1884 Philadelphia (Philadelphias, Phillies, Whites)
Left: This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style only. An educated guess is made on uniform color based on documentation from a related year and also on minor details that may be missing or difficult to determine.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team: documented
Right: 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 these uniforms:
Photo A
Dated May 14, 1884, and not May 16 as dated by the Spalding Collection at the New York Public Library. Photo date of May 14 determined by a newspaper that reported the nine men in the Philadelphia lineup were photographed “on the ground” on that day. The report also said the entire team was photographed, however this second photograph is currently unknown. The May 14 game took place on a Wednesday at Recreation Park, Philadelphia vs. Cleveland, a game in which Cleveland won 7 to 5. The photographer of the image was Thomas Sweeny of Cleveland, who the Philadelphia players apparently did not want to pose for on this day. The newspaper noted that “the opinion was universal on the ground that the photographer was a ‘Jonah’ and that the club would be defeated, and sure enough they were.” It could be suggested that Sweeny travelled with the Cleveland team and took pictures of both teams on the field, although images of the Cleveland team are also unknown at this time. The year of the photo can be confirmed by the appearance of player Remsen, who only played for Philadelphia in 1884 and was released from the team at the end of May 1884. Players wore a plain white uniform in this photo, with a white cap, a dark belt and dark stockings. The traditional accent color for the Philadelphia NL team during this period was red.
As mentioned, the Philadelphia photo above had been incorrectly dated as May 16, 1884 (two days later) in the Spalding Collection at the New York Public Library. On May 16 Philadelphia played at home vs. Buffalo. Knowing the correct date of May 14 solves the mystery as to why a photographer from Cleveland would be photographing the Philadelphia team before a game against Buffalo. The May 14 date also allows us to correctly identify the players in the photo. According to box scores of the May 14 game, the Philadelphia lineup was, in order, 1-McClellan ss, 2-Purcell lf, 3-Manning rf, 4-Mulvey 3b, 5-Coleman p, 6-Ringo c, 7-Farrar 1b, 8-Remsen cf and 9-Andrews 2b. The Philadelphia players can therefore be identified in the photo as, from left: J Mulvey (NL 83-89, 92, PL 90, AA 91), F Ringo (Phi NL 83, 84, Ath AA 84), J Coleman (NL 83, 84, AA 84-86), J Remsen (Phi NL 84, Bro AA 84), S Farrar (NL 83-89, PL 90), E Andrews (84-89), B McClellan (83, 84), J Manning (83-85) and B Purcell (NL 83, 84, AA 85). The player identified as J Remsen, 4th from left, has often been identified in this photo as C Ferguson (84-87), the team’s best pitcher. However as the box score showed, Ferguson did not pitch in the May 14 game. See photo comparison below for more information on Remsen and Ferguson. Catcher Ringo has been identified in this photo by the process of elimination as there were few quality photos of this player to compare with. Oddly, the Philadelphia team tried out twelve catchers during the 1884 season and Ringo, who played in 26 games, was released in August 1884. Besides the Ferguson misidentification, some resources have listed J Fogarty (NL 84-89, PL 90) as present in this photo. Though Fogarty was a regular in the Philadelphia outfield, he also did not play in the May 14 game.
Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Report of on-field photography from The Sporting Life, May 21, 1884, with research from Ed Morton. Remsen and Ringo release info from retrosheet.org. Additional input on player IDs from Nigel Ayres. Image scan from the New York Public Library, Albert G. Spalding Collection, image 56477. Original photo by Thomas Sweeny, Cleveland, Ohio.
Dated May 14, 1884. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed a plain white short-sleeve shirt. The fact that the shirt had buttons can be determined by the visible placket running down the front of the shirt.
Facial study of players J Remsen and C Ferguson. Left, detail view of Remsen from photo A, dated May 14, 1884. Center, photo of Remsen, dated 1879. Right, photo of Ferguson, dated 1887. Though Remsen and Ferguson shared similar facial features, and both had big, bushy mustaches, the similarities between the photos at left and center suggest that Remsen was the player standing on the field in photo A.
Dated May 14, 1884. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed two interesting features found in the background of this photo, highlighted by red arrows. At left was a bell used to signify the start of the game, and at right was a catcher’s chest protector hanging on the wooden wall of the grandstand.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
December 1883: “[At a meeting of the National League] the uniform committee recommended that the 1883 uniform be retained [for 1884].” From Base Ball’s 19th-Century Winter Meetings, 1857-1900 (SABR, 2018), citing the New York Clipper, December 1, 1883, and stating that the uniform committee was [John B.] Day, [George W.] Howe and [Al] Reach. Research from Michael R. McAvoy. The committee was most likely responsible for selecting and/or approving the stocking color for each team.
March 1884: “The Philadelphia Club’s extra team will not be know as the reserve team. […] The first and second nines will be similarly uniformed, except that one team will wear white shirts and the other red. They will be known as the Philadelphia Whites and Reds.” From The Sporting Life, March 5, 1884. Research from Ed Morton.
