1885 Philadelphia (Philadelphias, Phillies)

These renderings are based on written documentation for uniform style and color. No visual documentation is known and an artist’s conceptualization is used to create the renderings.

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on these uniforms:
None

Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1885: “The red shirts worn by the Philadelphia Club last season will be thrown aside as Jonahs. The men have been measured, and each will have two suits — one the usual white shirt and pantaloons, with red belts and stockings, and the other a delicate silver-gray, something like those worn by the Providence Club. The stockings and belts will be red with both suits, but there will be two sets of caps, one white and the other gray.” From the Philadelphia Record, March 14, 1885. Research from Ed Morton.

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, and the Philies [sp] will this year 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. This report was similar to that of the Philadelphia Record published on March 14, 1885. Daily Appeal research from Don Stokes. A similar report was also published in the Boston Globe, March 22, 1885.

April 7, 1885, Philadelphia v. Athletic, Philadelphia, at Philadelphia, exhibition game: “The Phillies scored their first run in the third inning.” From the Philadelphia Inquirer, April 11, 1885. Use of the Phillies nickname.

June 30, 1885, Philadelphia (NL) v. St. Louis (NL) at St. Louis: “A good many people wondered yesterday why the Philadelphias had eleven men on the field in uniform, as this is not an everyday occurrence. The fact of the matter is when the nine was sent into the field, it was seen that Bastian, the short stop, and Myers, the second baseman, were both so drunk that neither could walk three feet in a straight line, and Cusick and Clements had to be sent to the outfield [from the bench] and [outfielders] Andrews and Fogerty put in at second and short. Last night Harry Wright had a little private conference with both players.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 1, 1885. Not uniform related, but an interesting entry nonetheless.

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.

1885 Philadelphia summary

Uniform: white, red stockings
First worn:
Photographed:
Described: March
Material:
Manufacturer:
Supposition: cap style, shirt style
Variations:
Other items:
Home opener report: no, May 2 v. Providence

Uniform: gray, red stockings
First worn:
Photographed:
Described: March
Material:
Manufacturer:
Supposition: cap style, shirt style
Variations:
Other items: