1875 Cincinnati (Cincinnatis, Red Stockings)

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:
Photo A

Photo dated January 1917. Historian John Thorn has posted this image online along with descriptions of the items included in the photo. Thorn writes that the descriptions were originally published in January 1917, when a magazine retold the story of these items which had recently come up for auction. The collection was from the estate of Harry B. Ellard, author of Base Ball in Cincinnati (1907) and son of George B. Ellard, one of the original members of the first Red Stocking team. The sale took place at the William Stacey Auction & Storage Co. in Cincinnati on October 15, 1916. The magazine paraphrased auctioneer Charles Bruns, who described the uniform in the photo as “faded in its lighter cloth, but with the great red ‘C’ still flaming proudly from the bosom” and touted it as “the uniform of Harry Wright.” The dark cap was described as being “of Asa Brainard, Cincinnati’s never-beaten pitcher. Red as the day when Asa put it on.” Research from John Thorn, Our Game, published online January 4, 2021, and citing William A. Phelon, Baseball Magazine (January 1917), retrieved January 22, 2012. The descriptions suggest the items were from the famed Cincinnati team of 1869/1870. However it is possible the uniform and cap were from a slightly later period. The uniform in the photo seems to show a small off-centered button placket next to the old-English C. This placket was not seen in images of Cincinnati players from 1869 or 1870. Likewise the red cap was not documented in any photos from this period. One alternate theory is that the uniform shirt and cap sold in 1916 were from the Cincinnati team organized in 1875 and which then subsequently joined the National League in 1876. In describing a parade celebrating the 1875 Industrial Exposition in Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Daily Star on September 8, 1875, wrote that “G. B. Ellard, of 144 ½ Walnut street, turned out a single horse team, covered, on each side appearing a large sheet of canvas bearing the inscription ‘Old Cincinnati Red Stockings.’ The top of the wagon was crowned by four fishing poles that tapered to the top, and which enclosed a pyramid of base-ball bats. The back of the wagon showed the painting of a pair of red stockings crossing each other on the top, bearing the date ‘1869,’ and below that of ‘1875.’ The driver of the wagon was dressed in the Red Stocking suit.” It is possible the uniform worn by George B. Ellard in the 1875 parade was the same that was sold at auction in 1916.

Written documentation on this uniform:
July 1875: “Seven of the newly engaged base-ball players for the Cincinnati Red Stocking Club arrived from the East yesterday. […] The uniform of the new Club will be the same in every respect as that worn by the old Red-Stocking nine.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, July 25, 1875.

August 1875: “The event today is the great game of base-ball on the Star grounds [in Covington, Kentucky], between the Cincinnati Red Stockings and our Stars. A view of the game will be taken by a Covington photographer.” From the Cincinnati Daily Star, August 31, 1875.

September 1875, description of a parade celebrating the Industrial Exposition in Cincinnati: “G. B. Ellard, of 144 ½ Walnut street, turned out a single horse team, covered, on each side appearing a large sheet of canvas bearing the inscription ‘Old Cincinnati Red Stockings.’ The top of the wagon was crowned by four fishing poles that tapered to the top, and which enclosed a pyramid of base-ball bats. The back of the wagon showed the painting of a pair of red stockings crossing each other on the top, bearing the date ‘1869,’ and below that of ‘1875.’ The driver of the wagon was dressed in the Red Stocking suit.” From the Cincinnati Daily Star, September 8, 1875. G. B. Ellard was George Ellard, one of the original members of the Cincinnati team from 1866.

Team genealogy: Cincinnati 1875-1880
Cincinnati was formed as an independent club in July 1875 and joined the inaugural season of the National League (NL) in 1876. The team’s Red Stocking identity had been used previously by the Cincinnati team of 1866-1870. Cincinnati played in the NL between 1876 and 1880. The team dissolved and reformed during the 1877 season, and also before the 1880 season. They were removed from the league after the 1880 season. The Red Stocking name was later used by the Cincinnati American Association team (1882-1889) and a second Cincinnati National League team (1890-present). Information from the Cincinnati Enquirer and from wikipedia.com.