1890 Louisville (Louisvilles, Colonels, Cyclones)

Left: This rendering is based on written documentation for uniform style and color. No visual documentation is known and an artist’s conceptualization is used to create the rendering.

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented

Right: This rendering is 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 mid-July 1890 to October 1890. Date confirmed by appearance of player Bligh, who signed to play with Louisville on July 18, 1890. The majority of players wore a light-colored uniform in this photo, with dark lettering, dark belts and dark stockings. Several players in this photo may have worn a white uniform. Three players wore dark-colored undershirts and one of these players, back row, third from left, also wore his shirt open at the neck to reveal more of the undershirt. Several players wore pants with quilted padding. Newspaper accounts from 1890 described the Louisville uniform as being white in color with black trimmings. The majority of players in this team photo may have worn a light-gray road uniform.

Dated mid-July 1890 to October 1890. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed arched lettering across a buttoned shirt that was light gray in color. Shirt buttons were visible on player at center right. A shirt button can also be seen on the player in center back. This button fell on top of the letters “S-V” in the city name. Detail view also showed a white cap in the hands of players. Subtle horizontal bands can be seen on the cap at left. The cap at right displays the subtle difference in color between the white cap and the light gray uniform.

Dated mid-July 1890 to October 1890. Another detail view of photo A. Though hard to see, this detail view showed that a shirt button fell on top of the letters “S-V” in the word Louisville and that another button was positioned below the city name. A black button on top of the cap can also be seen.

Photo B

Dated mid-July 1890 to October 1890. Image made at same time as photo A. In this version, players wore their caps. Note that even the team mascot reclining at lower left donned his bowler for the photo. Photo caption of “Champions” at bottom of image suggests this print was issued in October 1890 or later. Image scan from the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, Louisville. Original photo by W. Stuber & Brother, Louisville.

Dated mid-July 1890 to October 1890. Detail view of photo B. Detail view shows differences in color of uniform and lettering. It is possible some players wore a white uniform in this photo and that the lettering was in a different color or tone.

Photo C

Dated August 16, 1890. This collage of player portraits was printed in a newspaper on this date. Drawings were most likely made from photographs taken during the 1890 season, some of the photo portraits may have been made at the same time as the team photo. Two players in the collage, Bligh and O’Connor, were only on the team together between late July and early August 1890 and this may indicate the portraits were drawn during this time. Bligh was signed by Louisville on July 18, 1890. O’Connor was purchased by Louisville on May 29, 1890 and was released by Louisville on August 8, 1890, a week before this collage was published. Players were depicted wearing a collared uniform in these renderings. The cap was depicted as having four subtle horizontal bands as well as a braid along the top edge of the bill.

Top row, from left: M Jones (Ldn IA 90, Lou AA 90), C Hamburg (90), (J Chapman mgr, AA 89-91, NL 92), H Goodall (90) and unidentified. Middle row: J Ryan (89-91), P Tomney (88-90), D O’Connor (Evnsvl CIS 90, Omh WA 90, Lou AA 90), T Shinnick (90, 91), R Ehret (89-91) and F Weaver (AA 88-91, NL 92-94). Front: S Stratton (AA 88-91, NL 92-94), C Wolf (82-91), G Meakim (AA 90, NL 95), H Raymond (88-91) and H Taylor (AA 90, 91, NL 92). Unidentified player top right was captioned by The Sporting News as N Bligh (Col AA 90, Lou AA 90), but the illustration does not match the photo of Bligh in the 1890 team picture, see photo A. Years with team, Bligh and O’Connor transaction info from baseball-reference.com. Image from The Sporting Life, August 16, 1890. Research from Ken Samoil.

Photo D

Dated 1888 to 1891. Portrait of F Weaver (88-94). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date range of 1888 to 1891 determined by similarity with portrait of player Wolf, see photo E. The uniform worn by Weaver in this photo was similar to the uniform shown in the team photo from 1890, see photos A & B. Detail view at right showed that a shirt button fell on top of the letters “S-V” in the word Louisville. Years Weaver with team from baseball-reference.com. Player ID from wikipedia. Image scan from Ken Samoil.

