1895 Cincinnati (Cincinnatis, Reds, Redlegs)

Left: 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

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 rendering.

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on these uniforms:

Photo A

Dated April 1895 to mid-June 1895. Year confirmed by appearance of players Spies and Hogreiver, both of whom only played for Cincinnati in 1895. Date range of April 1895 to mid-June 1895 determined by appearance of players Spies and Merritt. Spies was sold by Cincinnati to Louisville on June 21, 1895 and Merritt was sold to Pittsburgh two days later on June 23, 1895. Players wore the traditional home white uniform in this photo. Newspaper reports from this year called the team “red-legs”, confirming the stocking color. The player seated at far right wore garters to secure his red stockings. At least 10 of the 18 players in this photo wore short-sleeve shirts, seven of these wore a white undershirt, and three wore a dark-colored undershirt, possibly red in color.

Top row, from left: B Phillips (95, 99-03), B Gray (95, 96), F Vaughn (AA 91, NL 92-99), T Parrott (93-95), B Rhines (90-92, 95-97) and H Spies (Cin 95, Lou 95). Middle: B Holliday (AA 89, NL 90-98), B McPhee (AA 82-89, NL 90-99), B Merritt (Cin 94, 95, Pit 95), M Murphy (92-95), B Ewing (95-97, mgr 95-99), D Hoy (94-97, 02), D Miller (95-99), G Smith (91-96) and F Dwyer (AA 91, NL 92-99). Front: F Foreman (90, 95, 96), A Latham (90-95) and G Hogreiver (Cin NL 95, Ind WL 95). Player IDs and photo from the Spalding Base Ball Guide, 1896, published at the start of the 1896 season. Spies and Merritt transaction info from retrosheet.org. Note that player Latham, on the ground in center, held the team mascot, a dog named “Trilby.” Trilby was also the name of a popular novel written and illustrated by cartoonist George du Maurier and published serially in Harper’s Monthly from January 1894 to August 1894. The story was adapted for the stage in early 1895 and published in book form in September 1895. Trilby was about a young girl in Bohemian Paris. However more famously, the story was known for the introduction of the character “Svengali,” a rogue and master hypnotist who controlled the girl with his spells. Trilby info from wikipedia.com, retrieved January 21, 2019.

Dated April 1895 to mid-June 1895. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed the city name arched across the shirt and extending to the armpits.

Photos B, C & D

Dated 1895. Mayo Cut Plug baseball cards. Left and center, B Ewing (Cle 93, 94, Cin 95-97, Cin mgr 95-99). Right: A Latham (90-95). The Ewing portrait was drawn from a photograph taken in 1886 and was not a representation of the Cleveland or Cincinnati uniforms of 1895. The lettering on both portraits was added by the artist. Ewing was released by Cleveland July 13, 1894 and signed by Cincinnati December 14, 1894. Therefore it is possible the Ewing/Cleveland card was issued in 1894. The Latham card was a creation of the artist and not based on a photograph. The portrait did not accurately depict the 1895 Cincinnati uniform. Years players with teams from baseball-reference.com. Ewing transaction dates from retrosheet.org. Baseball card issue date from oldcardboard.com.

Written documentation on these uniforms:
June 6, 1895, Cincinnati v. New York at Polo Grounds, New York: “Rusie pitched one of his phenomenal games yesterday and held the Cincinnati Red Legs down to four scattered hits.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 7, 1895. This is one of several reports that described the team as the “Red Legs” in 1895.

June 7, 1895, Cincinnati v. Brooklyn at Brooklyn, Eastern Park: “Buck Ewing caught a speedy one on the end of his bat and circled the bases. […] It was a clean home run and caused no end of joy among the Red legs.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 8, 1895.

1895, referenced in 1896: “The Cincinnati home uniforms [in 1896], as usual, will be white. The traveling uniforms [in 1896] will be gray, of the same shade as that in use last season [1895].” From the Buffalo Enquirer, March 6, 1896. Research from Don Stokes.

Team genealogy: Cincinnati 1881-
Cincinnati was formed in 1881 to join the American Association (AA) for its inaugural season in 1882. The AA was a major league operating between 1882 and 1891. Cincinnati played in the AA throughout the 1880s and then joined the National League (NL) for the 1890 season. The NL began operation in 1876. Cincinnati has played every year in the NL from 1890 to present time. Information from wikipedia.