1888 Cincinnati (Cincinnatis, Red Stockings, Reds)
Three renderings at left: 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
Far right grouping: These renderings are based on written documentation for uniform style and color. No visual documentation is known and an artist’s conceptualization is used to create the renderings.
Rendering accuracy:
Year: documented Team: documented
Visual documentation on these uniforms:
Photos A & B
Dated 1888. Old Judge baseball cards of L Viau (88, 89) and J O’Connor (87, 88). Photo background may be the same, confirming date of 1888, the only year both players were on the Cincinnati team at the same time. Players were photographed wearing a white uniform and cap, with red lettering across the shirt, and a red belt and stockings. Note quilted padding on knee and hip in O’Connor photo. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo C
Dated 1888. Old Judge baseball card of J Reilly (AA 83-89, NL 80, 90, 91) and H Nicol (AA 87-89, NL 90). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date may be confirmed by similarity in background compared to photos A and B. Detail view at right shows uniform padding at knee and hip. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo D
Dated 1888. Old Judge baseball card of M Smith (AA 86-89, NL 99-00). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date may be confirmed by similarity in background compared to photos A thru C. Detail view at right shows lettering across chest and subtle bands on cap. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo E
Dated 1888. Photo year confirmed by appearance of players Corkhill, Serad, Kappel and Fennelly in combination with player Viau. The team was dressed in navy blue uniforms for this photo. Uniform color was described by newspaper accounts from this year as navy blue with red stockings and belts, see written documentation below.
Top row, from left: P Corkhill (83-88, Bro 88), G Tebeau (87-89), B Hart (Buf 88), B McPhee (AA 82-89, NL 90-99), B Serad (87, 88) and H Kappel (87, 88). Middle, seated: T Mullane (AA 86-89, NL 90-93), J Reilly (AA 83-89, NL 80, 90, 91), (G Schmelz, mgr 87-89), (A Stern, pres), (L Hauk, sec), J Keenan (AA 85-89, NL 90, 91) and L Viau (88, 89). Front, on ground: M Smith (AA 86-89, NL 99-00), F Fennelly (84-88, Ath 88) and H Nicol (AA 87-89, NL 90). Player IDs from photo. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Photo scan from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee.
Dated 1888. Detail view of photo E. Detail view shows button placket, shirt pocket and city name across chest.
Dated 1888. Detail view of photo E. Detail view shows quilted padding at the knees and a pill-box cap with subtle horizontal bands and a white braid.
Photo F
Dated 1888. Two versions of photo F. Photo date confirmed by appearance of players Corkhill, O’Connor and Fennelly in combination with player Viau. Team was wearing same dark uniform as shown in photo E. Two players wore a short-sleeved version of the uniform.
Top row, from left: J Keenan (AA 85-89, NL 90, 91), H Carpenter (80, 82-89), P Corkhill (83-88, Bro 88), (Mullane, AA 86-89, NL 90-93), M Smith (AA 86-89, NL 99-00), and J O’Connor (87, 88). Front row: J Reilly (AA 83-89, NL 80, 90, 91), B McPhee (AA 82-89, NL 90-99), H Nicol (AA 87-89, NL 90), F Fennelly (84-88, Ath 88) and L Viau (88, 89). Player IDs from photo. O’Connor misidentified as Connor. Photo scan from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee. Original photo by Joseph Hall, Brooklyn.
Dated 1888. Detail view of photo F.
Photo G
Dated 1888. Old Judge baseball card of K Baldwin (AA 85-89, NL 90). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date may be confirmed by similarity in background compared to photos A thru D. Player wore a tight-fitting uniform in this photo, including a short-sleeved shirt and cap both in a middle-tone color. The belt and pants were white. The stockings were dark in color, presumably red. The uniform in this photo appears to match a written account of the special “parti-colored” uniforms of 1888. Baldwin’s shirt and cap were described as blue, with white collar and cuffs. Other players wore different combinations of stripes and solids this year in tribute to the 1882 Cincinnati championship team and also the Cincinnati city centennial. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
December 1887: “The Reds will wear uniforms next season similar to those in which they won the first American Association pennant in 1882. President Stern went to Chicago last night to order them. Two of the outfielders will wear shirts and caps of solid colors, and all will don white pants and red stockings. ‘Little Nic’s’ colors will be blue, Tebeau’s orange [and] white, Corkhill’s black and white, Reilly’s blue and black, McPhee’s blue and white, Carpenter’s red and white, Fennelly’s a delicate wine tint, Mullane’s red and black and Baldwin’s orange and black. Those for the other players have not been decided upon. All will be quilted.” From The Sporting Life, December 21, 1887. Research from Tom Shieber. The shirt colors denoted here do not exactly match later reports. Later reports also describe the pants as tight-fitting cloth suggesting the uniform not did not include quilted padding.
