1899 Buffalo (Buffalos, Bisons, Pan-Ams)
Left: This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style and written documentation for color. Some 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 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 these uniforms:
Photo A
Dated April 23, 1899. This image was published in a Buffalo newspaper on this day. The team was most likely photographed at their home grounds, Olympic Park, and in front of the wooden backstop behind home plate. Buffalo started the 1899 season on the road on April 27, 1899. Their first home game was May 8, 1899. Year of photo confirmed by the appearance of players Daub, M McQuaid, White, Massey and Nash, all of whom only played for Buffalo in 1899. An early 1899 date can be further confirmed by Nash, who was the team’s manager and middle infielder. Nash injured his arm in a game in late April 1899, limiting his ability to play, and then “after a tough loss to Detroit on May 12” he was fired as manager by the team’s owner. Players wore a dark uniform in this photo with dark stockings and white lettering on the shirts. The caps had a rounded crown and were dark in color with thin white vertical ribbing. The pants also had white trim along the pant seam. A newspaper in May 1899 described this Buffalo uniform as “all black with white lettering.” Note that the player sitting on the ground in front wore the team sweater which featured a letter “B” on the left sleeve and also white trim at the neckline and at the end of the sleeves. He also wore white pants, not black pants. He and another player also sitting in the front wore stockings of a mid-tone color, not black stockings.
Top row, from left: D Daub (99), G Lee (dnp, Woo CL 99, Bin NYSL 99, Aub NYSL 99), M McQuaid (Buf 99, Wor EL 99), J Garry (98-00), W Diggins (98, 99), D Amole 98-03 and J White (Buf 99, Col WL 99). Front: E Householder (Buf 98, 99, Roc EL 99), E Gremminger (96-99), B Massey (Buf 99, Har EL 99), J Nelson (dnp, Cor NYSL 99), J Doscher (dnp) and B Nash (Buf 99, Har EL 99). Player IDs and image from the Buffalo Sunday Morning News, April 23, 1899. Identity of M McQuaid from Carson Lorey. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Dates of first games from The Sporting Life, April 1, 1899. Info on Nash hurting arm from The Sporting Life, April 29, 1899. Info on Nash firing from Joseph M. and James H. Overfield, The Seasons of Buffalo Baseball 1857-2020 (2020). Image scan from Peter Reitan.
Date April 23, 1899. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed white trim along the seams of the cap, and also on the seam of the pant leg.
Photo B
Dated 1899. View of Olympic Park, the Buffalo ball ground and stands. This image was part of a larger montage showing all eight Western League ballparks and where each view was taken from a center field vantage point. The caption (not shown) stated that this photo was taken in Buffalo during a game against Detroit. Detroit played at Buffalo May 10-14, July 3-4 and August 12-13, 1899. It is possible that the Buffalo team was wearing their black uniforms in this photo as they played the field. Note the light-colored wooden backstop behind home plate, possibly the same background used for photo A. Detroit game dates from The Sporting Life, April 1, 1899. Image from John Thorn, Our Game, published November 18, 2019, and retrieved April 30, 2021.
Photo C
Dated 1899, possibly May 29 or May 30, 1899. Year of photo determined by the appearance of players Hausen, Bresnahan, Massey, Hall, White and Hallman, all of whom only played for Buffalo in 1899. Date range of May 29 or May 30, 1899, can be suggested by the appearance of players Bresnahan, Massey and Householder in combination with the likelihood that this photo was taken when the team first played at Kansas City on these dates. Bresnahan, Massey and Householder were released by the team before the team’s next visit to Kansas City in July 1899. Kansas City superintendent Charles Meyer organized photos of visiting Western League teams to be taken on the field in Kansas City during the 1898, 1899 and 1900 seasons. The photographer of these images was not credited and many of the photos included the mark of “Meyer” and “K.C. Mo.” in the bottom corner. Though the photo above did not include Meyer’s mark, the composition of the players and the white backdrop used behind the men was very similar to Meyer’s other photos from this period. It is likely that Meyer arranged for two photographs of the Buffalo team, the first shown above taken on May 29 or 30, 1899, and the second taken on July 8-10, 1899, see photo D. Players wore a light gray uniform in this photo, with dark lettering on the shirt and dark stockings. The pillbox-style cap was white in color with two horizontal bands and a visor in a mid-tone color. The man sitting in the center of the foreground was one of the team’s pitchers. He was dressed in street clothes, possibly indicating he had recently pitched and was not available to play the day this image was made.
