1891 Brooklyn (Brooklyns, Bridegrooms)

These renderings are 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 renderings.

Rendering accuracy:Year: partially documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on these uniforms:

Photo A

Dated 1895. Newsboy baseball card of D Foutz (AA 88, 89, NL 90-96), full view at left, detail view at right. This portrait of Foutz was taken between 1891 and 1893. This date range can be determined by the fact that Brooklyn uniforms before 1891 do not match the uniform shown in this portrait and by the fact that a drawing of this portrait was published in April 1893. 1891 can be suggested as the most likely date for this portrait by analyzing the uniforms worn by Brooklyn players in an 1894 photo collage, see uniform study below, in which this portrait was included. Detail view at right showed distinctive button and button hole overlapping the vertical stroke of the second “O” in “Brooklyn.” Newsboy baseball card date from oldcardboard.com. Years Foutz with team from baseball-reference.com.

Photos B & C

Dated 1894. Two detail views from an 1894 photo collage of Brooklyn player portraits, D Foutz (AA 88, 89, NL 90-96), left, and T Daly (90-01), right. See full collage below. Both players wore a uniform with the word “Brooklyn” in the same lettering style. Note how the button overlapped the second “O” in “Brooklyn.” An 1891 date can be suggested for these portraits by analyzing the uniforms in the 1894 photo collage, see uniform study below. Note that this portrait of Foutz was also used in the 1895 Newsboy baseball card, see photo A. Years Foutz and Daly with team from baseball-reference.com.

Uniform Study

Dated April 1894 to mid-May 1894. Collage of photo portraits published in the Spalding Baseball Guide, 1895. By studying the shirt lettering, this collage can help to identify Brooklyn uniforms from the years 1891 to 1894. The red boxes correspond with the detail views below.

Four detail views of the Brooklyn uniform from the photo collage shown above. Detail views show subtle differences in the lettering on the shirt:

–Uniform A was distinguished by a button that overlapped the vertical stroke of the second “O,” see arrow. Based on the players who wore this uniform (Foutz & Daly), an 1891 photo date can be suggested

–Uniform B was distinguished by slightly thicker and tightly spaced lettering when compared to uniform A. The second “O” ran along the edge of the shirt opening, see arrow. It also had a slightly wider letter “K” and no buttons overlapping letters. Based on the players who wore this uniform (Griffin & Kennedy), an 1892 photo date can be suggested

–Uniform C was distinguished by letters that were thicker and more square in shape than all other examples. Also, the second letter “O” was divided across the shirt opening, see arrow. Based on the players who wore this uniform (Daub & Sharrott), an 1892 or 1893 photo date can be suggested

–Uniform D was distinguished by thinner lettering that was similar to uniform A, but with the second “O” divided across the shirt opening, similar to uniform C. Uniform D also had unusually wide letter spacing between the “O” and the “K,” see arrow. Based on the players who wore this uniform (Shindle & Gilbert), an 1894 photo date can be suggested

Written documentation on these uniforms:
April 1891: “President Byrne and Manager Ward today [April 4] decided on the style of uniforms the Brooklyns are to wear this season. The home uniforms are to be white, with light red trimmings and the suits for traveling are to be patterned after the famous Providence style–pearl gray, with royal blue trimmings.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, April 5, 1891. A similar report was printed in the Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 6, 1891, in the Pittsburgh Daily Post, April 6, 1891, and in The Sporting Life, April 11, 1891. Cincinnati, Cleveland and Pittsburgh newspaper research from Don Stokes. The Sporting Life research from Chuck McGill.

April 1891: “President Byrne and Manager Ward, of the Brooklyn Club, of the National League, have decided upon the uniforms to be worn […] for the coming season. The home uniform to be white, with scarlet trimmings, stockings and belts, while that used when traveling to be pearl gray, with royal blue trimmings, stockings and belts.” From the New York Clipper, April 11, 1891. This report described the home trim color as scarlet instead of bright red.

April 27, 1891, Brooklyn v. New York at Brooklyn, Eastern Park, opening day: “The teams came on the field at 3:30 o’clock. The Brooklyns in their brand new uniforms of white flannel, with red lettering and red stockings. The New Yorks had their unattractive visiting suit of gray flannel and black stockings.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 28, 1891.

June 1891: “A Novel Suggestion. Brooklyn, June 18— Editor Sporting Life: Kindly permit the space necessary for a suggestion that will, in the writer’s estimation, add greatly to the interest in our national game. Not only those who go occasionally, but the steady goers, lovers of the game (and even ‘fans’) find it difficult to recognize the visiting players and call them by name, even by aid of the score card. […] The trouble can be overcome by having the name of the player in large letters across the breast, either worked in his shirt or on a band that can be buttoned across his bosom. This, the writer thinks, will add greatly to the convenience and be appreciated by every one interested in the game. —A ‘Fan’.” From The Sporting Life, June 20, 1891. Note that baseball would wait until 1960 before Chicago (AL) owner Bill Veeck first produced uniforms displaying the names of players. Veeck info from the National Baseball Hall of Fame, Dressed To The Nines uniform database, retrieved September 3, 2017.

July 4, 1891, Brooklyn v. Chicago at Chicago: “Chicago, July 4—The Brooklyn players, in their gray suits and blue stockings, walked into the ball grounds this morning in a timid, shivering sort of a way, giving people the impression that they had got too far from home.” From the New York Sun, July 5, 1891.

Team genealogy: Brooklyn 1883-1957
Brooklyn was formed as a minor league team in 1883 and joined the American Association (AA) in 1884. The AA was a major league operating 1882-1891 and Brooklyn played in the AA between 1884 and 1889. Brooklyn moved to the National League (NL) for the 1890 season. The NL began operation in 1876. Brooklyn played in the NL between 1890 and 1957, when the team moved to Los Angeles. Information from wikipedia.