1891 Louisville (Louisvilles, Colonels, Cyclones)

Left: 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 for uniform color    Team: documented

Right: This rendering is based on partial 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:

Photo A

Dated September 1891 to June 1892. Portrait of J Meekin (91, 92), full view at left, detail view at right. Date range of photo determined by player’s time with the Louisville team and by the medal worn on the player’s chest. Meekin was a favorite son of New Albany, Indiana, a city located across the Ohio River from Louisville. In June 1891 Meekin jumped his contract with St. Paul (WA) to join Louisville in the American Association. A biography of Meekin stated that NL President Nick Young “ordered Meekin to return to St. Paul,” however as there was no National Agreement with the AA in 1891 the association “refused to recognize Young’s authority.” Meekin’s home town decided to show their support for the player. A newspaper reported in October 1891 that “Meekin, the ‘forever blacklisted’ Louisville pitcher, has been given a gold medal by New Albany, Ind., friends.” It could be suggested that this was the same medal worn by Meekin in this portrait and that accordingly, the photo was made when the medal was received in the fall of 1891. This assumption can be further supported by the fact that the portrait was made by a New Albany photographer, as indicated by the cardboard mount (not shown). Meekin was released by Louisville on June 27, 1892. Player ID and image scan from Hunt Auctions, LLC., with research from Carson Lorey. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Transaction info from retrosheet.org. Biography info from David Nemec, SABR BioProject, retrieved March 2, 2019. Medal info from The Sporting Life, October 10, 1891, with research from Chuck McGill. Original photo by Heimberger & Son, New Albany, Indiana.

Written documentation on these uniforms:
February 1891: “It was decided [at the American Association league meeting] to have the players wear white uniforms while at home and black while abroad.” From the Rocky Mountain News (Denver), February 19, 1891. Note that this report described that the road uniforms were required to be black in color in 1891, while other reports from 1891 stated the road uniforms were required to be “colored.” See below.

April 1891: “The [American] Association teams are required this year to wear white suits on their own grounds and some color abroad. The object of the new rule is to enable spectators easily to distinguish the local and visiting players.” From the Baltimore Sun, April 2, 1891. Research from Don Stokes.

April 1891: “This year the Louisvilles will wear white suits at home and gray suits abroad.” From The Sporting Life, April 4, 1891.

April 1891: “Under the rules of the American Association of Base Ball Clubs [the player] shall at the beginning of his term of employment provide himself, at his own cost and expense, with a uniform to be selected and designated by [the team] consisting of the following articles, viz.: Two shirts, two pairs of pants, two belts, two pairs of stockings, two pairs of shoes (if needed) with spikes, two caps, one jacket, one necktie. All of which during the entire term of his employment he is to keep in thorough repair and replenish as required at his own expense; and he agrees to appear on the field at the beginning of each game in which he is to play in an entirely el-an [i.e., lively] uniform, all cleaning of the same to be paid for by himself.” From The Sporting Life, April 13, 1891.

April 1891: “A Hoodoo. The Louisville Club Colors Changed For Superstitious Reasons—The Louisville club will not wear blue suits, as first intended. Manager [Jack] Chapman selected blue and sent the order to that effect. Several days ago he told a well-known director of the club about his choice. The director, who is an observant crank, said: ‘Good heavens! You are Jonahed. The Louisvilles wore blue uniforms in ‘89 when so many games were lost.’ Manager Chapman, who has a base ball man’s superstition, immediately telegraphed to change the color from blue to gray.” From The Sporting Life, April 18, 1891.

April 1891, Louisville v. St. Louis at St. Louis: “St. Louis, May 13— […] During the last trip of Jack Chapman and his [Louisville] Cyclones to St. Louis two of his men lost a couple pairs of stockings each and as the unlucky men [were Harry] Taylor and [Tim] Shinnick the big, good-natured manager felt a little uneasy about replacing the hose […] aware that neither would go upon the ball field in a pair of ‘baggy’ stockings. The town was searched and no hose could be found of the right shape. [Famous stage actress] Sarah Bernhardt was stopping at the Lindell [Hotel in St. Louis] at the same time that the Louisville Club was stationed there. […] One of Sarah’s boxes was opened and two pairs of hose extracted that would be a nice fit for silk umbrellas. They were handed to Chapman and in due time they found their way to the rooms of Taylor and Shinnick, who were made to believe that the stockings had been made to order. That afternoon Shinnick’s, as well as Taylor’s, legs were encased in Sarah Bernhardt’s stockings. Had [St. Louis] Secretary Munson and President Von der Ahe known that Bernhardt’s hose were to be displayed on the diamond of Sportman’s Park […] the crowd would have numbered 20,000 instead of 7,000. Shinnick and Taylor were as ‘foxie’ as a couple of Kentucky yearlings that afternoon. […] Taylor had four runs, four hits, fifteen put outs, two assists, six stolen bases and no errors at first base; Shinnick four runs, five hits, six put outs, seven assists, four stolen bases and no errors.” From The Sporting Life, May 16, 1891. Louisville played in St. Louis April 27, 28 and 29, 1891. Game dates from retrosheet.org. Per Encyclopedia Britannica, Sarah Bernhardt (1844-1923) was “the greatest French actress of the later 19th century and one of the best-known figures in the history of the stage.” She was known for her “broad, flamboyant style of acting, relying for effect on lavish decors, exotic costumes, and pantomimic action.” Wikipedia adds: “Her 1891–92 tour was her most extensive, including much of Europe, Russia, North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, and Samoa. Her personal luggage consisted of 45 costume crates for her 15 different productions, and 75 crates for her off-stage clothing, including her 250 pairs of shoes. She carried a trunk for her perfumes, cosmetics and makeup, and another for her sheets and tablecloths and her five pillows.” No wonder she had a few scraps of silk for a few stockings. Bernhardt info retrieved online September 9, 2017.

May 1891: “The Louisvilles’ new uniforms have arrived, but they will not be used until the Decoration day games [in Louisville vs. Washington, May 30 and 31]. The suits are white with red trimmings.” From the Louisville Courier-Journal, May 27, 1891. Research from Don Stokes. Game dates from retrosheet.org.

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.