1894 New York (New Yorks, Giants)
These renderings are based on 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 renderings.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team: documented
Visual documentation on these uniforms:
Photo A
Dated April 1894 to May 1894. Photo year of 1894 can be confirmed by appearance of player Westervelt, who only played for New York during this year. Date range of April 1894 to May 1894 can be confirmed by appearance of player Connor, who was sent to play for St. Louis on June 1, 1894. Players wore a white or light gray uniform in this photo. A newspaper in 1894 reported that the New York road uniform was pearl gray in color, and this may have been the uniform worn in this photo. The pillbox cap in the photo was of the same color as the shirt and pants. Some of the caps had two distinctive dark cords, one along the top seam of the cap and one at the base of the cap above the visor. However some players in the photo wore caps with only one black cord, or in some cases with one or two white cords. The city name was displayed on the shirt in dark letters that arched across the chest. The letter forms were slightly smaller, thinner and more widey spaced than that shown in Newsboy baseball card series from this period, see detail view below. In the team photo, nine of the seventeen players had a shirt button covering the letter “Y.” Players also wore a combination of sleeve lengths in this photo. Of the seventeen players shown, 6 wore long sleeves, 3 wore sleeve extensions and 8 wore short sleeves. Of the 8 that wore short sleeves, 4 wore a white undershirt and 1 wore a dark undershirt. One player wore his shirt unbuttoned at the collar. At least 6 players wore pants with quilted padding in the photo.
Top row, from left: P Wilson (93-99), D Farrell (94-96), G Van Haltren (94-03), R Connor (NY NL 83-89, 91, 93, 94, NY PL 90, StL 94), J Meekin (94-99), H Westervelt (94) and A Rusie (90-94, 97, 98). Middle: D Clarke (94-97), L German (93-96), J Doyle (92-95, 98-00), J Ward (83-89, 93, 94), M Tiernan (87-99), G Davis (93-01, 03), S Fuller (92-96) and E Burke (92-95). Front, on ground: G Stafford (93-96) and Y Murphy (94, 95, 97). Player IDs from photo. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Conner transaction info from retrosheet.org. Image scan from the Library of Congress. Original photo by George Prince, Washington DC & New York.
Dated April 1894 to May 1894. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed a comparison of lettering styles. The uniform at left, worn by Doyle, had large thick letter forms while the uniform at right, worn by Ward, had slightly smaller and thinner letter forms that were more widely spaced. The large thick lettering style worn by Doyle was consistent with that shown in the Newsboy baseball card series issued in 1895 but featuring portraits made circa 1893. Only Doyle’s uniform displayed this lettering style in photo A, possibly suggesting he was the only player wearing a uniform made earlier than 1894.
Dated April 1894 to May 1894. Another detail view of photo A. Detail view showed variation on cap trim displaying white decorative cords, not dark cords. Detail view also showed example of pants with quilted padding.
Photo B
Dated October 1894, photo dated April 1894 to May 1894. This is a second version of the team photo, made at the same time as photo A. In this version, many of the players have changed the position of their arms. This image was published in Leslie’s Weekly in October 1894 as part of a preview of the upcoming Temple Cup series vs. Baltimore.
Photo C
Dated April 1894 to May 1894. This is another version of the team photo made at the same time as photo A. In this version, the players have removed their caps. Note the large dark button on top of the cap held by the player at lower right.
Photo D
Dated 1895, photo dated circa 1894. Mayo Cut Plug baseball card of J Ward (83-89, 93, 94). Full view at left, detail view at right. A circa 1894 date can be suggested by the fact that Ward retired before the 1895 season. Player wore a light gray uniform in this photo. A newspaper in 1894 reported that the New York road uniform was pearl gray in color, and this may have been the uniform worn in this photo. The city name was displayed in a wide-spaced lettering style and a white shirt button overlapped the letter “Y.” These features matched the uniform shown in the 1894 team photo, see photo A. The button placket shown on the Mayo baseball card had been accentuated by a photo retoucher. This portrait may have been taken at the same time as the one used on the Temple Cup score card from October 1894, see photo E. Years with team and retirement info from baseball-reference.com. Baseball card issue date from oldcardboard.com.
Photo EDated early October 1894. New York score card cover for Temple Cup series versus Baltimore, in which games were played in New York on October 6 and October 8, 1894. Full view at left, detail view of player Ward at right. Score card showed a variety of portraits from different sources and included each player’s signature. The outer ring included four portraits of players wearing a cap and uniform. Three of these portraits, Tiernan, Burke and Rusie, were also used on the Newsboy baseball card series issued in 1895. The inner ring of photos included seven portraits of players in uniform (without a cap) that were also part of the 1894 photo collage by Falk, see photo H. The portraits of players in street clothes may also have been made by Falk. The center portrait of Ward showed a uniform similar to that shown in the team photo dated April 1894 to May 1894, see photo A. This uniform had the city name displayed with wide-spaced lettering and a shirt button overlapping the “Y” in New York. It is possible the portrait of Ward used on the score card was taken at the same time as the portrait of Ward used on the Mayo baseball card, see photo D.
