1899 Cleveland (Clevelands, Spiders, Indians)

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 this uniform:

Photo A

Dated mid-March 1899 to late March 1899. This photo was not taken in 1898 as often identified, but instead was made in March of 1899 when the Cleveland team was at spring training in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The majority of the uniforms worn by the players in this photo were most likely carry-overs from the 1898 season and were not the Cleveland uniform from 1899. In addition, several players in this photo wore uniforms from other teams. The Hot Springs location for this photo can be determined by the appearance of player Paschal. Cleveland trained at Hot Springs both in the spring of 1898 and the spring of 1899. However in March 1899, a newspaper reported that “[Cleveland manager] Tebeau is trying out at Hot Springs a young outfielder from the Southern League named James H. Paschal.” Paschal did not make the team in 1899 and did not play in any regulation games at the major-league level during his career. With the identification of Paschal and Hot Springs, a date range of mid-March 1899 to late March 1899 can then be suggested. The mid-March date can be determined by a newspaper that reported on March 6, 1899, that “Manager Tebeau is here [in Cleveland] awaiting the arrival of the players. The start for Hot Springs will be made at 1:15 o’clock next Monday afternoon [on March 13, 1899].” A late March 1899 date can be determined by the fact that the majority of the Cleveland players in this photo were transferred to the St. Louis team before the start of the 1899 season. This transfer occurred on March 31, 1899 and was the result of the Cleveland owners purchasing the St. Louis Browns franchise a few weeks earlier. A newspaper headline written on April 3, 1899, announced that the “New Browns Team Now Made Up” and that “All of the Old Browns Shifted to Cleveland.” The ensuing report detailed that the new rosters were decided upon “after the Robison brothers [Cleveland owners] and Edward C. Becker [St. Louis principal] had a conference Friday [on March 31, 1899].” As fourteen of the players in the photo above were transferred to St. Louis (Heidrick, Young, Burkett, Stenzel, McKean, Schrecongost, O’Connor, Tebeau, Childs, Wilson, Blake, Wallace, Powell and Criger) and only three in the photo remained with Cleveland (McAllister, Bristow and Zimmer), it can be suggested this photo was made before the players were divided between the two separate teams on March 31, 1899.

Top row, from left: S McAllister (96-99), E Heidrick (dnp, StL 99), C Young (dnp, StL 99), G Bristow (Cle 99, KC WL 99), J Burkett (dnp, StL 99) and C Zimmer (Cle AA 87, 88, Cle NL 89-99, Lou 99). Middle: J Stenzel (dnp, StL 99), E McKean (dnp, StL 99), O Schrecongost (dnp, StL 99), J O’Connor (dnp, StL 99), P Tebeau (dnp, StL 99), C Childs (dnp, StL 99), Z Wilson (dnp, StL 99), H Blake (dnp, StL 99) and B Wallace (dnp, StL 99). Front: J Powell (dnp, StL 99), L Criger (dnp, StL 99), J Paschal (dnp), Long (dnp) and F Bates (Cle 98, 99, StL 99). Player IDs from photo. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Travel date to Hot Springs from The Sporting Life, March 11, 1899. Info on Paschal at Hot Springs from The Sporting Life, March 25, 1899. Info on player transfers to St. Louis from The Sporting Life, April 8, 1899. Image scan from Full Count Vintage Baseball Card Forum, with research from Ken Samoil.

Written documentation on this uniform:
March 1899: “[Manager] Tebeau insists that he has received no information of any kind that the Indians are to be transferred to St. Louis. ‘To prove to you that I am sincere,’ said Patsy to The Sporting Life correspondent today, “I have only to say that I have just ordered 20 new uniforms, and the word Cleveland will be printed across the breast of every one of the shirts.” From The Sporting Life, March 11, 1899.

March 1899: “The Cleveland players arrive in St. Louis […] en route to Hot Springs. […] Perhaps the foundation of Tebeau’s talk [in St. Louis] to the Associated Press that the team would play this season in Cleveland was nothing more serious than the arrival of the new uniforms, which have the caption, ‘Cleveland,’ emblazoned on the breast. The traveling suit of the team of very dark red is a particularly good-looking one.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 14, 1899. Research from Peter Reitan.This report also called the Cleveland team by the nicknames of “Spiders” and “Braves.” Note that a newspaper report from April of 1899 described the Cleveland road uniform as gray, not red.

April 15, 1899, St. Louis v. Cleveland, at St. Louis, opening day: “The Clevelands had on their traveling suits of white stockings and gray trousers and shirts, a dingy effect contrasted with the new white suits and cardinal stockings and caps of the new St. Louis club.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 16, 1899. Research from Don Stokes and Peter Reitan.

1899, referenced in April 1900: “The [St. Joseph, Western League] players present a strange appearance in practice. There are not two suits alike in the bunch. [Harry] Maupin has a Cleveland uniform that was probably white at one time.” From the St. Joseph Herald, April 5, 1900. According to baseball-reference.com, Maupin played 5 games for Cleveland in 1899, his only year with that team.

Possibly 1899, referenced in April 1900: “Manager McAleer, of Cleveland, is not a believer in gaudy uniforms. ‘A man all decked out in red and gold can’t help playing to the grandstand,’ is his philosophy.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, April 14, 1900.

Team genealogy: Cleveland 1887-1899
Cleveland was formed to join the American Association (AA) in 1887. The AA was a major league operating 1882-1891. Cleveland moved to the National League (NL) in 1889. The NL began operation in 1876 and Cleveland played in the NL from 1889 to 1899. After the 1899 season, Cleveland was dropped by the league and the team disbanded. Information from wikipedia.

1899 Cleveland summary

Uniform: road – light gray, white stockings
First worn:
Photographed:
Described: March, April
Material:
Manufacturer:
Supposition: cap style and color, shirt style, lettering style and color
Variations: possibly a dark red uniform
Other items:
Opening Day report: no, May 1 v. Louisville