1877 Chicago (Chicagos, White Stockings)

This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style and color, and additional 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

Undated. Possibly from late 1876 or from 1877. Chicago won the National League championship in 1876, 1880-82, 1885-86. Illustration shows colored caps with white bands. Championship info from wikipedia.

Photo B

Dated 1877 and confirmed by appearance of players Bradley and Waitt. Two detail views at right show cap, belt and shoes. Player portraits, clockwise from top: R Barnes (76, 77), J Peters (NA 74, 75, NL 76, 77, 79), C Anson (76-97), G Bradley (77), C Waitt (77), P Hines (NA 74, 75, NL 76, 77), C McVey (76, 77) and J Glenn (NA 74, 75, NL 76, 77). Center: A Spalding (76, 77). Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Note, image of cap differs from those shown in photo A.

Photo C

Dated 1877. Date confirmed by appearance of players Bradley and Waitt. Full view of collage at left, detail view at right. Player portraits, clockwise from top: C McVey (76, 77), R Barnes (76,77), G Bradley (77), C Waitt (77), P Hines (NA 74, 75, NL 76, 77), J Peters (NA 74,75, NL 76, 77, 79), C Anson (76-97) and J Glenn (NA 74, 75, NL 76, 77). Center: A Spalding (76, 77). Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Note that Chicago won the league championship in 1876 and were therefore deemed champions during the 1877 season. They did not win the championship in 1877. It is likely the red-clad baseball figures in this portrait collage were generic representations of uniforms and not specific to the Chicago team.

Photo D

Dated 1878, possibly based on a photograph from 1876 or 1877. Cover of Spalding’s Base Ball Guide 1878, published at the start of the 1878 season. The player depicted on the cover was most likely Albert Spalding and based on a photograph taken in 1876 or 1877. It is also possible this was a depiction of a Chicago uniform. The pose of the player was also similar to that illustrated in photo A.

Written documentation on this uniform:
January 1877, National League rules of 1877 regarding uniforms: “We […] hereby notify all players now under contract, or that may hereafter contract with either club subscribing hereto, that each player must pay thirty dollars ($30) for the uniform furnished him by the club for the season of 1877, and must, at his own expense, keep the same clean and in good repair.” From the New York Clipper, January 27, 1877. This agreement of “Special League Rules” was signed by officers of the Chicago, Cincinnati, Louisville, Boston, Hartford and St. Louis teams.

April 1877: “This is the season of busy preparation in base ball circles. An excellent evidence of the general interest felt everywhere in the game is gleaned by visiting the Base-Ball Emporium of Messrs. A. G. Spalding & Brother, No. 118 Randolph Street [in Chicago]. This firm has been hard at work for the past month making uniforms for some of the foremost clubs of the country — the Cincinnatis, Louisvilles, Chicagos, Stars of Syracuse, Milwaukees and St. Pauls, as well as the Acmes, Dreadnaughts, and other local amateur organizations.” From the Chicago Tribune, April 15, 1877.

April 1877, home opener v. Fairbank of Chicago (League Alliance): “The White Stockings were pleasantly received with a round of applause as they made their appearance. The idea of party-colored caps having been adhered to [from the previous year], it was necessary to make some changes to meet the difference in the team. Barnes, Spalding, and Hines retained their colors, and the other six showed up as follows: Anson, gray; McVey, red and white; Peters, red; Bradley, blue and white; Glenn, black and white; Waite, purple and white. It seems necessary to suggest  to the management that Waitt’s color is impossible to  be distinguished from Glenn’s, and hardly from Bradley’s at a little distance. Let us have back the green if we can’t do any better.” From the Chicago Daily Tribune, April 22, 1877. Research from Don Stokes.

April 1877: “The Chicagos will retain their color-caps this year. Anson wears gray, McVey red and white, Peters red, Bradley blue and white, Glenn black and shite, Waite purple and white, Barnes orange and black, Spalding blue and Hines yellow.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, April 30, 1877. Research from Don Stokes.

May 8, 1877, Chicago v. Hartford of Brooklyn, at Chicago, home opener: “At the bat both clubs showed up to good advantage, with the white-hosed champions slightly in the lead.” From the Chicago Inter Ocean, May 9, 1877. This report also noted a few of the cap colors worn by Chicago: Peters, red; and Anson, gray.

May 1877: “The White Stockings players are served notice that the audience have admired their new white coats. They are no part of a player’s field uniform however, and look wonderfully out of place buttoned around a player as he goes to bat or takes his position in the field.” From the Chicago Daily Tribune, May 11, 1877. Research from Don Stokes.

1877, recounted in 1882: “[In 1882] the superstitious White Stockings appeared for the game […] wearing the old tri-colored caps of the year 1876. They had discarded these caps for 1877 and did not wear them again until 1880 when they won their second League championship. With the caps they repeated in 1881.” From Preston D. Orem, Baseball 1882-1891 From The Newspaper Accounts (1966, 1967, reprinted by SABR in 2021), pg. 44.

Team genealogy: Chicago 1874-
Chicago reformed after the Great Fire of October 1871 and rejoined the National Association (NA) in 1874 and 1875 after a two-year absence. The NA was baseball’s first league, operating 1871-1875. Chicago joined the National League (NL) at its formation in 1876 and the team has played in the NL every year since 1876. Information from Paul Batesel, Players and Teams of the National Association, 1871-1875, from baseball-reference.com, and from wikipedia.

1877 Chicago summary

Uniform: white, white stockings and parti-colored caps
First worn:
Photographed: during year, unspecified
Described: April – May
Material:
Manufacturer: Spalding & Bros., Chicago
Supposition:
Variations:
Other items: white coats
Home opener report: yes, May 8 v. Hartford