1869 Athletic, Philadelphia (Athletics)

This rendering is based on written documentation for uniform style and color. No visual documentation is known and an artist’s conceptualization is used to create the rendering.

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on this uniform:
None

Written documentation on this uniform:
August 30, 1869, Athletic, Philadelphia, v. Olympic, Washington DC: “The Athletics, a nice looking set of young men, with their neat suit of white flannel, trimmed with blue stripes, and their hat neatly decorated in blue cord.” From the National Republican (Washington DC), August 31, 1869. Research from Ed Morton, and from Don Stokes. Note the word “hat” was italicized in this report, possibly to emphasize that the team did not wear the typical baseball cap of the period.

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).