1886 Louisville (Louisvilles)

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:

Photos A-F

Dated April 18, 1886. These drawn portraits were published in a newspaper on this date. The portraits, based on photographs, were six of fifteen published in total and were combined into one visual by Threads. The drawings of Browning, Maskrey and Reccius were taken from the 1885 Louisville team photo. Players were depicted wearing a uniform shirt with a wide collar and lace ties.

Top row, from left: J Kerins (85-89), A Cross (85-87) and P Browning (82-89, 92, 93). Bottom: C Wolf (82-91), L Maskrey (Lou 82-86, Cin AA 86) and P Reccius (82-88). Image and player IDs from the Louisville Courier-Journal, April 18, 1886. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. A portrait of Louisville groundskeeper, “Uncle Billy” Huston, was also included, describing him as “the good-natured and obliging Superintendent and Overseer of the base-ball grounds, at the Twenty-eighth street park” and who had made “the field a vision of loveliness.”

Photo G

Dated mid-December 1886. Cabinet cart of player portraits for a Louisville touring team, which was organized by Jim Hart to play exhibition games in the San Francisco area between November 1886 and February 1887, full view of cabinet card at left, detail view of player Hellman at right. Date of mid-December for the cabinet card can be determined by the inscription of “Dec. 1886” presented on the card, in combination with a newspaper report which stated the team was photographed during this time. The San Francisco Examiner on December 13 wrote that “Manager Hart’s baby boy is the mascot of the Louisville club. His photograph, together with that of his father and all of the members of the nine, have been arranged in a miniature group and will be presented to each occupant of a reserved seat at Central Park [in San Francisco] on Sunday next [December 19].” Several weeks earlier, The Sporting Life on November 24, 1886, identified Hart’s son as George Hart, noting that the “baby boy is the mascot of the Louisville club.” The photo mount confirmed the cabinet card was produced in San Francisco. Lastly, box scores from games played in San Francisco on December 5 and December 12 listed the same Louisville players as those shown on the cabinet card. The one exception was Dave Foutz, who pitched for Louisville in the December 5th game. In reporting on the December 12 game, the Examiner noted that “Foutz, the regular pitcher for the Louisvilles, being sick his place in the nine was filed by Mitchell.” The next game the Louisville team played was the December 19 game and when the cabinet cards were given out.

Hart, despite his release as Louisville manager in early October, had organized the traveling team based loosely on the existing Louisville roster. He arranged for the exhibition games to take place in San Francisco after the 1886 American Association season ended on October 10. Players from other teams and leagues were added to complete the roster, including Monk Cline, who played in the Southern League in 1886 but was a Louisville resident. The team left Louisville on October 26, 1886 (one report said October 25), and while en route to San Francisco played games in Mobile, New Orleans, El Paso and Los Angeles, the latter at the Sixth street grounds. The team arrived in San Francisco on November 12 when “a large number of local ball-tossers went down to the ferry landing to meet them.” The majority of games were played in San Francisco at Central Park, the first on November 13 and the last on December 26. The team then played games in Alameda, California, at the Alameda grounds, in January 1887, and concluded their tour with games in Sacramento on February 13 and in Denver on February 20, by which time many of the original touring players had already returned to their homes in the east. The team also planned to play at Salt Lake City, but they became trapped for 24 hours on a train blockaded by snow. Players wore a white uniform in these portraits, which were taken in San Francisco and therefore represented what the team worn during the tour. The shirt had lace ties and the city name arched across the chest. It is possible this was a picture of the “iron gray” uniform the Louisville team adopted in June 1886.

