1886 Kansas City (Kansas Citys, Cowboys)
Left: This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style and written documentation for color. Minor details may be undocumented or difficult to determine. An educated guess is made to complete the rendering.
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 April 1886, possibly April 29, 1886. Year of photo confirmed as 1886 was the only year this National League team was in existence. An auction site stated the date of April 29, 1886, was printed on the back of this photo. This may be the date the image was made or the date the print was produced. A newspaper report from early April that said “the men will be photographed in a group, and the management intends presenting the ladies at the opening game with elegant souvenirs containing a photograph of all the men under contract.” The opening home game was played on April 30, 1886. Players wore a white uniform in this photo with light-colored lettering, belt and stockings. A newspaper report from April 1886 said the team planned to wear a white uniform with blue trimmings. Based on the photo, the blue color appears to have been a light blue.
Top row, from left: J Donnelly (86), J Whitney (86), M McQuery (86) and G Baker? (86). Middle row: S Weidman (86), C Bassett (86), D Rowe (NL 86, AA 88), M Hackett (86), A Myers (86) and F Briody (86). Front row: J Lillie? (86), D Dugdale (86), P Radford (86) and P Conway (KC 86, Det 86). Player IDs from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-Century Pictorial Committee. IDs of Lilie and Baker are unconfirmed. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Printed date on back of photo from Heritage Auctions. Original photo by David Thomson, Kansas City.
Dated April 29, 1886. Detail view of photo A. Detail view shows lace ties and shirt pocket.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1886: “Chicago, March 18 — […] Mr. Dave Rowe, of the Kansas City Club, passed through this city [Chicago] this week on his way home and ordered two sets of uniforms of Spalding Brothers.” From The Sporting Life, March 24, 1886.
March 1886: “The Kansas City team will have two sets of uniforms. One will be a white suit with blue caps and stockings, and the other is chocolate colored, with red caps and stockings.” From The Sporting Life, March 31, 1886, and also from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, April 4, 1886.
April 1886: “As soon as [pitcher] Weidman arrives the men will be photographed in a group, and the management intends presenting the ladies at the opening game with elegant souvenirs containing a photograph of all the men under contract.” From the Kansas City Times, April 1, 1886. Research from Paul Winter.
April 1886: “The Kansas City team will have two uniforms, one white with blue trimmings, and the other chocolate with red trimmings.” From the Chicago Inter Ocean, April 18, 1886. Research from Don Stokes.
May 8, 1886, Kansas City v. St Louis (NL), at St. Louis, Union Park: “The ‘Cowboys’ played without an error and fairly earned their victory.” From the Chicago Tribune, May 9, 1886. An example of the Cowboy nickname in use.
May 8, 1886, Kansas City v. St Louis (NL), at St. Louis, Union Park: “The Kansas Citys had on their gray uniforms yesterday. They are not as pretty as the white ones.” From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 9, 1886.
May 28, 1886, Kansas City v. Philadelphia, at Philadelphia: “The ‘cowboy’ team is beginning to play good ball. It is the only club in the [National] league that has yet given the Phillies so black an eye as 15 to 1.” From the Chicago Tribune, May 29, 1886.
June 15, 1886, Kansas City v. Detroit, at Detroit: “Detroit, Mich., June 15—The Kansas City team made a very favorable impression when they appeared for the first time in Detroit today. They were attired in suits of white flannel with blue caps, stockings and belts.” From the Kansas City Times, June 16, 1886. As the game was played in Detroit in June, this report may indicate that the team’s white uniform was intended more for warm weather games that it was for home games.
June 15, 1886, Kansas City v. Detroit, at Detroit: “The cowboy nine from Kansas City made their first appearance here this afternoon [June 15 in Detroit].” From the Chicago Tribune, June 16, 1886, citing a special report from Detroit.
June 1886, Kansas City v. Boston, at Kansas City: “The home club was full of confidence and were almost sure of winning the game. They were encouraged in this by the presence of a ‘sure enough’ mascot, who was seated with them on the players’ bench during the game. He was a nut colored son of Ham about 8 years old who was sent to Manager Rowe to bring luck to the nine. He possessed a double row of teeth and his parents claimed he was born that way. […] This child of darkness proved a lamentable failure as a mascot, and with the loss of the game vanished his glittering expectancy of wearing the club uniform, free rides, meals and clothes at the expense of the management.” From the Kansas City Times, June 24, 1886.
August 11, 1886, Kansas City v. Buffalo (IL) at Buffalo, exhibition game: “The first man to bat was [Kansas City’s] Radford and he looked so pretty in his clean white flannel suit with blue stockings, cap and trimmings, the Shepherd, Buffalo’s new pitcher, hadn’t the heart to strike him out.” From the Buffalo Times, August 12, 1886. Similar to the Detroit report from June 1886, Kansas City wore their white uniform on the road during this period. This report from Buffalo also included the headline of “Cowboys Conquer,” a use of the Kansas City team’s nickname.
Team genealogy:
Kansas City 1886-1886
Kansas City was formed to join the National League (NL) in 1886. The NL began operation in 1876. Kansas City played one year in the NL and was removed from the league before the 1887 season. Information from wikipedia.
1886 Kansas City summary
Uniform: white, light blue cap and stockings
First worn:
Photographed: team photo, April
Described: March-June, August
Material:
Manufacturer: Spalding & Bro., Chicago
Supposition: cap style
Variations:
Other items:
Home opener report: none, April 30 v. Chicago
Uniform: dark brown/gray, red cap and stockings
First worn:
Photographed:
Described: March-May
Material:
Manufacturer: Spalding & Bro., Chicago
Supposition: cap style, shirt style and color, lettering
Variations:
Rendering posted: February 2, 2018
Diggers on this uniform: Don Stokes, Mark Fimoff, Paul Winter,