1896 Paterson NJ (Patersons)
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
Visual documentation on this uniform:
Photo A
Dated May 28, 1896. Year of photo determined by the appearance of players Killacky, Eltom, Armour, Taylor, Fitch, McMackin and Cogan, all of whom only played for this team in 1896. A photo date May 28, 1896 can be suggested by a newspaper report that stated that “the Paterson team will be photographed tomorrow [May 28, 1896] in a group with uniforms.” This late May 1896 photo date can also be determined by the manager, Ed Barrow, who was clean shaven in this photo but wore a mustache in photo B. A newspaper reported on May 20, 1896, that “Manager Burrows has shaved off his moustache, and can hardly be recognized as the same man.” A photo date from early in the season can further be suggested by the appearance of players Viau, Eltom, Taylor and Fitch, all of whom were not included in the team photo taken at the end of the 1896 season, see photo B. The players wore a light gray uniform in the photo, with a dark colored cap, belt and stockings. The cap had a rounded crown and many of the pants had quilted padding. A newspaper report from April 1896 described the uniform as “stone gray” in color, with a black cap, black lettering, black belt and black stockings.
Top row: L Viau (96, 97), J Killacky (96), H Wagner (96, 97), B Eltom (Pat 96, Tol ISL 96) E Heidrick (96-98) and B Armour (96). Middle, five men sitting: B Taylor (96), (E Barrow mgr 96), F Fitch (Pat 96, Yngstn ISL 96), (C McKee owner) and S McMackin (96). Front, on ground: H Smith (96, 97) and D Cogan (96). Player IDs from another print of this photo (not shown) which included the hand-written names of the players. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Based on the similarities of the photo backdrop between photo A and photo B, it can be suggested that both photos were taken by the same photographer. Report of the May 28 photo session from the Paterson Daily Press, May 27, 1896. Burrows mustache report from the Paterson Daily Press, May 20, 1896. Daily Press research from Ed Morton. Image scan from John Thorn, Our Game, retrieved September 26, 2019.
Dated May 28, 1896. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed that the team cap had a rounded crown, not the box shape of the pillbox style, and that the city name arched across the shirt front. The “E” in Paterson was divided on both sides of the shirt opening and on several shirts, a white button slightly overlapped the letter “R.” The pants had quilted padding.
Photo B
Dated early October 1896. Photo year can be determined by the appearance of players Armour, Killacky, Bastian, Hayward, McMackin and Cogan, all of whom only played for this team in 1896. An early October 1896 photo date can be determined by the appearance of the championship trophy, the Soby Cup, featured in the center of this photo. Paterson won the Soby Cup on October 3, 1896 when they defeated Hartford in a seven-game series, four games to two. The cup had been given to the Atlantic League by Charles Soby, of Hartford, in early September 1896. The players most likely wore the same light gray uniform in this photo as they had in photo A.
Top row: B Smink (Pat 96, 97, Tor EL 96, GR WL 96), B Armour (96), E Heidrick (96-98), J Killacky (96), H Wagner (96, 97) and C Bastian (Pat 96, Dal TxSL 96). Front row, all sitting: H Smith (96, 97), (E Barrow mgr 96), W Hayward (Pat 96, NY AtL 96, Pot PASL 96), S McMackin (96), C McCafferty (Pat 86, Wil AtL 96) and D Cogan (96). Players Smink, Bastian, Hayward and McCafferty were not in the team photo from earlier in the year, see photo A. Player IDs from the New York Press, April 3, 1916. New York Press research from Justin Mckinney. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Paterson series victory date from Baseball America, Inc., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (1997). Soby Cup origination info from wikipedia.com, citing the Hartford Courant, September 12, 1896. Info retrieved September 20, 2019. Based on the similarities of the photo backdrop between photo A and photo B, it can be suggested that both photos were taken by the same photographer. Image scan from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee.
Dated early October 1896. Detail view of photo B. Detail view showed a uniform very similar to that worn in photo A. Note how the lettering of the city name extended to the armpits.
Written documentation on this uniform:
April 1896: “The diamond at the ball park has already been changed and yesterday [April 15, 1896] for the first time it was used in practice by the men, all of whom appeared in their neat new uniforms, consisting of stone gray flannel with black trimmings, black belts and black caps. The word ‘Paterson’ in large black letters across the front of the shirt.” From the Paterson (NJ) Daily Press, April 16, 1896. Research from Ed Morton.
Team genealogy: Coming soon
Rendering posted: September 27, 2019
Diggers on this uniform: Ed Morton, John Thorn, Justin Mckinney, Mark Fimoff,