December 1887: “The Cincinnati Club’s team for the 1888 season will be uniquely uniformed. Fennely will wear a maroon shirt, with cap to match; Reilly, a shirt with blue and black stripes; McPhee’s colors will be blue and white; Carpenter’s red and white; Tebeau, orange; Corkhill, black and red; Nicoll, sky blue; Mullane, red and black, Baldwin, orange and black; Smith, white; Keenan, pearl; Viau, cardinal, and Hart, maroon. The uniform to be worn by the club away from home will be navy blue, similar to that worn by the champion Browns last season [1887].” From the New York Sun, December 29, 1887. Research from Oliver Kodner.
March 1888: “The Cincinnatis will have one uniform similar to that worn by the championship team in 1882. Every member of the team will wear different-colored shirt and cap, and will thus be easily distinguished by patrons by reason of their colors. They will retain the white pants and red stockings worn last season. These uniforms were secured at considerable cost and trouble.” From The St. Paul Globe, March 25, 1888. Research from Don Stokes.
March 1888: “This season the [Cincinnati] club will have a uniform that is entirely different […] neat navy blue, with red cap, belt and stockings. Another uniform, to be worn by the club, especially during the [Cincinnati] Centennial period, are parti-colored suits similar to those worn by the championship team in 1882. Every member of the team will wear a different colored shirt and cap, and by this means can be easily distinguished upon the field. The club will still retain the old uniform of pure white with red trimmings. The navy blue will be worn principally in the club’s games away from home. The entire outfit cost[s] in the neighborhood of $700.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 26, 1888, citing the Cincinnati Commercial. Research from Gary and Oliver Kodner. Note, it is unproven if red caps were worn with the blue uniform as mentioned in this report. The Cincinnati Centennial commemorated the city’s first settlement in 1788. A contemporary poster from 1888 stated that the city’s Centennial Exposition ran from July 4 to October 27. Cincinnati was incorporated as a city in 1819.
April 1888: “The Cincinnati association team, with three different uniforms, are well equipped for the coming season. The parti-colored uniforms about which so much has been written have been on exhibition for over a week, and have been greatly admired by thousands. In addition to this make-up, the Cincinnatis have a solid white uniform, with red belts and stockings. They also have a uniform made of navy blue shirts and pants, with red stockings and belts. The parti-colored shirts are made of Jersey cloth, and the Reds will have to pull them on in the same manner that a snowman does his tights. They are very close-fitting and snug, and the players will not be handicapped by ill-fitting garments. It was next to impossible to get all sixteen suits in different patterns, and in one or two instances duplicates occur. No trouble on this score, as the management had so arranged that the two players having the same kind of uniform will rarely play in the same game. All five of the pitchers are equipped with the same-colored shirt. They are white with red collars and cuffs. The shirts, with one or two exceptions, are of striped material, made very distinct. Here is a list of the colors: Keenan, blue and black stripes. Baldwin, blue, with white collar and cuffs. Reilly, red and white stripes. McPhee, black and old gold stripes. Carpenter, red and black stripes. Fennelly, solid maroon, with white collar and cuffs. Tebeau, black and blue stripes. Corkhill, blue and white stripes. Nicol, black and white stripes. Kappell, black and red stripes. O’Connor, orange and blue stripes. The caps in every instance correspond with the color of the shirt worn by the player.” From the St. Paul Globe, April 8, 1888. Research from Don Stokes.
May 4, 1888, Cincinnati v. Kansas City at Cincinnati: “In their new parti-colored uniforms the Reds resemble a company of acrobats. Twenty-six hundred people saw them parade out on the field in their gorgeous garments on the 4th to the music of the Boccaccio March played by the Cincinnati Orchestra. Their jersey pants fit closely to their forms, and they are doubtless the best dressed ball team in the land. The shirts and caps are alike, and their stockings red, of course. The colors of Nicol are black and white stripes, McPhee wears orange and black, the same combination allotted to him in ’82 when the Reds won the first association pennant. Carpenter wears Danny Stearns’ old colors, red and black, and Fennelly’s is solid maroon; Reilly’s red and white. Corkhill’s blue and white. Tebeau’s black and blue, and Keenan’s brown and blue. The pitchers wear white shirts with maroon striped collars and cuffs. The Reds can certainly ‘star’ through the country ‘on their uniforms.’” From the New York, Clipper, May 12, 1888. This report describes Keenan’s uniform as brown and black, not blue and black as reported earlier, see April entry above.
