1890 Philadelphia (Philadelphias, Phillies)
Left: This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style and written documentation for color. Minor details may be undocumented or difficult to determine. An educated guess is made to complete the rendering.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team: documented
Right: This rendering is based on partial 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 rendering.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team: documented
Visual documentation on these uniforms:
Photo A
Dated March 1890. Photo year of 1890 determined by appearance of players McCauley and Burke, who only played for the team in 1890. Photo date of March determined by appearance of player Delahanty, who signed with both Philadelphia (NL) and Cleveland (PL) for the 1890 season and had committed to Cleveland by March 23. Team may have been photographed at spring training. Players wore a white uniform in this photo, with a white cap that had dark horizontal bands. The uniform had dark lettering, a dark belt and dark stockings. This most likely was the uniform described in an 1890 newspaper report as being white in color with red lettering, belt and stockings.
Top row of 5 players and 1 manager, from left: P Schriver (88-90), J Clements (NL 84-97, UA 84), B Hamilton (90-95), S Thompson (89-98), (H Wright mgr 82-93) and A Myers (89-91). Front: P Smith (Ath AA 84, 85, 88, 89, Phi NL 90, 91, Pit NL 90), B Gray (90-91), E Mayer (90-91), T Vickery (90, 93), D Anderson (Phi NL 89, 90, Pit NL 90), H Decker wearing jacket (89, 90), B Allen standing (90-94), A McCauley (90), E Burke (90), (mascot kneeling), B Day near wall (Phi NL 89, 90, Pit NL 90), E Delahanty next to mascot (dnp, Phi NL 88, 89, 91-01, Cle PL 90) and K Gleason (88-91). Player IDs from The Sporting Life, April 5, 1890, which published a drawing made from this photo, see below. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Delahanty signing info from the New York Press, March 23, 1890. Image scan from the New York Public Library.
Dated March 1890. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed a pillbox-style cap with two dark horizontal bands and trim along the from edge of the visor. The shirt had thin lace ties and the word “Philas” arched across the chest. The pants had a line of thin trim running down the seam.
Photo B
Dated March 1890. This is the same image as photo A above. This version was published in a newspaper.
Photo C
Dated April 5, 1890. This drawing was based on a photograph of the team taken in March 1890, see photo A, and was published in a newspaper on April 5. Drawing shows that several players wore pants with quilted padding, and that one player, front row second from left, wore a shirt that had no lettering but did include a shirt pocket. Image from The Sporting Life, April 5, 1890. Research from Ken Samoil.
Photo D
Dated March 1890. Image of S Thompson (89-98), full view and left, detail view at right. Both view were taken from a version of photo A. These detail views showed the letter forms on the shirt, the lace ties and the cuffs on sleeves. Note that the detail view at right also shows an aglet at the end of the lace tie, visible where the tie laid on top of the letter “H.”
Photo E
Dated April 13, 1890. This photo of B Allen (90-94), full view left, detail view right, was published in a newspaper on this day. Photo shows a uniform that matched that shown in a team photo taken in March 1890, see photo A. Player holds a white jacket and a similar jacket was also shown in the team photo. Image and player ID from the The New York Sporting Times, April 13, 1890. Detail image from Heritage Auctions. Photo credited to “Photo Eng. Co., 67 Park Place, NY.”
Photo F
Dated mid-April 1890. Photo year determined by appearance of players Inks, McCauley and Burke, all of whom only played for the team in 1890. Photo date of mid-April 1890 determined by appearance of player Inks, who in an April 12, 1890 newspaper report was described as a “new” pitcher and was listed as having pitched in an exhibition game on April 11. Inks was subsequently released from the team by April 19, 1890. The team was photographed at their home ballpark in Philadelphia most likely before they headed to New York to start the NL Season on April 19, 1890. Their first home game was April 29, 1890. The team wore their home white uniforms in this photo, similar to the one shown in photo A. This uniform was described in an 1890 newspaper report as being white in color with red lettering, belt and stockings. Player Inks, top row fourth from left, wore a cap with different coloring than the others, and this may further suggest that he was new to the team and did not yet have an official team cap. At least nine of the seventeen players wore short-sleeved shirts in this photo, three of which also wore dark colored undershirts, possibly red in color.
Top row, from left: P Smith (Ath AA 84, 85, 88, 89, Phi NL 90, 91, Pit NL 90), B Hamilton (90-95), D Anderson (Phi NL 89, 90, Pit NL 90), B Inks (dnp 90, 96, GR IL 90), B Gray (90-91), E Mayer (90-91), E Burke (90) and B Day (Phi NL 89, 90, Pit NL 90). Middle: A Myers (89-91), H Decker (89, 90), T Vickery (90, 93), A McCauley (90), (H Wright mgr 82-93), S Thompson (89-98), B Allen (90-94), J Clements (NL 84-97, UA 84) and P Schriver (88-90). Front, on ground: K Gleason (88-91) and (unidentified). Player IDs from back of photo, with research from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee. Inks ID from Nigel Ayres with corroboration from Mark Fimoff and Ken Samoil. Inks transaction info from Ken Samoil, citing The Sporting Life, April 12, 1890 and April 19, 1890. Image scan from Ken Samoil. New York and Philadelphia game dates from retrosheet.org.
Dated April 1890 to late May 1890. Detail view of photo F. Detail view shows lettering across chest and shirt laces tied in an “x” pattern. Note that the player in the center back of this detail view wore his collar up in this photo.
Dated April 1890 to late May 1890. Another detail view of photo F. Detail view shows a cap with dark trim along the front edge of the bill. Detail view also shows pants with trim along the pant seam.
Photo G
Dated April 19, 1890. Photo of Philadelphia (NL) playing New York (NL) at The Polo Grounds, New York. This image was part of a published photo essay covering both the New York NL and PL home openers on this day. The photo was captioned: “A ‘two-bagger’ for Thompson (Phila. N.L.).” The image showed the Philadelphia road uniform being gray in color, with a gray cap, a dark belt, and dark stockings. Images and game date from The Illustrated American, May 10, 1890.
Photo H
Dated April 19, 1890. Photo of Philadelphia (NL) playing New York (NL) at The Polo Grounds, New York. This image was part of a published photo essay covering both the New York NL and PL home openers on this day. The photo was captioned: “Denny (N.Y.N.L.) out at first.” Similar to photo E, this image showed the Philadelphia road uniform. Note that dark-colored lettering can be seen on the shirts of the Philadelphia players standing in the infield. Images and game date from The Illustrated American, May 10, 1890.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
November 1889: “When the [National] League [meeting] finally adjourned for the day, its accomplished business included […] the authorization of President Young to fix a distinctive color for each club uniform.” From the Paterson (NJ) Morning Call, November 16, 1889.
January 1890: “[NL President] N. E. Young has requested the Philadelphia Club to name its colors for the coming season [of 1890]. An effort is to be made to avoid having clubs uniformed alike, as has often happened heretofore.” From the Philadelphia Record, January 23, 1890. Research from Ed Morton.
January 1890: “[The National League] decided unanimously by selection of white suits to be […] worn at home at all times. Visiting teams will have their own options in selecting their dress, providing […] it is easily distinguished from the home team.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 30, 1890. Research from Gary Kodner.
February 1890: “Phillies at Practice.—At 9:30 a.m. yesterday, at Jacksonville, Fla., the Philadelphia players, in their pretty uniforms of Providence gray with red trimmings, were in the ‘bus and off to the grounds for their first forenoon’s practice.” From the (Washington DC) Evening Star, February 20, 1890. Research from Don Stokes.
April 19, 1890, Philadelphia (NL) v. New York (NL), at New York, opening day: “New York was attired in white uniforms with black stockings. […] Philadelphia wore gray suits with red stockings and belts.” From Preston D. Orem, Baseball 1882-1891 From The Newspaper Accounts (1966, 1967, reprinted by SABR in 2021). Note that Orem in his publication had a different description of the uniforms from this day. The error derived from the fact that there were two home openers on April 19, 1890, held in adjacent ballparks in New York, and both featuring teams representing New York and Philadelphia. One was a National League contest and the other of the Players’ League. Based on other reports of the two Philadelphia uniforms from 1890, it appears Orem switched the uniform descriptions from these two games by accident.
April 28, 1890, Philadelphia (NL) v. Brooklyn (NL), at Brooklyn, Washington Park, home opener: “Manager Wright came out from under the pavilion and behind him came the Philadelphia team. Each player wore a spick and span new uniform of white flannel. Their stockings and belts were red and ‘Philadelphia’ in letters of red was on their breasts.” From the Philadelphia Inquirer, April 30, 1890. Research from Don Stokes. Note that photos from early 1890 show an abbreviation of the city name on the shirt.
April 28, 1890, Philadelphia (NL) v. Brooklyn (NL), at Brooklyn, Washington Park, home opener: “The bright and handsome new uniforms of the players […] must have reminded the veteran Harry Wright of the glorious old days of his Red Stocking nine.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 29, 1890. This entry implied that one or both teams wore red stockings on this day.
1890, referenced in 1891: “The new [Philadelphia] uniform [of 1891] is the same as that of last year [1890], pearl gray with red trimmings. The cap is flat on top and has two rows of red. The ties, belts, and stockings are red.” From the Philadelphia Inquirer, March 19, 1891. Research from Don Stokes. The mention of ties most likely refers to lace ties on the shirt, not neckties.
Team genealogy: Philadelphia 1882-
Philadelphia was formed to play in the League Alliance (LA) in 1882. The team joined the National League (NL) in 1883. The NL began operation in 1876 and Philadelphia has played in the league every year since 1883. Information from wikipedia.com and Robert D. Warrington.
Rendering posted: March 23, 2019
Diggers on this uniform: Bill Grindler, Don Stokes, Ed Morton, Ken Samoil, Mark Fimoff, Nigel Ayres,