1895 Brooklyn (Brooklyns, Bridgegrooms)
These renderings are 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
Visual documentation on these uniforms:
Photo A
Dated April 1895 to May 1895, probably April 16, 1895. This team photo was most likely taken at Eastern Park, Brooklyn. Date range of April 1895 to May 1895 determined by appearance of players Hines and Mulvey, each of whom only played for Brooklyn in 1895 and each of whom were released and joined other teams in the first week of June 1895. Photo date of April 16, 1895 can be suggested by a newspaper report from this day and found by researcher Ken Samoil. The newspaper stated the team “had their pictures taken” before an exhibition game on April 16, 1895 at Eastern Park wearing “clean suits and new blue caps.” This description matched the team photo above in which the players wore a white uniform with dark caps, dark belts and dark stockings. The cap had a rounded crown, instead of a pillbox style, and was accented with white vertical ribbing. These were apparently new uniforms as the same newspaper said the team “put on their old duds” after the photo was taken to play the exhibition game. Another newspaper report from early 1895 described the home uniform as “white with black belts and stockings.” However, this newspaper described the home cap as white in color, not blue, and with black ribbing. The mystery can be solved by looking at newspaper reports of the team’s road uniform, which was described as gray in color, with blue caps featuring “small white cord trimmings,” blue belts and blue stockings. Based on these descriptions it can be concluded the Brooklyn team wore their blue road cap with their white home uniform for this photo. Note that one or two players in the back row in this photo may have worn the gray road uniform, not the home white. Examination of the players standing at far left and far right showed that the tonal value of their uniforms was slightly darker when compared with the uniforms of the players seated in front of them, suggesting a gray uniform was worn. See detail view below for comparison. Though hard to distinguish, the shirts in this team photo appeared to be a mix of short sleeves, 3/4 length sleeves and long sleeves. Several players wore dark undershirts.
Top row, from left: H Hines (Bkln 95, 2 gms, KC 95), B Burrell (95-97), A Gumbert (95, 96), C Lucid (Bkln 94, 95, Phi 95), G Treadway (94, 95), B Shindle (94-98), T Daly (90-96, 98-01), D Daub (93-97) and G Shoch (93-97). Middle: J Mulvey (Bkln 95, Allentown PASL 95), C Dailey (91-95), C LaChance (93-98), D Foutz (AA 88, 89, NL 90-96), M Griffin (91-98), J Grim (95-99), J Anderson (94-98) and O Burns (Bkln AA 88, 89, Bkln NL 90-95, NY 95). Front: E Stein (92-96, 98), T Corcoran (92-96) and B Kennedy (92-01). Player IDs from a version of this image printed in the Spalding Base Ball Guide, 1896. Lucid ID from Nigel Ayres. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Newspaper accounts of these uniforms can be found in the written descriptions below. Hines and Mulvey release info from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 5, 1895. Image scan from Ken Samoil and also from Nigel Ayres. Original image by Gardner & Co., Brooklyn.
Dated April 1895 to May 1895, probably April 16, 1895. Detail view of photo A. Detail view shows city name arched across the shirt, with the second “O” in Brooklyn falling across the shirt opening. The red circle highlights the tonal differences in the uniforms between the player standing and the player sitting. The uniform in back was most likely light gray in color representing the team’s road uniform, while the uniform in front was white in color representing the team’s home uniform.
Photo B
Print dated mid-1895 to late 1895. This print utilized the same image as shown in photo A, originally made in April 1895. However in this version, the head of player B Abbey (Chi 95, Bkln 95, 96), back row fourth from left, had been added onto the body of player C Lucid. Both Abbey and Lucid were pitchers. Abbey was released by Chicago to join Brooklyn in mid-June 1895 and Lucid was released by Brooklyn at the end of July 1895. This would imply this print of the photo was produced or retouched in the second half of 1895. Years Abbey with team from baseball-reference.com. Abbey transaction info from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 25, 1895. Lucid release info the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 5, 1895. Image from the Spalding Base Ball Guide, 1896.
Photo C
Dated early May 1895. This photo of the Brooklyn team wearing their white home uniforms appeared in a newspaper on June 22, 1895. Remarkably, Brooklyn had played only three home games to date in 1895 when this photo was published: May 1, 2, and 4, 1895 v. Baltimore. The team wore dark caps in this photo with white ribbing, similar to the team photo above, see photo A. Note that player Foutz, standing far right, wore padded pants that were very bulky. Image from the Illustrated American, June 22, 1895. Publish date and scan from Worthpoint Auctions. Home dates vs. Baltimore from retrosheet.org.
Photo D
Dated February 24, 1895. Portrait collage of Brooklyn players, full view at left, detail view of player T Corcoran (92-96) at right. Date determined by publish date of collage. Drawings were of players wearing uniforms with the city name arched across the shirt. These drawings were based on photographs made between the years 1891 and 1894. No drawings in the collage represented the 1895 Brooklyn uniform, which in February 1895 would not have been ordered or produced yet for the upcoming season. Drawings of players Grim, Mulvey, Burrell and Gumbert, all new to the team in 1895, showed a generic uniform with no shirt lettering. Drawing of Mulvey showed him wearing a mustache, while the team photo taken in April 1895 showed him without a mustache, see photo A. This may further confirm the Mulvey drawing was not based on a photo made in 1895.
