1885 Louisville (Louisvilles)
Uniform documentation:
White– visual & written
This rendering is included in the book, BASEBALL THREADS.
Visual documentation on this uniform:
Photo A
Dated April 1885 to early June 1885. Year of photo confirmed by the appearance of players Mays, Miller and Baker, all of whom only played for Louisville in 1885. Date range of April to early June can be determined by the appearance of player Sullivan, who was released by Louisville in the days before June 11. Players wore a white uniform in this photo, with a dark-colored belt and dark-colored stockings. The shirt had the city name arched across the chest, lace ties down the front and a pocket on the left breast. The majority of shirts were short-sleeved. The pants had a thin line of dark-colored trim on the seam. The cap was not included in the photo. A newspaper report from 1885 described the team’s accent color as dark red.
Top row of six men standing, from left: T McLaughlin (83-85), A Mays (85), L Maskrey (82-86), D Sullivan (Lou 82-85, StL AA 85), M Cline (Lou 84, 85, Col SL 85) and P Reccius (82-88). Middle row of seven men sitting and leaning: P Browning (82-89, 92, 93), G Hecker (82-89), J Miller (85), (J Hart mgr 85, 86), N Baker (85), J Kerins (85-89) and A Cross (85-87). Front, on ground: J Crotty (82, 85) and C Wolf (82-91). Image and player IDs from Phillip Von Borries, Legends of Louisville: Major League Baseball in Louisville, 1876-1899 (1992), which credited the image as belonging to the University of Louisville Archives, R. G. Potter Collection. Years players with team from baseball-reference.com. Info on Sullivan release from The Sporting Life, June 17, 1885. Research assistance from Chris Betsch.
Dated April 1885 to early June 1885. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed the lettering on the shirt and with lace ties running down the front of the shirt, splitting the city name into two parts. Detail view also showed that the player tied his laces in an “x” pattern. Some players in this photo tied their laces in a “v” pattern. Detail view also showed the team’s fabric belt secured by two leather straps and buckles.
Written documentation on this uniform:
April 1885: “Mr. John Botto will today distribute free his schedule of games for the season of 1885. He has the exclusive privilege of selling the official programme on the Louisville grounds.” From the Louisville Courier-Journal, April 19, 1885.
April 1885: “The Louisville Club don new uniforms this week. They will be like those of last season [1884] except the caps will be of different shapes, and the word Louisville appearing across the breast of the shirts.” From The Sporting Life, April 22, 1885. Research from Chuck McGill.
June 1885: “The uniforms of the various clubs in the American Association are as follows: Louisville, white with dark red stockings and caps; Cincinnati, white with scarlet stockings; Pittsburg[h], gray, with red stockings; St. Louis, white, with brown stockings; Athletics; white, with blue stockings; Baltimore, white pants, pink-striped caps and jackets and red stockings; Brooklyns, gray, with red stockings; Mets, blue suits, with white stockings.” From the Ellicotville (NY) Post, June 15, 1885. A similar report was included in The Sporting Life, June 17, 1885, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 20, 1885, and a research pamphlet by Preston Orem, Baseball From Newspaper Accounts, 1885 (early 1960s). Specific documentation was not provided by Orem but his finding most likely came from a newspaper from the June 1885 time period. Orem passage from John Thorn. Sporting Life research from Chuck McGill.
August 1885: “The lunatics in Louisville have just adopted a new uniform of purple throughout.” From the New York National Police Gazette, August 22, 1885. Further research is needed to determine more about this purple uniform. It is possible this was referencing a civilian suit for train travel.
Team genealogy:
Louisville 1870s-1899
Louisville began as Eclipse, a semi-pro team in Louisville formed in the late 1870s. As Eclipse, they joined the American Association (AA) at its formation in 1882. The AA was a major league operating between 1882 and 1891. Eclipse was known as Louisville by 1884 and the team played in the AA through the 1891 season. The team joined the National League (NL) in 1892 when the AA and NL merged, and was disbanded after the 1899 season when the NL contracted from twelve to eight teams. Information from wikipedia and Ken Samoil.
1885 Louisville summary
Uniform: white, red cap and stockings
First worn: late April
Photographed: team photo, April to early June
Described: April
Material:
Manufacturer:
Supposition: cap style
Variations:
Other items:
Home opener report: none, April 19 v. Cincinnati
Rendering posted: April 28, 2022
Diggers on this uniform: Chris Betsch, Chuck McGill, John Thorn, Ken Samoil,