May 29, 1888, Cincinnati v. Baltimore, at Baltimore, Huntingdon grounds: “In his new uniform of red and white stripes, Long John Reilly [of Cincinnati] looks like an elongated stick of peppermint candy. Of all the ugly base-ball uniforms the new uniform of the Cincinnati Club is the ugliest.” From the Baltimore Sun, May 30, 1888. Research from Dan Linnenberg.
1888: “Cincinnati had again become very fancy in its garb. All uniforms were quilted and included shirts, which were tight fitting jerseys. Mostly lateral stripes, no two being alike. One or two were in solid colors. The cap matched the jerseys in color. The entire suit also included skin-tight pantaloons. […] The suits could have been more harmonious but the management was not willing to sacrifice the time honored red stockings. With his red and white stripes the elongated John Reilly looked like a stick of peppermint candy. Nichol was outfit in blue, Tebeau in red and white, Corkhill in black and white, McPhee in blue and white, Carpenter in red and white, Fennelly in a delicate wine tint, Baldwin in orange and black, Mullane in red and black. Apparently Reilly swapped with Carpenter, who assumed his original blue and black combination.” From Preston D. Orem, Baseball 1882-1891 From The Newspaper Accounts (1966, 1967, reprinted by SABR in 2021), pg. 346.
May 1888: “Will Harry Weldon ever get time to talk about anything else but the parti-colored uniforms of the Cincinnati club?” From the New York National Police Gazette, May 26, 1888. Weldon was a pioneer among baseball writers and editors in Cincinnati. Weldon info from Norman Macht, as posted to baseballhistory.com.
June 6, 1888, Cincinnati v. Athletic, Philadelphia, at Philadelphia: “The Cincinnati team appeared in many colors yesterday [June 6]. All the men wore dark blue knee breeches and red stockings, but the shirts and caps were of different colored stripes.” From the Philadelphia Record, June 7, 1888. Research from Ed Morton. This report tells us that the parti-colored shirts and caps were not only worn at home by the Cincinnati team, but also at times they were worn on the road in combination with the blue road pants. As the Cincinnati series started in Philadelphia on June 4, this report may also suggested that Reds wore their all-blue road uniform on June 4 and 5. Both games resulted in losses for Cincinnati and it was possible the team wore their parti-colored shirts on June 6 to change their luck.
June 23, 1888, Cincinnati v. Louisville, at Louisville, Eclipse Park: “Never was such a spectacle as the Cincinnati Base Ball Club seen on the diamond. Reilly and his crowd wore variegated ‘uniforms’ which belied the name, as no two of them were alike. Long John Reilly wore a gaudy undershirt of black and white stripes and when he first came on the grounds the spectators looked about for the blue suit and brass buttons of the penitentiary guard. Tough ‘Kid’ Baldwin was gaudy in a sky-blue shirt, with old gold collar and cuffs, and fancy embroidery on the sides of his trousers. […] The Louisville players seemed to delight in making the Cincinnatis slide in the mud and hug the bases and at the end of the game one player could not be distinguished from another by his garments.” From the Louisville Courier-Journal, June 24, 1888. Research from Jerry Sudduth.
1888: “Cincinnati [of the American Association] thought base running must be weaker in the [National] League as New York and Chicago still wore skin-tight uniforms, now abandoned by the Reds. A player could not slide in them without leaving big patches of cuticle around the lot.” From Preston D. Orem, Baseball 1882-1891 From The Newspaper Accounts (1966, 1967, reprinted by SABR in 2021), pg. 352.
1888: “From the St. Louis Republican—The [American] association clubs should follow the example of the [National] league and have uniforms made to fit the players. The Browns, Brooklyn and Cincinnati are the only teams whose uniforms approach a fit.” From the Buffalo Courier, December 30, 1888.
Team genealogy:
Cincinnati 1881-
Cincinnati was formed in 1881 to join the American Association (AA) for its inaugural season in 1882. The AA was a major league operating between 1882 and 1891. Cincinnati played in the AA throughout the 1880s and then joined the National League (NL) for the 1890 season. The NL began operation in 1876. Cincinnati has played every year in the NL from 1890 to present time. Information from wikipedia.
Rendering posted: March 26, 2016
Diggers on this uniform: Don Stokes, Gary Kodner, Jerry Sudduth, Mark Fimoff, Oliver Kodner, Tom Shieber,