Top row, from left: B Kennedy (92-01), C LaChance (93-98), J Grim (95-99), T Corcoran (92-96) and C Lucid (Bkln 94, 95, Phi 95). Second row: J Anderson (94-98), M Griffin (91-98), D Foutz (AA 88, 89, NL 90-96), T Daly (90-96, 98-01) and O Burns (Bkln AA 88, 89, Bkln NL 90-95, NY 95). Third row: B Shindle (94-98), J Mulvey (Bkln 95, Allentown PASL 95), E Stein (92-96, 98) and G Shoch (93-97). Fourth row: G Treadway (94, 95), B Burrell (95-97), C Dailey (91-95), D Daub (93-97) and A Gumbert (95, 96). Player IDs from collage. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Note that player H Hines (Bkln 95, 2 gms, KC 95) was not included in this collage as he had not yet signed with the team. He was however included in the team photo taken in April 1895, see photo A. Portrait collage from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, February 24, 1895. Image scan from Ken Samoil.
Photo E
Dated early 1896. Collage of player portraits, full view at left, detail view of Brooklyn player M Griffin (91-98) at right. Player was depicted wearing a dark cap with a rounded crown and white vertical ribbing. This was similar to the cap worn by Brooklyn in the tam photo taken in early 1895, see photo A. It is possible this drawing was made based on that team photo. Collage from the Spalding Base Ball Guide, 1896, issued before the start of the 1896 season.
Photos F, G & H
Issued 1895. Mayo Cut Plug baseball card reprints of, from left, B Kennedy (92-01), T Corcoran (92-96) and M Griffin (91-98). These images were derived from photographs made in previous years. The Kennedy portrait was published in 1894 and, based on a study of Brooklyn uniform lettering, the original portrait was most likely made in 1892. The Corcoran portrait was published in 1894 and was most likely made in 1892 or 1893. Neither of these images depicted the Brooklyn uniform of 1895. A date for the Griffin portrait is unknown. Years players with team from baseball-reference.com. Baseball card images and issue date from oldcardboard.com.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
April 16, 1895, Brooklyn intra-squad game at Eastern Park, Brooklyn: “The aggregation of Brooklyn baseball players split up into two nines again today and at 3:30 o’clock, in the presence of a lot of faithful rooters, went out on the lawn-like field to have fun with the ball. Half an hour before the game today the teams were bunched up on one end of the diamond with [player-manager] Dave Foutz in the center. They wore clean suits and new blue caps and they had their pictures taken. Before they began to play however they put on their old duds.” From the New York World, April 16, 1895. Research from Ken Samoil.
April 18, 1895, Brooklyn v. New York at Polo Grounds, New York, opening day: “Around the Brooklyns’ dressing room was a surging throng, and when the tall form of Manager Dave Foutz appeared in the doorway there was a wild demonstration. Dave turned and beckoned to his men, and then they filed out in a long line. They were dressed in neat gray uniforms with blue stockings and belts, and wore becoming caps of blue, with small white cord trimmings. Blue sweaters completed the make up.” From the New York Sun, April 19, 1895. Research from Peter Reitan and from Ed Morton.
April 23, 1895, Brooklyn v. New York, at Polo Grounds, New York: “Shortly after noon today [the Brooklyn players arrived and] repaired at once to a little house in the lower right-hand corner of the big grounds, and when they again appeared they wore natty gray uniforms, with huge black sweaters. They were the members of the Brooklyn Baseball Club, better known as the Bridegrooms.” From the New York World, evening edition, April 23, 1895. Research from Ken Samoil.
April 1895: “[Brooklyn] Manager Foutz will appear in uniform at every game this season. He will play a few.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 25, 1895.
April 1895: “The Brooklyns will appear in neat new uniforms of white with black belts and stockings. Their caps will be white with black stripes running from a point at the top to the ends of the visor and back.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 30, 1895. This report described the planned upcoming events for Opening Day at Eastern Park, Brooklyn, to take place on May 1, 1895. Game date confirmation from retrosheet.org.
April 1895: “At 3:15, the members of both teams [Brooklyn and Baltimore], headed by the band, will parade on the field, the Bridegrooms wearing their new white and black uniforms.” From the New York Evening World, April 30, 1895. Research from Don Stokes and from Ken Samoil. This report described the planned upcoming events for Opening Day at Eastern Park, Brooklyn, to take place on May 1, 1895. Game date confirmation from retrosheet.org.
May 1, 1895, Brooklyn v. Baltimore at Eastern Park, Brooklyn, Opening Day: “Shortly after 3 o’clock, the Brooklyn players, twenty in all, headed by Manager Dave Foutz, clad in spic and span white flannel suits, with black belts, stockings, and caps, made their appearance.” From the Brooklyn Standard Union, May 2, 1895. Research from Ken Samoil. This report conflicts with a report published two days earlier that stated the home cap was white with black ribbing, see Brooklyn Daily Eagle report above.
Circa 1895, referenced in March 1896: “Charlotte, N.C., March 19 — […] A large attendance is looked for tomorrow afternoon [in Charlotte] when the first [Brooklyn intra-squad] game will be played. Two teams will be made up with a majority of older players to be called the Regulars and the new men with a veteran here and there to steady them to be designated as the Colts. The former will wear white uniforms and black stockings and the latter team gray uniforms and red stockings.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 19, 1896. This report of a spring training game in 1896 may be describing uniforms that had been worn by Brooklyn in previous seasons.
Team genealogy: Brooklyn 1883-1957
Brooklyn was formed as a minor league team in 1883 and joined the American Association (AA) in 1884. The AA was a major league operating 1882-1891 and Brooklyn played in the AA between 1884 and 1889. Brooklyn moved to the National League (NL) for the 1890 season. The NL began operation in 1876. Brooklyn played in the NL between 1890 and 1957, when the team moved to Los Angeles. Information from wikipedia.
Rendering posted: January 6, 2019
Diggers on this uniform: Don Stokes, Ed Morton, Ken Samoil, Nigel Ayres, Peter Reitan,