March 1884: “In the opening [exhibition] games of the season, on April 1, 2, 3 and 4, the Philadelphia Club players will be arranged in two teams, and the winning nine will play the opening game with the Athletic [of Philadelphia] on the latter’s grounds on April 7. As the games are played the positions below may be changed, the object being to discover the best positions for the men. These are the teams: Whites, Coleman p, Ringo c, Farrar 1b, Andrews 2b, Mulvey 3b, McClellan ss, Purcell lf, Remsen cf, Manning rf, change battery – Ferguson p, Crowley c. Reds, Knight p, Reilly c, Ingraham 1b, Cahill 2b, Fogarty 3b, Daniels ss, Chatfield lf, Donahue cf, Ford rf, change battery – Waring p, Allen c. Manager Wright is confident that his plan will bring out all the skill there is in his men. In speaking of the two colors of shirts to be worn he says: — ‘I want it understood that there is to be no reserve team in the Philadelphia Club. There will be two nines, which accordingly to the color of the shirt worn, will be styled Whites and Reds. My idea is that one of these teams will be about as good as the other and there will be no regular place on the team for any man of either Whites or Reds. In playing games with outside clubs, for example, when the club is playing [National] League games out of town, the nine that will play will be as strong a playing team as that which on the same day contests with the League club. The best men I can pick out of the twenty-three will, of course, be offenest on the winning nine. But I shall have no reserve nine.’” From The Sporting Life, March 26, 1884. Research from Ed Morton.
March 1884: “Messrs. Reach, Rogers and Wright of the Philadelphia Club are sanguine of a successful season for ‘84. […] The players will be uniformed in white cricketing-flannel pants, red stockings, white-flannel shirt, and red shirt each for a change, red belt, white cap and brown calf shoes.” From the New York Clipper, March 29, 1884. Research from Ed Morton. This report mentions a red shirt as an alternate to the white.
March 1884: “The Athletic and Philadelphia clubs meet first on April 9 [the first in a series of exhibition games in Philadelphia]. The Athletics are favorites, but the ‘Phillies’ have many admirers.” From the Philadelphia Times, March 30, 1884. An example of the Phillies nickname in use.
April 1, 1884, Philadelphia intrasquad game at Philadelphia: “The baseball boom in Philadelphia started last week, when two teams of the Philadelphia Club contended three times. […] In the opening game, April 1, the nines were: Whites–Coleman, pitcher; Ringo, catcher; Farrar, Andrews and Mulvey on the bases; McClellan, short-stop, and Purcell, Remsen and Manning in the outfield. Reds–Knight, pitcher; Reilly, catcher; Ingraham, Cahill and Fogarty on the bases; Daniels, short-stop, and Chatfield, Donohue and Ford in the outfield. Contrary to general expectation, the game was one-sided, the Whites–composed of a majority of last season’s nine–winning easily.” From the New York Clipper, April 12, 1884. It is likely the red squad wore red shirts.
April 5, 1884, Philadelphia v. Trenton (EL), at Philadelphia, Recreation Park, exhibition game: “The Philadelphia Whites easily defeated the Trenton nine, at Recreation Park, by a score of 18 to 2.” From the Philadelphia Times, April 6, 1884. Example of the nickname “Whites” in use for the primary nine of the club.
April 5, 1884, Philadelphia reserve squad v. Princeton at Princeton, NJ: “The Princeton College nine opened the season in Princeton, N.J., April 5, by a game with the Philadelphia Reds, or reserve team.” From the New York Clipper, April 12, 1884. Another reference to the red color worn by the second nine.
April 17, 1884, Philadelphia v. Brooklyn (AA), at Brooklyn, Washington Park, exhibition game: “The Phillies had better support given their pitcher behind the bat [i.e., at catcher] then ours had.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 20, 1884. An example of the nickname of “Phillies” in use.
May 14, 1884, Philadelphia v. Cleveland, at Recreation Park, Philadelphia: “The Philadelphia Club was twice photographed previous to Wednesday’s game [May 14, 1884]. The first group included all of the seventeen men now under engagement [i.e., on the roster] and the second was composed of Wednesday’s nine. The opinion was universal on the ground that the photographer was a ‘Jonah’ and that the club would be defeated, and sure enough they were.” From The Sporting Life, May 21, 1884. Research from Ed Morton. Philadelphia lost to Cleveland on May 14, 1884 by a score of 7 to 5.
July 1884: “On Monday [July 14, 1884] when the New York [NL] team reached this city [Philadelphia] it was found that the uniform trunk had not been checked and the players were forced to go borrowing for suits. The Philadelphias’ change uniforms were unattainable, being in the wash, so a raid was made on the Cincinnati Union Club’s wardrobe and all but [New York players] Richardson and Connor found tolerably good fits in their olive-colored suits. A white Philadelphia suit was found for Richardson and Connor came out in a mixed uniform.” From The Sporting Life, July 23, 1884. Research from Ed Morton. The New York NL team played at Philadelphia on July 14 & 15, 1884. The Cincinnati Union League team played the Philadelphia Union League team in Philadelphia on July 14, 16, 17 & 19, 1884. Game dates from retrosheet.org.
1884, referenced in March 1885: “The Philadelphia managers have now come to the conclusion that their heretofore bad luck has to be attributed to the red shirts. Accordingly they have decided to change the uniforms of last year [1884], and the Philies [sp] will this year [1885] be seen in white shirts and pants, red belts and stockings, with white cap, as one suit, and another one with shirt, pant and cap of a delicate silver gray, with red stockings and belts.” From the Memphis Daily Appeal, March 21, 1885. Research from Don Stokes.
Team genealogy:
Philadelphia 1882-
Philadelphia was formed to play in the League Alliance (LA) in 1882. The team joined the National League (NL) in 1883. The NL began operation in 1876 and Philadelphia has played in the league every year since 1883. Information from wikipedia.com and Robert D. Warrington.
1884 Philadelphia summary
Uniform: white, red stockings
First worn:
Photographed: May 14, Philadelphia
Described: March
Material: flannel
Manufacturer:
Supposition:
Variations: reserve team wore red shirts
Other items:
Home opener report: no, May 1 v. Detroit
Rendering posted: March 31, 2020
Diggers on this uniform: Don Stokes, Ed Morton, Nigel Ayres,