Outer ring of portraits, clockwise from top left: B White (Lou 86), (G Hart, mascot), T Hellman (Bal AA 86), R Mack (Lou 86), J Werrick (Lou 86), P Cook (Lou 86), D Foutz (StL AA 86), H Collins (Lou 86) and P Reccius (Lou 86). Center: (J Hart, Lou mgr 86) and M Cline (Atl SL 86). Player IDs from Robert Edward Auctions. Team in which each player belonged to in 1886 from baseball-reference.com. Identification of the mascot from The Sporting Life, November 24, 1886. Info on Hart release from the Louisville Courier-Journal, October 7, 1886. San Francisco box score info from the San Francisco Examiner, December 6, 1886, and December 13, 1886. Arrival in San Francisco and dates of tour from the San Francisco Examiner, November 13, 1886, and December 27, 1886. Alameda info from The Sporting Life, January 26, 1887. Sacramento game date from The Sporting Life, February 9, 1887. Denver date from The Sporting Life, February 23, 1887. Snow blockade info from the Salt Lake City Deseret Evening News, February 17, 1887. Image scan from Christie’s. Original portraits from Daniel Sewell, San Francisco.

Dated December 1886. Two detail views of photo G. Detail view showed a shirt with lace ties and the city name arched across the chest. Because these elements appeared very faint in black-and-white photography, it was probable that the color of both was light blue.

Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1886: “The American Association players will have to pay for their uniforms this season.” From the Philadelphia Times, March 14, 1886.

March 1886: “Louisville’s uniforms are being made by A. J. Reach & Co.” From The Sporting Life, March 31, 1886.

April 1886: “The uniforms of the Louisvilles will be very attractive this year. They consist of striped white and black caps, white knee breeches, black stockings and checked white and black shirts, with a white belt.” From the Louisville Courier-Journal, April 8, 1886, and the New York Evening Telegram, April 13, 1886.

April 1886: “The Louisvilles will appear today [April 11, exhibition game with Pittsburgh] in their new suits. It is thought that they will be the most attractive in the [American] Association. The combination is barred black-and-white caps, white knee-breeches, checked white-and-black shirts, black stockings and belts.” From the Louisville Courier-Journal, April 11, 1886.

June 1886: “The Louisvilles have new uniforms—iron gray and blue stockings. Spalding made them.” From The Sporting Life, June 23, 1886. Research from Ed Morton. A similar report was published in the Sterling (IN) Standard, July 1, 1886. As was typical of the period, this report called the team “the Louisvilles.” To date, no contemporary reports have surfaced in which a newspaper in 1886 referred to the team as the Colonels.

September 1886: “Louisville has discarded that convict uniform.” From The Sporting Life, September 8, 1886. Research from Ed Morton.

November 1886: “Mascots have been all the rage during the past season. […] It would be the proper caper to elect George Hart to that position for this party [i.e., the California tour]. He is the baby boy of Mr. and Mrs. Hart, a base ball manager in embryo.” From The Sporting Life, November 24, 1886.

December 1886: “Manager Hart’s baby boy is the mascot of the Louisville club. His photograph, together with that of his father and all of the members of the nine, have been arranged in a miniature group and will be presented to each occupant of a reserved seat at Central Park [in San Francisco] on Sunday next.” From the San Francisco Examiner, December 13, 1886.

December 19, 1886, Louisville v. Chronicle, at San Francisco, Central Park, exhibition game: “The grand stand was packed with the lovers of the sport, among whom were seen many bright bonnets and pretty faces, the owners of which, as usual, eagerly inquired during the game ‘why that man soiled his uniform by sliding on the dirt.’” From the San Francisco Chronicle, December 20, 1886.

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.

1886 Louisville summary

Uniform: white cap with black bands, white and black checked shirt, black belt, white pants, black stockings
First worn: April 11, Louisville, last worn early September
Photographed:
Described: March, April
Material:
Manufacturer: A. J. Reach & Co.
Supposition: shirt style and pattern
Variations: possibly also wore a white belt
Other items:
Home opener report: no, April 18 v Cincinnati

Uniform: light gray, light blue belt and stockings
First worn: mid-June
Photographed:
Described: June
Material:
Manufacturer: Spalding & Bro.
Supposition: cap style, shirt style, lettering
Variations: