1896 Minneapolis (Millers)

This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style only. Color information is unknown and the uniform is rendered in values of gray. Minor details may also be undocumented or difficult to determine and an educated guess is made to complete the rendering.

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on this uniform:

Photo A

Dated 1896. Year confirmed by the appearance of players Connor and Schriver, each of whom only played for this team in 1896. The caption stating “Champions of 1896” suggests this print was issued after the 1896 season had concluded. Players wore a light gray or light-toned uniform in this photo with dark belts and dark stockings. The shirt had thin lace ties that ended at mid-chest and that dissected the city name arching across the chest in dark letters. The lace ties were also dark in color, however one player wore white laces. Two players wore shirts that did not match the others. The player in the top row, far left, wore a buttoned shirt instead of a laced shirt. The player in the middle row, second from left, wore a laced shirt but with no city name. Of the fourteen players shown, ten wore short sleeves, one wore long sleeves and one wore three-quarter length sleeves. Two sleeve lengths were hidden from view. Six of the fourteen players wore the team sweater under their shirt. The sweater was dark in color and had a turtleneck collar that some of the players rolled down on top of their shirt collar. Two players wore a white sweater. Four players wore white long-sleeved undershirts. One player wore his collar up. Caps were not shown in the photo.

Top row, from left: B Hutchinson (96, 97, 99), P Werden (94-96, 99, 00, 02), D Lally (95-98, 00, 02-04) and W Preston (96, 99). Middle: F Figgemeier (96-98, 01, 02), D Parker (96, 98-00), J Conner (96), P Schriver (96) and B Moran (95-97). Front: J Pickett (Min NWL 86, Min WL 96, 97, StP WL 96), A Ball (96-98), W Wilmot (96-00, 02, 03), B Kuehne (95-97) and K Baker (Min WL 96, 97, Mil WL 96). Player IDs from photo frame. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Minnesota Historical Society. Image scan from Carson Lorey. This image was also printed in the Spalding Base Ball Guide 1897, published at the start of the 1897 season. Original photo by Thomas Marceau & George Bassett, Indianapolis.

Dated 1896. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed a shirt with thin lace ties and the city name arched across the chest. The shirt had no pocket.

Written documentation on this uniform:
September 16, 1896, Minneapolis v. Detroit, at Detroit: “When [Minneapolis player Perry] Werden came downstairs in the hotel yesterday [September 16 in Detroit] he found a box waiting for him. In it were the stockings which he wore, white with red spots and blotches on them, the worst looking pair ever seen on any diamond. Werden does not know whether the players did it or someone who thought he did not have a pair of mates.” From the the Detroit Free Press, September 17, 1896.

Team genealogy: Minneapolis 1894-1900
Minneapolis 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. Minneapolis played in the WL between 1894 and 1899 and in the American League in 1900. The team was dropped before the 1901 AL season when the league declared major league status. Information from wikipedia.com.