1894 Kansas City (Kansas Citys, Blues, Cowboys)

This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style and partial 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 this uniform:

Photo A

Dated May 1894 to mid-June 1894. Photo year determined by appearance of players Howe, Donahue, Niles, McGinnity and Ulrich, who only played for Kansas City in 1894. Date range of May 1894 to mid-June 1894 determined by Howe, who was signed by the team in May 1894 after playing first in Sioux City of the Western League. He then played for Milwaukee of the Western League in late June. Original print of photo was identified by hand on the front as “K.C. Blues” and dated as “1894 and 1895.” Players wore a dark uniform in this photo, with dark socks and dark belts. A newspaper report from 1894 said that the team wore blue, and accordingly the team was known as the Blues. The short-sleeved shirts in this photo had two white letters, one on either side of a button placket that held four white buttons. The button holes were lined in white thread. The shirts also had button holes on the sleeves to accommodate sleeve extensions. At least three players wore pants with quilted padding.

Top row standing, from left: H Howe (SxCty WL 94, KC WL 94, Mil WL 94), T Donahue (94), J Manning (WL 87, 92, 94-97, WA 88, 90, 91, AA 89), B Niles (94), P Daniels (94, 95) and S Nicholl (94-96). Front sitting: G Darby (94, 95), T Hernon (94, 95), P Sharp (KC WL 94, Mil WL 94), B Klusman (94-96), J McGinnity (94) and G Ulrich (Oma WA 94, KC WL 94). Player IDs from back of photo. These identifications appeared to have been written in the hand of player Darby, who also included his mailing address as 2800 N. Griffin, Los Angeles. Darby died in California in 1937. Years with team and Darby death info from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Mark Fimoff and T Scott Brandon, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee. Howe signing info with Kansas City from The Sporting Life, May 26, 1894, which reported that the Kansas City manager “signed Howe while in Sioux City.”

Dated May 1894 to mid-June 1894. Detail view of photo A. Detail view shows the large letters “K.C” on the shirts, four white buttons on a button placket, and a shirt pocket under the “C.” The short sleeves of the shirts had button holes to accept sleeve extensions. The button holes on the shirts were lined with white thread.

Written documentation on this uniform:
April 1894: “Kansas City, April 23. — […] The work of the Blues during the exhibition season has been very gratifying.” From The Sporting Life, April 28, 1894. This was one of many reports in The Sporting Life that referred to the Kansas City team as the Blues.

April 1894: “Kansas City vs. Milwaukee at Kansas City, April 25 — The crowd out to see the opening game between the Blues and Milwaukee was large and enthusiastic. […] The vitality [that Kansas City] exhibited would have killed many of the old-time wearers of the ‘blue.’” From The Sporting Life, May 5, 1894. This report referenced the Kansas City teams from the 1880s and possibly intimated that both teams wore blue uniforms.

October 1894: “Though the [Kansas City] boys that wore the blue were not able to win the flag they have won the approval of the magnates from the National League.” From The Sporting Life, October 6, 1894.

Team genealogy: Kansas City 1894-1900
Kansas City joined the Western League (WL) in 1894 when the league reformed. The reorganized WL operated between 1894 and 1899 and reformed again as the American League (AL) for the 1900 season. Kansas City played in the WL between 1894 and 1899 and in the AL in 1900. The team was dropped when the AL declared major-league status in 1901 and awarded the franchise to Washington DC. Information from wikipedia.com.