1899 St. Louis (Perfectos)
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 renderings.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team: documented
Visual documentation on these uniforms:
Photo A
Dated April 1899. Photo of team taken in St. Louis at their home ballpark. Year of photo determined by the appearance of players McKean, Cuppy and Blake, all of whom only played for St. Louis in 1899. Date of April 1899 for photo can be determined by the appearance of player Zimmer, who was transferred from the Cleveland team to St. Louis on March 29, 1899, along with the majority of players in this photo. However, the team owners “honored [Zimmer’s] request to remain in Cleveland” and by April 24, 1899, Zimmer had rejoined the Cleveland team. Zimmer did not play in an official game for St. Louis and after returning to Cleveland he played his first game of the season at the Cleveland home opener on May 1, 1899. Players wore a white home uniform in the above photo with a dark cap, a light-colored belt, and dark stockings. The accent color was described by newspapers in April 1899 as red and maroon. This color replaced the team’s long-standing accent color of brown. The shirts that the players wore in this photo featured both long sleeves and short sleeves with sleeve extensions. One player wore his shirt collar styled up.
Top row, from left: E McKean (99), C Young (99, 00), C Zimmer (dnp, Cle NL 99, Lou 99), C Jones (99-01) and J Powell (NL 99-01, AL 02, 03, 05-12). Middle: O Schrecongost (StL 99, Cle NL 99), N Cuppy (99), C Childs (99), P Tebeau (99, 00), E Heidrick (NL 99-01, AL 02-04, 08), B Wallace (NL 99-01, 17, 18, AL 02-16), Z Wilson (StL 99, Cle NL 99) and J Stenzel (StL 98, 99, Cin NL 99). Front: J O’Connor (NL 99, 00, AL 04, 06, 07, 10), H Blake (99), J Burkett (NL 99-01, AL 02-04), F Bates (StL 99, Cle NL 99) and L Criger (NL 99, 00, AL 09, 12). Player IDs from the New York Evening Telegram, June 6, 1899, which published this photo on this date. Years players with team from baseball-reference.com. Info on Zimmer’s request to return to Cleveland from Stephen V. Rice, SABR BioProject: Chief Zimmer, retrieved March 28, 2021. Date of Zimmer rejoining Cleveland and first game played from The Sporting Life, April 29, 1899, and May 6, 1899. Evening Telegram research from Ed Morton. Image scan from the Library of Congress. Original photo by Julius C. Strauss, St. Louis.
Dated April 1899. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed the city name arched across the chest and that one shirt button was positioned just above the letter “O”. The period after “St” in the city name was round and not square. The shirt had three buttons (not four which was typical of the period), and the button placket extended down the shirt to the belt line. The shirt had no pocket. The team’s belt was light in color, most likely light tan or possibly yellow.
Dated April 1899. Another detail view of photo A. This detail view showed the rounded crown on the team’s red cap and the large oversized white button on the top of the cap.
Photo B
Dated April 1899. Another photo of the St. Louis team taken at their home ballpark, and most likely taken on the same day as photo A. All of the players that appeared in photo A also appeared in this photo. Player Heidrick, standing in foreground at left in photo above, was the only player in both images to wear his collar styled up. Year of photo determined by the appearance of players McKean, Cuppy and Blake, all of whom only played for St. Louis in 1899. Date of April 1899 for photo can be determined by the appearance of player Zimmer, who was transferred from the Cleveland team to St. Louis on March 29, 1899, along with the majority of players in this photo. However, the team owners “honored [Zimmer’s] request to remain in Cleveland” and by April 24, 1899, Zimmer had rejoined the Cleveland team.
Seven men standing on upper stairs, from left: J Powell (NL 99-01, AL 02, 03, 05-12), Z Wilson (StL 99, Cle NL 99), N Cuppy (99), F Bates (StL 99, Cle NL 99), J O’Connor (NL 99, 00, AL 04, 06, 07, 10), C Zimmer in back (dnp, Cle NL 99, Lou 99) and L Criger (NL 99, 00, AL 09, 12). Four men standing in foreground at left: C Young (99, 00), E Heidrick (NL 99-01, AL 02-04, 08), O Schrecongost in back (StL 99, Cle NL 99) and C Childs (99). Five men sitting in center: P Tebeau (99, 00), J Burkett (NL 99-01, AL 02-04), B Wallace (NL 99-01, 17, 18, AL 02-16), J Stenzel (StL 98, 99, Cin NL 99) and E McKean (99). Two men standing in foreground at right: H Blake (99) and C Jones (99-01). Player IDs based on photo A. Years players with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from the Library of Congress. Original photo by Julius C. Strauss, St. Louis.
Dated April 1899. Detail view of photo B. Detail view showed that the white pants of the home uniform had a line of red trim running down the pant seam. Note that the pants in the background had quilted padding.
Photo C
Dated December 9, 1899. This portrait of C Young (99, 00) was published on this date, full view at left, detail view at right. An 1899 photo date can be determined as this was the player’s first year with the team. Player wore the team’s gray road uniform in this photo. Detail view showed that the shirt had white buttons and small letters (most likely in red) arched across the chest. Player ID and image from the Sporting News supplement, December 9, 1899. Years Young with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Heritage Auctions.
Photo D
Dated August 4, 1900. This portrait of M Donlin (StL 99, 00, SC CL 99) was published on this date, full view at left, detail view at right. An 1899 photo date can be suggested as the player wore a shirt with the same style of lettering as shown in photo C. Detail view showed a cap with a rounded crown and segmental stitching, similar to the cap shown in photo A. Player ID and image from the Sporting News supplement, August 4, 1900. Years Donlin with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Heritage Auctions.