Photo E

Dated 1888 to 1891. Portrait of C Wolf (82-91). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date range of 1888 to 1891 determined by similarity with portrait of player Weaver, see photo D. The uniform worn by Wolf in this photo was similar to the uniform shown in the team photo from 1890, see photos A & B. Detail view at right showed that a shirt button fell on top of the letters “S-V” in the word Louisville. Years Wolf with team from baseball-reference.com. Player ID and image scan from SABR, Inventing Baseball: The 100 Greatest Games of the 19th Century (2018).

Photo F

Dated 1890 or 1895. Portrait of G Meakim (90, 95). Full view at left, detail view at right. The portrait of Meakim and the uniform he worn were both very similar to the images of Weaver and Wolf above. This suggests that all of these portraits were made in 1890. Years Meakim with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Ken Samoil.

Written documentation on these uniforms:
February 1890: “The Louisville Club will not wear the style of uniform used by the old Louisville Club. The new uniforms have not been decided upon. It is probable, however, that the uniform for the home grounds will be white with blue trimmings, and for the trips gray with red trimmings.” From The Sporting Life, February 12, 1890.

February 1890: “It was decided that each team in the [American] Association should wear a white uniform (shirt and pants) upon the home grounds. The color of the cap, belt and stockings was left to the pleasure of the individual managers.” From The Sporting Life, February 19, 1890.

March 1890: “The new suits [of the team] will probably be here [in Louisville] from Chicago by then [i.e., March 20th] and they can take their exercise in regular uniform.” From The Sporting Life, March 19, 1890. The mention of “Chicago” may suggest the uniforms were made by Spalding Bros.

April 1890: “The Louisvilles are not the only ‘Colonels’ in the base ball profession. In California the Oaklands are known by that title.” From The Sporting Life, April 5, 1890.

1890: “Louisville […] was uniformed in light blue-gray with neat trimmings and the word ‘Louisville’ in large letters on the breasts of the uniform shirts.” From Preston D. Orem, Baseball 1882-1891 From The Newspaper Accounts (1966, 1967, reprinted by SABR in 2021), pg. 454.

May 1890: “The Louisvilles have got their new suits. They are white with black trimmings.” From The Sporting Life, May 3, 1890.

June 3, 1890, Louisville v. St. Louis at Louisville: “Louisville, June 10— […] Dan O’Connor, of Evansville, the recent acquisition of the [Louisville] Cyclones, played his first game with the home team in the opening contest [on June 3, 1890] with St. Louis. When he appeared on the field with the Louisville uniform on the great crowd gave him a warm reception. In this game the Cyclones appeared in their new uniforms—which consist of white, with black trimmings. […] Manager Chapman was pleased in the highest work of O’Connor.” From The Sporting Life, June 14, 1890. Game date from retrosheet.org. The team nickname in this report may have derived from a tornado, called the “Louisville Cyclone,” that struck the city on March 27, 1890, resulting in over 100 deaths. Tornado info from the Filson Historical Society, Louisville, retrieved online June 23, 2017.

1890, referenced in June 1916: “In the early spring of 1890, the new Louisville team [..] were all in the Buckingham Theatre, in Louisville, on the evening of the terrible cyclone, the path of which was only three squares from the playhouse. […] The following morning a bright little fellow, about 14 years old and lame, called at the hotel and persuaded the manager of the club to engage him as a mascot, saying that he was at the Buckingham the evening previous with the ball team, and he thought his presence was good luck and saved them from danger. […] He was engaged, and after a series of practice games he informed the manager: ‘They will land the pennant sure, watch them,’ and he christened them the ‘Cyclones of Kentucky.’” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 11, 1916, reprinting an interview with Jack Chapman, manager of the 1890 Louisville team, first published in the Eagle on March 26, 1905.

Team genealogy: Louisville 1870s-1899
Louisville began as Eclipse, a semi-pro team in Louisville formed in the late 1870s. As Eclipse, they joined the American Association (AA) at its formation in 1882. The AA was a major league operating between 1882 and 1891. Eclipse was known as Louisville by 1884 and the team played in the AA through the 1891 season. The team joined the National League (NL) in 1892 when the AA and NL merged, and was disbanded after the 1899 season when the NL contracted from twelve to eight teams. Information from wikipedia and Ken Samoil.