1891 Cleveland (Clevelands, Spiders)

These renderings are based on partial visual documentation for uniform style only. An educated guess is made on uniform color based on documentation from a related year and also on minor details that may be missing or difficult to determine.

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on these uniforms:

Photo A

Dated April 1891. Photo collage of player portraits and team schedule. Full view at left, detail view at right. Year of issue confirmed by appearance of player Johnson, who only played with this team in 1891. Date of April 1891 can be determined by the printed schedule which included the team’s first game on April 22, 1891 at Cincinnati. 13 of the 14 portraits in the collage showed that players wore a dark uniform with pin-striped collars. However, not all of these portraits were taken in 1891 and specific dating can be determined by the uniform collar and the lettering on the shirt. Three players, McAleer, Gruber and McKean, wore a pin-striped collar on a shirt with vertically-arched lettering. These elements can be identified as part of the 1889 uniform, suggesting these three photos were taken then. All three men played for the team in 1889. Three other players, Davis, Zimmer and Virtue, were photographed wearing a shirt with an elongated collar which can be identified as part of the 1890 NL uniform. These three men played for the team in 1890. Seven portraits in the collage, including that of player Johnson, showed a shirt with a shorter, less pronounced collar. Five of these seven players first played for Cleveland in 1891, confirming this was the 1891 uniform. See more info at photos below. The remaining portrait, that of player Beatin, center, displayed a white shirt with a button front. This portrait and uniform may be from 1890 or 1891.

Top: J McAleer (NL 89, 91-98, PL 90, AL 01). Second row: G Davis (90-92), C Childs (91-98), S Johnson (91) and E McKean (AA 87, 88, NL 89-98). Third row: H Gruber (NL 89, 91, PL 90), F Knauss (91, 94), E Beatin (89-91), C Young (NL 90-98, AL 09-11) and L Viau (90-92). Bottom row of five: P Tebeau (NL 89, 91-98, PL 90), J Doyle (91, 92), (B Leadley mgr 90, 91), C Zimmer (AA 87-89, NL 90-99) and J Virtue (90-94). Player IDs from collage. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. First game date from retrosheet.org. Image scan from Ken Samoil.

Dated April 1891. Two detail views of photo A. Left: detail view of all portraits. Right: portrait of F Knauss (91, 94). Photo date of April 1891 can be determined for the Knauss portrait as this was the player’s first year with the team. Years players with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Ken Samoil.

Dated April 1891. Two detail views of photo A. Left: portrait of E McKean (AA 87, 88, NL 89-98). Right: portrait of G Davis (90-92). Both of these portraits were made before 1891. The McKean portrait shows a pin-striped collar and the city name vertically arched across the shirt in thin letter forms. These features matched the 1889 team uniform. The Davis portrait shows a shirt with an elongated pin-striped collar and the city name radially-arched across the shirt. This can be identified as the 1890 team uniform. Note that the pin-stripes are hard to see on smaller versions of photos. Years players with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Ken Samoil.

Photos B & C

Dated April 1891. Left: Studio portrait of C Childs (91-98). Right: Studio portrait of C Young (NL 90-98, AL 09-11). Photo date of the Childs portrait can be confirmed as the image was included in a collage issued at the start of the 1891 season, see photo A, and by the fact that this year was Child’s first with the team. The Young portrait had many similarities to the Childs portrait and was most likely taken at the same time. This can be confirmed by fact that both players appeared to have worn the exact same shirt for their photograph, see comparison below. Both portraits also showed a pin-striped collar that was shorter and less pronounced than the 1889 and 1890 Cleveland uniforms. Both uniforms utilized small white lace ties and the lettering on each shirt was made of chenille. Note that the background in this version of the Young portrait had been lightened at some later point, see photo A for the original background. Years players with team from baseball-reference.com.

Uniform Comparison Study
Dated April 1891. Top: shirt of player C Childs (91-98). Bottom: shirt of player C Young (NL 90-98, AL 09-11). Comparison study shows that wrinkles on both shirts were identical, see red arrows, suggesting players wore the same shirt for their photograph. Years players with team from baseball-reference.com.

Written documentation on these uniforms:
Circa 1891, described in 1892: “The Cleveland Club has discarded the time-honored dull-blue uniform and will henceforth [in 1892] array its players in a handsome blue-gray, somewhat resembling the Chicago traveling uniform. At home the team will wear white flannel, as usual, with black stockings.” From The Sporting Life, February 27, 1892. Research from Chuck McGill. This report implied that Cleveland wore white at home and blue on the road in 1891.

Team genealogy: Cleveland 1887-1899
Cleveland was formed to join the American Association (AA) in 1887. The AA was a major league operating 1882-1891. Cleveland moved to the National League (NL) in 1889. The NL began operation in 1876 and Cleveland played in the NL from 1889 to 1899. After the 1899 season, Cleveland was dropped by the league and the team disbanded. Information from wikipedia.