Photo E
Dated June 17, 1899. This portrait of B Wallace (NL 99-01, 17, 18, AL 02-16) was published on this date, full view at left, detail view at right. However this photo was not made in 1899 as the printed caption stated, and does not depict a St. Louis uniform. The image was made when Wallace played for Cleveland and was first published in 1898 by the National Copper Plate Company. Based on Wallace’s time with Cleveland, the image can dated between 1894 and 1898. The detail view at right showed that the shirt had a letter “C” on the right breast. Based on this it could be suggested the photo was made in 1897, the same year a newspaper reported that the Cleveland road uniform had a red “C” on the shirt. Years Wallace with team from <em>baseball-reference.com</em>.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1899: “Brown Stockings, so long identified with the St. Louis Club, will not be in evidence this season. The home suits of the club will be of white flannel, with crimson trimmings, stockings and caps. Thus it will hardly be possible to call them the Browns. The traveling suit will be gray, with crimson trimmings. […] Tebeau did not eliminate the brown stockings with malice aforethought, but he is not sorry that it turned out that way. He says that he does not desire any other name beyond that of ‘The St. Louis Club.’ ‘No Browns or Reds or Spiders or Indians for me,’ said the manager today.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, March 30, 1899. Research from Ed Morton.
April 1899: “President Robison said that the St. Louis club this season will be known simply as the St. Louis club and will not have the sobriquet of ‘Browns’ or any other name attached.” From Kansas City Journal, April 1, 1899. Research from Peter Reitan.
April 1899: “The new St. Louis team will not be known as the ‘Brown Stockings,’ a name given to the famous St. Louis team that represented the Mound City. […] President Frank De Hass Robison has decided to furnish the players with red stockings and caps, with white uniforms for home games and gray uniforms to be worn abroad.” From the New York Times, April 9, 1899. Research from Ed Morton.
April 1899: “Silk stockings will be worn by the St. Louis players this year. They will be white ones worn under the red hosiery to prevent blood poisoning in case a player is spiked and the color runs from the dyed stockings.” From the Buffalo Evening News, April 15, 1899.
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 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 16, 1899. Research from Peter Reitan, and from Don Stokes.
June 1899: “The St. Louis players have not changed their manners with their uniforms. The old Cleveland tactics are still resorted to by Tebeau.” From The Sporting Life, June 17, 1899.
June 23, 1899, St. Louis v. Philadelphia, at St. Louis: “The Phillies had little trouble in beating the Tebeauites in the opening game of the present series.” From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, June 24, 1899. A St. Louis team nickname derived from the name of the manager.
July 1899: “The red caps and red stockings of the St. Louis team make them very conspicuous on the field. They are no longer the Browns, although the name still adheres to any team representing St. Louis.” From Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 12, 1899. Research from Peter Reitan.
July 1899: “Those blue caps of the Pittsburg[h]s and the crimson headgear of the St. Louis certainly made for a nice contrast to the regulation affairs seen on visiting clubs [at Boston] in late years.” From The Sporting Life, July 29, 1899, written by the Boston correspondent.
1899: “Their perfect 7-0 start even earned [St. Louis] a new nickname – the ‘Perfectos.’ The ‘Browns’ was no longer appropriate, having switched from brown uniform trimmings to red, or ‘cardinal.’ The [Perfectos] name stuck with the team throughout the season for a variety of reasons, even after they started losing. […] They would not be known as the ‘Cardinals’ until the following season. […] The St. Louis Cardinals’ official franchise timeline […] attributes the first use of the name to sportswriter Willie McHale, of the St. Louis Republic who, purportedly, ‘heard a lady fan remark, What a lovely shade of cardinal.’ He used the new nickname in his column – and the rest is history. It’s a cute story, but doesn’t hold up under scrutiny. No one (as far as I can tell, and I’ve looked as hard as anyone, in all likelihood) has been able to dig up any examples of the [Cardinals] name in print from 1899. And, in any case, the apparent source of the story places the events in the following year, during the 1900 season, not in 1899.” From Peter Reitan, Early Sports and Pop Culture History Blog: Sunday Baseball and the Cleveland Spiders – How the St. Louis Browns Became the Cardinals, published January 7, 2019, and retrieved March 28, 2021.
1899: “Owner Chris von der Ahe changed his team’s uniforms around in his zest for more color—the new garments featured red trim and red-striped stockings. The new uniforms brought new nicknames–Cardinals or Redbirds.” From Harvey Frommer, Old Time Baseball: America’s Pastime in the Gilded Age (2016). Note that newspaper reports from 1899 do not mention the team wearing striped stockings. In an email to Threads, St. Louis researcher Gary Kodner further remarks that “in 1899 the club was under the ownership of Stanley and Frank Robison [not von der Ahe] who brought their better players from the Cleveland Spiders to St. Louis, changed their name from the Browns to the Perfectos, and changed the colors from brown to ‘Cardinal’ red. This would lead to a name change in 1900 to Cardinals.”
Team genealogy: St. Louis 1882-
St. Louis joined the American Association (AA) in 1882. The AA was a major league operating between 1882 and 1891 and St. Louis played in the AA in every year of the league’s existence. The team moved to the National League (NL) for the 1892 season. The NL began operation in 1876 and St. Louis has played in the NL every year since 1892. Information from wikipedia.
1899 St. Louis summary
Uniform: home – white, red cap and stockings
First worn:
Photographed: April
Described: March, April
Material: flannel
Manufacturer:
Supposition:
Variations:
Other items:
Opening Day report: yes, April 15 v. Cleveland
Uniform: road – light gray, red cap and stockings
First worn:
Photographed:
Described: March, April, July
Material:
Manufacturer:
Supposition:
Variations:
Other items:
Rendering posted: March 28, 2021
Diggers on this uniform: Don Stokes, Ed Morton, Gary Kodner, Peter Reitan,