, 1869-2011 (2013).
Team genealogy: Cleveland 1890-1890
Cleveland 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 subsequently disbanded after the 1890 season. Info from wikipedia.
Rendering posted: March 22, 2022
Diggers on this uniform: Carson Lorey, Don Stokes, Ken Samoil, Mark Fimoff, Mark Pestana,