1872 Athletic, Philadelphia (Athletics)

This rendering is based on partial 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:

Photos A & B

Left, montage of player portraits, issued in 1872. Right, front of scorecard dated June 12, 1872. The montage at left was printed on the front side of a trading card. The back side was an advertisement for Wright & Gould, a sporting goods manufacturer in Boston. The year of issue can be confirmed by the appearance of players Mack and Treacey, both of whom only played for Athletic in 1872. The portraits of Mack, and that of player Anson who was also new to Athletic in 1872, may have been new portraits made in 1872 as both players appeared to have worn similar tight-fitting collarless shirts. However both players also belonged to the Forest City team of Rockford, IL, in 1871 and it was possible these portraits were made then. The portrait of Treacey was not made in 1872; it was first published as part of a montage of Chicago players in 1871. Similarly, player McGeary was also new to Athletic in 1872 and his portrait was first published in 1871 when he was a member of the Union team of Troy, NY. The “U” on McGeary’s Union shirt in photo A had been obscured with a marker. The remaining seven portraits in photo A were also not made in 1872. All of these men played for Athletic in 1871 and these identical portraits were first published in that year. The scorecard at right was produced by Mort Rogers for an Athletic-Boston game in Boston on June 12, 1872 and featured an image of player Sensenderfer. This portrait, also included in photo A, was not from 1872 but was first published as part of the montage of Athletic’s portraits in 1871.

Portraits in montage, clockwise from top: J Sensenderfer (66-74), N Cuthbert (67-69, 71, 72), M McGeary (72-75), C Anson (72-75), D Mack (72), L Meyerle (69, 71, 72), F Malone (64, 70-72), F Treacy (72), W Fisler (66-76) and A Reach (65-75). Center: D McBride (61-75). Years with team from baseball-reference.com, Paul Batesel, Players And Teams Of The National Association, 1871-1875 (2012), Marshall D. Wright, The National Association Of Base Ball Players, 1857-1870 (2000), and wikipedia.com. The surname of player Meyerle was incorrectly spelled as Merley on the montage.

Written documentation on this uniform:
May 20, 1872, Athletic, Philadelphia, v. Baltimore, at Baltimore: “The Athletics are a fine looking body of young men. […] Their uniform consists of white shirts, pants and caps, with blue belt and stockings.” From the Baltimore Sun, May 21, 1872. Research from Ed Morton. Game date from retrosheet.org.

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).