Outer ring of portraits: M Tiernan (87-99), E Burke (92-95), H Westervelt (94), Y Murphy (94, 95, 97), A Rusie (90-94, 97, 98) and P Wilson (93-99). Inner ring: G Davis (93-01, 03), S Fuller (92-96), D Clarke (94-97), D Farrell (94-96), G Van Haltren (94-03), J Doyle (92-95, 98-00), G Stafford (93-96) and L German (93-96). Center: J Ward (83-89, 93, 94). Player IDs from score card. Years with team from baseball-reference.com.
Photo F
Dated October 27, 1894, photos dated October 8, 1894. Photo essay of the New York team at the Polo Grounds before the start of Game 4 of the Temple Cup series vs. Baltimore. Full view of published magazine page at left, detail view of one photo at right. Detail view showed the New York players wearing a white or light gray uniform. The cap was of the same material and may have had a rounded crown, different than the pillbox cap worn in the team photo from early in 1894, see photo A. The pants had quilted padding and the stockings were dark in color, as were the sweaters. The horizontal striping on the sweater in this photo was the result of the halftone dot pattern used to publish the original image. Published photo essay from the Illustrated American, October 27, 1894. Image scans from Keith Olberman, Baseball Nerd blog, mlblogs.com, posted November 29, 2010 and retrieved online September 6, 2018.
Dated October 8, 1894. Detail view of photo F. Detail view of the New York team at the Polo Grounds before the start of Game 4 of the Temple Cup series vs. Baltimore. One player in this lineup wore a striped coat. Player at far right in photo, possibly J Ward, wore a dark undershirt that also was visible above his collar. Published photo essay from the Illustrated American, October 27, 1894. Image scans from Keith Olberman, Baseball Nerd blog, mlblogs.com, posted November 29, 2010 and retrieved online September 6, 2018.
Photo G
Painting dated 1894. Print dated 1896. Collotype print depicting Baltimore and New York playing in a Temple Cup series game at New York, Polo Grounds. The print was produced in 1896 by Boussod, Valadon & Company, Paris, and featured in its center a duo-tone reproduction of an original color painting by Henry Sandham (1842-1910), Boston. The painting was dated 1894 by the artist. Two games were played at New York for the Temple Cup: game three of the series took place on October 6, 1894, and game four took place on October 8, 1894. Studying the game scene depicted, historian Tom Shieber has written that play-by-play reports reveal that “Sandham is not showing a particular moment from game three. A similar review of play-by-play from game four offers just one promising possibility […] the bottom of the seventh inning.” In the painting, New York was depicted as wearing a white uniform and cap with dark stockings. Image scan and print information from the Library of Congress. Shieber research from baseballresearcher.blogspot.com, posted November 15, 2017 and referencing the New York Sun, October 9, 1894.
Photo H
Dated October 1894. Photo collage of New York players. Issue date of collage determined by caption which described New York as “winners of the Temple Cup 1894.” The Temple Cup was won by New York on October 8, 1894. Players were shown wearing a white or light gray shirt. The photos were retouched to show more shirt detail in the button placket area and to eliminate the team name across the chest.
Top row, from left: Y Murphy (94, 95, 97), L German (93-96), J Meekin (94-99), G Davis (93-01, 03) and D Farrell (94-96). Middle: G Stafford (93-96), D Clarke (94-97), J Ward (83-89, 93, 94), A Rusie (90-94, 97, 98) and J Doyle (92-95, 98-00). Front: P Wilson (93-99), H Westervelt (94), S Fuller (92-96), M Tiernan (87-99), E Burke (92-95) and G Van Haltren (94-03). Player IDs from collage. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Original portraits by Falk.
Photo I
Dated October 1894. Invitation to the October 14th presentation of the Temple Cup, won by New York on October 8, 1894. The same artwork used on the Temple Cup score card, see photo E, was used on this invitation as well.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1894: “The New Yorks’ uniform this season will be the same as last, except that the gray of the traveling suits will be a lighter shade—a shade known as pearl gray.” From The Sporting Life, March 31, 1894. Research from Chuck McGill.
Team genealogy: New York 1883-1957
New York was formed to join the National League (NL) in 1883, with many of its players coming from a disbanded NL team in Troy, NY. The NL began operation in 1876 and this New York team played in the NL from 1883 to 1957. The team moved to San Francisco after the 1957 season. Information from wikipedia.
Rendering posted: September 9, 2018
Diggers on this uniform: Chuck McGill, John Thorn, Tom Shieber,