1894 Washington DC (Washingtons, Senators)
Left: This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style and written documentation for color. Minor details may be undocumented or difficult to determine. An educated guess is made to complete the rendering.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team: documented
Right: This rendering is based on written documentation for uniform style and color. No visual documentation is known and an artist’s conceptualization is used to create the rendering.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team: documented
Visual documentation on these uniforms:
Photo A
Dated early April 1894. Photo year of 1894 confirmed by the appearance of players Petty, Tebeau, Ward, Egan and Dugdale. These men only played for Washington in 1894. Date of early April 1894 can be determined by appearance of player Wise, who was released by the team by April 14, 1894. The players wore a unique shirt in this photo consisting of a shirt body in a white or light-gray color and sleeves in a dark color. Newspaper reports from this year said that the white uniform had blue sleeves with a red belt and red stockings. The cap, not shown in this team photo, was described as blue and red in color.
Top row, from left: C Petty (Was 94, Cle 94), S Wise (89, 93, dnp 94, Alntwn PSL 94, Bng EL 94), J Mulvey (Was 93, dnp 94, Alntwn PSL 94, Bng EL 94), B Hassamaer (94, 95), W Black (dnp, WB EL 94), D Esper (Was 93, 94, Bkln 94), E Cartwright (94-97) and B Joyce (94-96). Middle: G Tebeau (Was 94, Cle 94), B Stephens (Was 93, 94, Mil 94), D McGuire (AA 91, NL 92-99), (G Schmelz mgr 94-97), O Stocksdale (93-95), J Sullivan (Was 93, 94, Phi 94) and P Ward (94). Front: K Selbach (NL 94-98, AL 03, 04), J Egan (94), J McMahon (dnp), P Radford (92-94), D Dugdale (94) and W Mercer (NL 94-99, AL 01). Player IDs from the Spalding Base Ball Guide 1895. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Wise release info from The Sporting Life, April 14, 1894.
Dated early April 1894. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed that a shirt button fell on top of the first letter “N” in the city name that arched across the chest. Detail view also showed that the shirt had short sleeves and sleeve extensions that attached with white buttons.
Photo B
Dated 1894. Cabinet card of D Dugdale (94). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo year confirmed as this was the player’s only year with the team. Player wore a uniform that matched the one shown in photo A. Note that the player wore a mustache in photo A, but was clean shaven in photo B, proving that the cabinet photo was made at a later time in 1894. Year Dugdale with team from baseball-reference.com. Original photo by Charles M. Bell, Washington.
Photo C
Dated 1894. Studio photo of B Joyce (94-96). Full view at left, two detail views at right. Photo year confirmed by similarities with photo B. Detail view showed that the cap had four horizontal bands and a braid along the bill of the cap. The horizontal bands are hard to see in the black-and-white photo, so they have been accentuated in red in the detail view at lower right. Years Joyce with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from the Library of Congress. Original photo by Charles M. Bell, Washington.
Photo D
Dated 1894. Studio photo of B Hassamaer (94, 95). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo year confirmed by similarities with photo B. Detail view showed that the shirt had five buttons and that the shirt opening continued to the bottom of the shirt. This may be the first example in baseball fashion of a fully-opening shirt. A narrow shirt pocket was positioned on the left side of the shirt. Years Hassamaer with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from the Library of Congress. Original photo by Charles M. Bell, Washington.
Photo E
Dated 1894. Studio photo of T O’Rourke (Was 94, StL 94, SxC WL 94). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo year confirmed by similarities with photo B. Detail view showed that the pants had quilted padding at the knees. The upper portion of the pants also had stitching to accept additional padding. Years Hassamaer with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from the Library of Congress. Original photo by Charles M. Bell, Washington.
Photo F
Dated 1894. Studio photo of D McGuire (AA 91, NL 92-99). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo year confirmed by similarities with photo B. Detail view showed the back of the uniform shirt. Years McGuire with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from the Library of Congress. Original photo by Charles M. Bell, Washington.
Photo G
Dated 1894. Studio photo of J Sullivan (Was 93, 94, Phi 94). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo year confirmed by similarities with photo B. Detail view showed the style of the shirt lettering and the position of one shirt button on top of the first “N” in the city name. Years Sullivan with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from the Library of Congress. Original photo by Charles M. Bell, Washington.
