1875 Western, Keokuk IA (Westerns)

This rendering is based on written documentation only 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:
March 1875: “Uniform…white with blue stockings and trimmings, letter ‘K’ on bosom and on cuff of each sleeve, making a trio of ‘K’s. Hat to be worn instead of cap.” From the Daily Constitution (Middletown, CN), March 31, 1875. Research from Mark Pestana. Info also from Paul Batesel, Players And Teams Of The National Association, 1871-1875 (2012).

May 28, 1875, Keokuk v. Ludlow, KY, at Ludlow Bas Ball Grounds, exhibition game: “The Ludlows were dressed very neatly in suits of white, trimmed with narrow parallel stripes of blue down the side of the pantaloons and around the collar. The shield of the breast was ornamented with an Old-English L. The uniform of the Keokuk Club was trimmed with blue in a single stripe, and the shield adorned with the letter K in blue, smaller copies of the same letter being placed in each upper corner of the shield.” From the Cincinnati Daily Gazette, May 29, 1875. Research from Paul Winter.

Team genealogy: Western was formed in Keokuk, Iowa, in 1872, and joined the National Association (NA) in 1875. The NA was baseball’s first league, operating 1871-1875. Western folded during the 1875 NA season. –Information from Paul Batesel, Players and Teams of the National Association, 1871-1875 (2012).