1890 Minneapolis (Millers, Flour City)

These renderings are based on written documentation for uniform style and color. No visual documentation is known and an artist’s conceptualization is used to create the renderings.

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on these uniforms:
None

Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1890: “The Minneapolis team will this season [1890] revive memories of the famous old Mutuals, of New York, by wearing a white and green uniform.” From The Sporting Life, March 19, 1890. Research from Chuck McGill.

April 1890: “The Minneapolis Club will appear in a white and green uniform at home and a gray one while abroad.” From The Sporting Life, April 5, 1890. Research from Chuck McGill.

April 1890: “Manager [Sam] Morton with his team of ball players arrived home [in Minneapolis on April 10] from Des Moines yesterday. […] The new uniforms for home use have arrived. They are of heavy white flannel, with dark green stockings, hats and caps, with ‘Flour City’ on the breasts. There was a slight mistake in the lettering, the last word being cities. This will be changed before Saturday’s game [on April 12].” From the St. Paul Globe, April 11, 1890. Research from Don Stokes. Note that the team did not wear their new uniforms on April 12 as reported here, but did wear them at the April 17 home opener. Also note that when the lettering error was corrected on the shirts, it is unknown if the entire word “Cities” (or “Citys”) was removed on the shirts, or if only the last letters were removed. If the latter, then it was likely the word “City” was off-centered on the shirt. In regard to the “Flour City” monicker, there was also a Minneapolis Boys’ League team using that name in 1890.

April 12, 1890, Minneapolis v. St. Paul, at Minneapolis, exhibition game: “The Minneapolis players wore their old gray uniforms of last year, while the St. Paul men were attired in the new ones which they will travel in this season.” From the Minneapolis Daily Times, April 13, 1890.

April 1890: “The [exhibition] schedule has been changed and the Twins will play in Minneapolis on Monday [April 14] and St. Paul Tuesday [April 15].” From the Minneapolis Daily Times, April 14, 1890. This report collectively referred to both teams as “the Twins.”

April 17, 1890, Minneapolis v. Milwaukee, at Minneapolis, home opener: “Early in the morning boys and men could been seen marching up and down the street, carrying banners announcing in big black letters that ‘Minneapolis and Milwaukee will play this afternoon at 3:30.’ […] At that hour the Minneapolis club complete, twelve men in all, dressed in their new home uniforms of spotless white and green, headed by the band, came marching into the field in a single line.” From the Minneapolis Daily Times, April 18, 1890.

April 17, 1890, Minneapolis v. Milwaukee, at Minneapolis, home opener: “The first scheduled game of the season called nearly 2,000 people to the Minneapolis ball park yesterday afternoon to watch the young men in green and white knickerbockers dust the diamond with the aggregation of talent from Wisconsin’s metropolis. A brass band was in attendance and the Flour City men marched out upon the field to martial music, headed by Capt. Carroll.” From the St. Paul Globe, April 18, 1890.

April 20, 1890, Minneapolis v. Milwaukee, at Milwaukee, Athletic Park: “The contest was equal till the eighth inning, when the Flour City boys fell onto Thornton‘s curves and larruped [i.e., thrashed] the horse hide for three runs.” From the Minneapolis Tribune, April 21, 1890. An example of the Flour City name in use.

April 22, 1890, Minneapolis v. Milwaukee, at Milwaukee: “The Flour City team turned the tables on the Brewers today.” From the Minneapolis Times, April 23, 1890. An example of the Flour City name in use.

April 1890: “A sporting goods firm in the city [Minneapolis] started a cut on the price of the Spaulding[sp] official league ball from $1.30 to $1.15. L.G. Morton & Co. the local agents for Spaulding took the firm’s stock away and now it will sell no more Spaulding’s base balls.” From the Minneapolis Times, April 24, 1890.

May 3, 1890, Minneapolis v. St. Paul, at Minneapolis: “The Flour City sports [fans] came to the park smiling, for they felt that the men in the green and white owed a trouncing to the team from St. Paul.” From the St. Paul Globe, May 4, 1890.

May 9, 1890, Minneapolis v. Des Moines, at Des Moines: “The second game of the series between the Prohibitionists and Millers was awarded to Des Moines by one Blogg, who professes to be an honest citizen and a base ball umpire. Blogg compelled the Flour City boys to play two innings in the rain.” From the Minneapolis Times, May 10, 1890. An example of the Flour City name in use.

June 1, 1890, Minneapolis v. Sioux City, at Sioux City: “The Flour Citys lost the game today to the cornhuskers through O’Days errors at short.” From the Minneapolis Times, June 2, 1890. An example of the Flour City name in use, in plural form.

August 24, 1890, Minneapolis v. St. Paul, at St. Paul: “The Flour City and St. Paul teams made their last appearance for the season on these grounds today [August 24].’ From the Minneapolis Times, August 25, 1890. An example of the Flour City name in use.

Team genealogy: Coming soon