Top row, from left: C Gray (Buf 96-02, Pit NL 99), H Hausen (Buf 99, Ott WA 99), J Garry (98-00) and W Diggins (98, 99). Middle: R Bresnahan (Buf 99, Min WL 99), B Massey (Buf 99, Har EL 99), unidentified, R Hall (Buf 99, Col WL 99) and E Householder (Buf 98, 99, Roc EL 99). Front: J White (Buf 99, Col WL 99), E Gremminger (96-99), (D Amole 98-03) and B Hallman (Buf 99, Mil WL 99). Player IDs based on photo D and on baseball-reference.com. Gray ID based on his 1897 Buffalo portrait. Additional input on player IDs from Carson Lorey, Ken Samoil and Nigel Ayres. Years players with team from baseball-reference.com. Bresnahan release info from The Sporting Life, July 8, 1899. Householder and Massey release info from The Sporting Life, July 15, 1899. Info on Charles Meyer from the Kansas City Times, October 13, 1898, with research from Ed Morton. Based on boxscores from the series in Kansas City on May 29 and 30, the unidentified player sitting in the middle could be one of the following: F Eustace, M McVicker, P McCauley, J Brown, D Daub or D Shannon, the team’s manager. However photo references for these players do not match the unidentified player in the photo. The team also signed and released many players during the season and the unidentified player could be a player who did not play in the Kansas City series. Image scan from the Detroit Public Library, Ernie Harwell Collection.
Dated 1899, possibly May 29 or May 30, 1899. Detail view of photo C. Detail view showed the team’s light gray uniform with dark-colored lettering extending to the armpits. The collared shirt did not have a pocket. The cap was white in color with tow horizontal bands and a visor in a mid-tone color.
Photo D
Dated 1899, possibly July 8-10 1899. Year of photo determined by the appearance of players Dillon, Hausen, Hallman, McVicker, Brown, Hall, White and Gilligan, all of whom only played for Buffalo in 1899. Date range of July 8-10, 1899, can be suggested by the appearance of players Dillon, Kearns and R Brown in combination with player White and with the likelihood that this photo was taken when the team played at Kansas City on these dates. Dillon, Kearns, and R Brown all had been signed by Buffalo after the team’s first visit to Kansas City in late May 1899. White was released in mid-August 1899 and before the team’s last visit to Kansas City on August 27-28. Kansas City superintendent Charles Meyer organized photos of visiting Western League teams to be taken on the field in Kansas City during the 1898, 1899 and 1900 seasons. The photo above has the mark of “Meyer” and “K.C. Mo.” in white lettering on the left side of the image, though hard to discern. The photographer of these images was not credited. It is likely that Meyer arranged for two photographs of the Buffalo team, the first taken on May 29 or 30, 1899, see photo C, and the second taken on July 8-10, 1899. Players wore the same light gray uniform that they wore in photo C.
