1865 Knickerbocker, New York (Knickerbockers, Knicks)

This rendering is 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 rendering.

Rendering accuracy:

Year: unconfirmed    Team: documented

Visual documentation on this uniform:

Dated Nov 4, 1865. Detail of J Davis (<57-60, 65, 68) at left, full engraving at right. Printed in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper. It is likely some players were drawn from photographs taken in the early 1860s or late 1850s and therefore uniforms depicted may not reflect the year 1865. Years player with team from Marshall D. Wright, The National Association Of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870 (2000).

Written documentation on this uniform:
1849-1866: “On April 24, 1849, a uniform was adopted for the club: blue woolen pantaloons, white flannel shirt, chip (straw) hats; and it may here be mentioned that the blue and white has ever since remained the costume of the club. The straw hats were abolished some years later….On the 13th of August, 1855, the uniform of the club was again regulated. Blue woolen pants, white flannel shirt, with narrow blue braid, mohair cap, and belt of patent leather. With the exception of a change of cap, the uniform has ever since remained.” From Charles A. Peverelly, The Book Of American Pastimes (1866).

Team genealogy: Knickerbocker, New York, 1845-late 1860s.
Knickerbocker was formed in New York, NY, in 1845. The term Knickerbocker was a Dutch surname that symbolized New York’s ancestry and Dutch origin. The club published a well-known set of game rules in 1845 which helped to codify the New York-style game. Knickerbocker was one of 16 charter members of the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP) in 1857. The NABBP was baseball’s first organization, operating 1857-1870. The Knickerbocker club ceased to play games competitively in the late 1860s. Afterward, the Knickerbocker name has been used by many New York sports teams, including the NBA franchise, which took the name in 1946. Information from John Thorn, William Ryczek, Peter Morris and others, Base Ball Founders (2103), and from wikipedia.