Uniform Lettering Comparison
Left: Dated 1894, detail view of B Joyce (94-96), see photo D. Right: Dated 1894, detail view of J Sullivan (Was 93, 94, Phi 94), see photo G. Side-by-side comparison of two photos showed that there were subtle differences in lettering styles. Note the style of letters “S,” “G” and “O,” as well as the overall size and thickness of the letters. These subtle differences may indicate that the 1894 uniforms were not all made a the same time.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
December 1893: “Red and Black — Not for roulette, but for the Senators’ Teutonic Uniforms — Manager Schmelz has selected the uniforms for his Washington team. In this Manager Schmelz has made an entirely new departure. […] The home costumes will be black and red, the cap in stripes of these colors, the shirts black and red sleeves, and the name of the club in red letters across the breast. The knickerbockers will be plain black, and the belts and stockings red. With these suits go red sweaters with ‘Washington’ in black across the breast. The out of town costume is to be white and black, the white replacing the red portions of the home costumes.” From The Sporting Life, December 23, 1893. This report, made four months before the season started, described the uniform colors as black and red, while subsequent reports said the colors were blue and red. This report may also have switched the description for the home and road uniforms. The use of “Teutonic” in the headline was a derogatory reference to the colors of Germany: red, black and yellow.
March 24, 1894, Kids v. Vets, intra-squad exhibition game at National Park, Washington DC: “The Kids wore the home uniform of dark blue suits, with red sleeves and stockings, and the home team white trousers, with red blazers and red stockings.” From the Washington (DC) Times, March 25, 1894. Research from Don Stokes. This report mistakenly described both uniforms as the home uniform.
April 21, 1894, Washington v. Philadelphia at Philadelphia, opening day: “The Phillies wore their new white suits and black stockings for the first time, white the ‘Senators’ were attired in dark blue caps and pants and bright red jerserys.” From the Philadelphia Inquirer, April 22, 1894. Research from Ed Morton.
April 1894: “The Washington uniforms are not things of beauty, being unhappy mediums between the red flannels of winter and the blue bathing suits of the seashore season.” From The Sporting Life, April 28, 1894. Research from Chuck McGill.
May 10, 1894, Washington v. New York at New York: “If the Washingtons’ playing was as brilliant as their uniforms they would be fighting it out with the Clevelands for first place. Their dress on the field […] is a pastel in wool: a poem in black and scarlet. The trousers are black and so is the body of the shirt. The sleeves, stockings and belts are bright scarlet and the cap is a mixture of the two colors.” From the New York Herald, May 11, 1894. Note that other newspaper reports described the uniform as blue and red, not black and red. Game date from retrosheet.org.
May 1894: “The Washington uniform—white, with black stockings and trimmings and white and black striped caps—have a regular State prison aspect.” From The Sporting Life, May 12, 1894. Research from Chuck McGill. This report may be describing a third Washington uniform.
May 1894: “Where did they get the uniforms? That’s what nearly every crank will ask when the Washingtons caper about the Exposition grounds [in Pittsburgh]. The suits will be the dizziest that have ever been seen here. The stockings flaring red, the trousers and shirts dark blue, the sleeves blood red, and the caps red and black. Then the visitors’ bats have green tips.” From the Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph, May 12, 1894. Research from Andy Terrick. Washington did not play at Pittsburgh until June 25, 1894, per retrosheet.org.
May 14, 1894, Washington v. Brooklyn, at Brooklyn, Eastern Park: “In explaining the origin of that sublime and aesthetical uniform which the visitors wear, manager Schmelz [said] he got the idea last spring while visiting a performance of ‘1492.’ In the ballet was a girl who wore a black waist with red sleeves, and he became so charmed […] that he adopted the idea for a uniform.” From the New York Herald, May 15, 1894. Game date from retrosheet.org. Performances of “1492,” described as an “operatic extravaganza,” were produced from May 1893 to July 1893 at Palmer’s Theatre, New York, and then from February 1894 to August 1894 at the Garden Theatre, New York. Info from The Guide to Musical Theatre, retrieved online August 9, 2018.
Team genealogy: Washington 1891-1899
Washington was formed to join the American Association (AA) for the 1891 season. The AA was a major league operating from 1882 to 1891. When the AA folded after the 1891 season, Washington joined the National League (NL) in 1892 as the NL expanded to twelve teams. The NL began play in 1876. Washington played in the NL from 1892 to 1899 and was dissolved when the NL contracted down to eight teams after the 1899 season. Info from wikipedia.
Rendering posted: August 11, 2018
Diggers on this uniform: Andy Terrick, Chuck McGill, Don Stokes,