Top row, from left: P Dillon (Buf 99, Pit NL 99, Scr AtL 99), H Hausen (Buf 99, Ott WA 99), B Hallman (Buf 99, Mil WL 99), A Kearns (Buf 99, 00, StT CaL 99), M McVicker (Buf 99, KC WL 99) and R Brown (Buf 99, Ott WA 99). Middle: W Diggins (98, 99), J Garry (98-00), E Gremminger (96-99), R Hall (Buf 99, Col WL 99) and J White (Buf 99, Col WL 99). Front: (J Franklin, sec), (D Amole 98-03) and (E Gilligan Buf 99, Aus TxL 99). Player IDs from photo. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Player Kearns was listed as such, or as Kerns, in contemporary box scores and on the photo mount, but listed as Kern in baseball-reference.com. The person in street clothes sitting at far left was Joe Franklin, son of owner Jim Franklin. Franklin info from Joseph M. and James H. Overfield, The Seasons of Buffalo Baseball 1857-2020 (2020). The other two men in front wearing street clothes were players (a pitcher and a shortstop) who were possibly unavailable to play the day this photo was taken. Dillon signing info from The Sporting Life, July 15, 1899. Kearns and R Brown signing info from The Sporting Life, July 8, 1899. White release info from The Sporting Life, August 26, 1899. Info on Charles Meyer from the Kansas City Times, October 13, 1898, with research from Ed Morton. Image scan from the Detroit Public Library, Ernie Harwell Collection, and later enhanced to improve image quality.
Dated 1899, possibly July 8-10 1899. Detail view of photo D. Detail view showed a uniform exactly the same as the uniform worn in photo C. The two photos were taken about five weeks apart.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
April 1899: “Manager Nash is devoting some time to the selection of a uniform, assisted by Mr. Franklin. He rather favors one of which shirts and trousers will be blue, with maroon trimmings and maroon stockings. A ‘Chicago cap’ of blue with a band of peculiar cord will complete the outfit. It is not settled that his uniform will be chosen. For a while at least the Bisons will wear their ‘old clothes.’ These will be hauled out of the moth farm at Mr. Franklin’s house within a day or so, and hung on a line to air. A uniform of Confederate gray with red stockings has also received consideration, but is not favored by Manager Nash. This is somewhat surprising, as he is supposed to come of as F.F.V. [i.e., First Families of Virginia], his birthplace having been Richmond, the capitol of the Southern Confederacy.” From the Buffalo Express, April 5, 1899. Research from Ed Morton.
April 1899: “[Buffalo Manager] Nash said that he would not try to work his men in a local gymnasium, as was suggested to him [while his team was in Rochester], as he is not a believer in indoor work. Neither will he run his men through the rain, owing to not having enough sets of uniforms.” From the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, April 12, 1899.
April 19, 1899, Buffalo v. Syracuse (EL), at Syracuse, Star Park, exhibition game: “The Buffalo team did not arrive at the park until 3:30, having remained at their hotel for milk baths and after dinner naps. They stalked upon the field clad in spic and span new uniforms of brown and looking ‘just too lovely for anything.’ Radiant in red raiment Umpire Malarkey stepped to the center of the diamond and called time.” From the Buffalo Times, April 20, 1899.
April 1899: “The Buffalos have been dubbed the ‘Pajamas’ by the Western Press.” From The Sporting Life, April 29, 1899. This may be an editorial comment on the black uniforms worn by the team.
May 1899: “The Buffalos uniforms, all black with white lettering, are the prettiest in the Western League.” From The Sporting Life, May 6, 1899. Research from Chuck McGill.
May 1899: “Manager Billy Nash and his ball players […] will open the season at Olympic Park this afternoon with the Indianapolis club, which the Pan-Ams beat four straight games in their home town at the beginning of the Western League season.” From the Buffalo Evening News, May 8, 1899. The Pan-Am nickname for the team derived from the Pan-American Exposition that was to be held in Buffalo in 1901.
Team genealogy: Buffalo 1891-1900
Buffalo was a team formed to join the Eastern Association/League (EL) in 1891. The EL operated between 1891 and 1911, and became the International League in 1912. Buffalo played in the EL between 1891 and 1898 and transferred to the Western League (WL) in 1899. The reorganized WL operated between 1894 and 1899 and reformed again as the American League (AL) in 1900. Buffalo played in the WL in 1899 and in the AL in 1900. The team was then dropped when the AL declared major-league status in 1901 and awarded the franchise to Boston. EL information from Bill O’Neal, The International League (1992). WL information from wikipedia.com.
Rendering posted: May 1, 2021
Diggers on this uniform: Carson Lorey, Chuck McGill, Ed Morton, John Thorn, Ken Samoil, Nigel Ayres, Peter Reitan,