1866 Athletic, Philadelphia (Athletics)

This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style and color. Minor details may 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 this uniform:

Photo A

Dated 1866, detail view at right. Photo date based on appearance of players Pike and Dockney. These men only played for Athletic in 1866. Players wore a white shirt with a dark-colored letter A on the front.

Players in collage, clockwise from top: H Hayhurst (64-69), D Kleinfeldler (<63-68), W Fisler (66-76), L Pike (66), Dockney (66), T Pratt (<63, 69-71), A Reach (65-75), N Berkenstock (<63-66). Center: D McBride (61-75). Years with team from Marshall D. Wright, The National Association Of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870 (2000), Paul Batesel, Players And Teams Of The National Association, 1871-1875 (2012), and wikipedia. Photo courtesy of Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-Century Pictorial Committee.

Photo B

Dated October 22, 1866. This depiction of a game between Athletic, Philadelphia and Atlantic, Brooklyn at Philadelphia was printed in 1867. Athletic players were shown wearing a white shirt with the letter A in light blue centered on a bib front. The pants were light blue and the caps were white with a dark visor and a light blue star on top.

Athletic players are identified by numbers in the illustration: 1- D Kleinfeldler (<63-68), 2- D McBride (61-75), 3- A Reach (65-75), 4- I Wilkins (61-68), 5- C Gaskill (<63-66), 6- P Dockney (66), 7- J Sensenderfer (66-74), 8- W Fisler (66-76) and 9- L Pike (66). Years with team from Marshall D. Wright, The National Association Of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870 (2000), Paul Batesel, Players And Teams Of The National Association, 1871-1875 (2012), baseball-reference.com and wikipedia. Original artwork by John L. Magee.

Dated October 22, 1866. Detail views of photo B. Detail view shows that the pants had a white and red stripe running down the seam and that the pants were tied tight at the ankles. Image detail views from Tom Shieber.

Photo C

Dated November 3, 1866. Date determined by fact that this illustration was published on this date. Players were depicted wearing a uniform very similar to that shown in photo B.

From left: J Sensenderfer? (66-74), D Kleinfeldler (<63-68), L Pike (66), W Fisler (66-76), N Berkenstock (<63-66), D McBride (61-75), A Reach (65-75), P Dockney (66), H Hayhurst (64-69). Years with team from Marshall D. Wright, The National Association Of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870 (2000), Paul Batesel, Players And Teams Of The National Association, 1871-1875 (2012), and wikipedia. Image scan from Harper’s Weekly, November 3, 1866.

Written documentation on this uniform:
1866: “Caps white, trimmed with blue, blue star in middle of crown. Shirts white flannel trimmed in blue, letter ‘A’ (German text) in blue on breast. Pants blue cloth, white cord down outer seam. Belts white and blue with German-silver clasps in front and word ‘Athletic’ in blue letters on white morocco in center back.” From Charles A. Peverelly, The Book Of American Pastimes (1866). Research from Tom Shieber.

October 1, 1866, Athletic, Philadelphia v. Atlantic, Brooklyn, at Philadelphia: “The two clubs appeared on the ground in their full strength, the Athletics dressed in blue pants, white shirts and caps. Both nines looked remarkably well.” From the Chicago Tribune, October 5, 1866, with correspondence from the Philadelphia Press, October 3.

October 1, 1866, Athletic, Philadelphia v. Atlantic, Brooklyn, at Philadelphia: “Athletics uniformed in blue zouave trousers, white shirts and blue caps.” From Preston D. Orem, Baseball 1845-1881, From Newspaper Accounts (1961), undocumented reference. Note, Orem’s sentence is actually reverse from this and it is possible he switched the description of the Athletic and Atlantic uniforms in error. A contemporary account of this game stated Athletic wore white caps, see written entry above.

October 15, 1866, Athletic, Philadelphia, v. Atlantic, Brooklyn, at Brooklyn: “The Atlantics attired in light blue or gray pants, white flannel shirts and red caps, presented a very fine appearance. The Athletics, dressed in dark blue pants, white flannel shirts and white caps, had their usual players.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 16, 1866.

Team genealogy: Athletic, Philadelphia 1859-1876
Athletic was formed in 1859 in Philadelphia, PA, and began playing the New York-style game about 1860. Athletic belonged to the National Association of Base Ball Players (NABBP), baseball’s first organization operating 1857-1870. Athletic joined the National Association (NA), the first baseball league, in 1871 at its inception and competed in every year of league’s existence, 1871-1875. Athletic then joined the National League (NL) in 1876 for its inaugural season. The club was removed from the NL before the 1877 season and subsequently disbanded. The Athletic name was used by subsequent teams in Philadelphia, including the American Association team (1882-1890) and the American League team (1901-1954). Information from William J Ryczek, Peter Morris and others, Base Ball Founders (2013).