1886 New York (New Yorks, Giants, Maroons)
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
Center & Right: These renderings are based on partial visual documentation for uniform style only. An educated guess is made on uniform color and on minor details that may be missing or difficult to determine.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team: documented
Visual documentation on these uniforms:
Photo A
Dated April 29, 1886, New York v. Boston, at New York, Polo Grounds. New York players were seated at right, Boston at left. New York was photographed wearing white uniforms, with dark lace ties and stockings. Based on the majority of contemporary newspaper accounts, it can be determined the stocking color was maroon or red.
Top row, from left: C Radbourn (Bos NL 86-89, PL 90), S Wise (Bos 82-89), C Daily (Bos 86, 87), B Ewing (NY 83-89, 91, 92, PL 90), R Connor (NY 83-89, 91, 93, 94, PL 90), M Dorgan (NY 83-87), P Gillespie (NY 83-87), J O’Rourke (NY 85-89, 91, 92, PL 90) and D Esterbrook (NY AA 83, 84, 87, NL 85, 86, 90). Middle: T Poorman (Bos 85, 86), B Nash (Bos NL 85-89, 91-95, PL 90), E Sutton (Bos 77-88), J Morril (Bos NL 76-88, PL 90), (J Mutrie, NY mgr, AA 83, 84, NL 85-91), J Ward (NY 83-89, 93, 94), J Gerhardt (NY 85-87, AA 87), T Keefe (NY AA 83, 84, NL 85-89, 91, PL 90), P Deasley (NY 85-87) and D Richardson (NY 84-89, 91, PL 90). Front: J Hornung (Bos 81-88), D Johnston (Bos NL 85-89, PL 90), (W Curry, umpire), M Welch (NY 83-92), L Corcoran (NY 85, 86, Was 86) and (– Goulding, mascot). Player IDs from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee. Assistance with player IDs also from Tom Sheiber and John Thorn. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Game date from retrosheet.org. Identification of umpire Wes Curry and mascot Goulding from the New York Times, April 30, 1886. A newspaper report of this game stated that “after [the teams] had batted and tossed the ball around for fifteen minutes […] a photographer caught both clubs in a group, not instantaneously by any means.” Another report said the game began after “a few minutes delay while an artist photographed the two teams.” A third reported that “an enterprising photographer got the boys as nines and then in a group,” indicating that additional images were taken on the field. Original photo by Frederick L. Howe, New York.
Dated April 29, 1886. Detail of photo A. Note how bright-white the uniforms appear in this photo when compared to the light gray uniforms shown in photos C and D.
Photo B
Dated April 29, 1886, New York v. Boston, at New York, Polo Grounds. Full illustration at left and detail view at right. Illustration shows uniform of New York players Gerhardt and Ward, including neckties tucked into laced shirts, and elaborate stitching around the shirt placket. Scene depicts crowd reaction after players combined to score winning run at the home opener. Reports described that “the field in an instant was black with people, and Gerhardt and Ward were taken upon willing shoulders and carried triumphantly to their quarters.” Image from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, May 1886. Game account from the New York Herald, April 30, 1886.
Photo C
Dated 1886, possibly July 22, 1886. Year of photo determined by player Devlin, who only played for New York briefly in 1886. Devlin joined the team about June 11, 1886, and was released in the days before August 12. Knowing Devlin’s time with the team, and along with other factors, we can determine a possible date of July 22, 1886 for the photo. This date can be determined in combination with a similar photo of the Philadelphia NL team taken in the same setting. Identical details in the backgrounds of both photos suggest the New York and Philadelphia teams were captured on the same day, see detail views of the backgrounds below. Both teams were also photographed wearing caps on their heads and then with caps removed, further suggesting the images were made on the same day and by the same photographer. New York played three series of games with Philadelphia during the time period that Devlin was with the team: June 15 & 16 at New York, July 9, 10 & 12 at Philadelphia, and July 20, 22 & 23 at New York. The June 15 & 16 dates can be seemingly ruled out as a newspaper reported three weeks earlier, at a game played on May 27, 1886, that New York players “Ward and Gerhardt have cut off their moustaches[sp], and were almost unrecognizable.” The fact that both Ward and Gerhardt wore mustaches in the photo above may eliminate the June dates and suggest the July dates. (Note that Gerhardt had a longer handlebar mustache in both photo B and photo F when compared to that in photo C.) Boxscores from the series played in Philadelphia on July 9, 10 & 12 included two players, J Farrell for Philadelphia and B Finley for New York, that were not included in their respective team photo. Farrell was released by Philadelphia and signed by Washington in the days before July 18, 1886. Finley was a backup catcher for New York who signed in late June and played only in the July 12 game in Philadelphia. The inclusion of Devlin and the absence of Farrell and Finley would suggest the images were not taken in Philadelphia, and instead point to them being made during the New York series, July 20, 22 & 23. The July 22 date can be suggested by New York pitcher Keefe, who stood in the back row of the New York photo wearing civilian pants and with his suspenders lowered. As Keefe pitched for New York on both July 20 & 23, his dress points to July 22 as the date for the photo, an off-day where Keefe was not required to fully dress or play. It is unknown if the brick wall behind the players can be identified as belonging to the Polo Grounds. This would further confirm the date and location.
Players wore a light gray uniform in this photo with dark stockings and a white cap. It was possible that some of the players wore white pants in this photo. Newspapers described the stocking color as maroon. Though the light gray uniform was deemed in April to be a practice uniform, the team wore this suit for player portraits taken in the first few months of the 1886 season. Photo C suggests they wore this uniform in league games as well.
Top row, standing, from left: M Dorgan (83-87), R Connor (NY NL 83-89, 91, 93, 94, NY PL 90), T Keefe (NY AA 83, 84, NY NL 85-89, 91, NY PL 90), P Gillespie (83-87) and J Devlin (NY NL 86 – 1 game, Syr IL 86). Front row, seated: B Ewing (NY NL 83-89, 91, 92, NY PL 90), J O’Rourke (NY NL 85-89, 91, 92, NY PL 90), D Richardson (NY NL 84-89, 91, NY PL 90), J Ward (83-89, 93, 94), D Esterbrook (NY AA 83, 84, 87, NY NL 85, 86), (J Mutrie, mgr NY AA 83, 84, NY NL 85-91), J Gerhardt (NY 85-87, AA 87), M Welch (83-92) and P Deasley (85-87). Player IDs from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee. Input on player IDs also from Bill Hickman and Nigel Ayres. Identification of Gerhardt based on other photos from period. Gerhardt has sometimes been identified as G Bagley (86) in this photo. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Info on Devlin joining the team from the New York Sun, June 12, 1886. Info on Devlin being released by New York from the Syracuse Standard, August 12, 1886, and from the New York Times, August 14, 1886. Info on mustache shaving from the New York Sun, May 28, 1886. Info on Farrell release from the Washington (DC) Sunday Herald, July 18, 1886. Info on Finley signing from New York Tribune, July 3, 1886. Some published resources have this image dated as 1885. Image from SABR, The National Pastime (Number 3, Spring 1984), citing the collection of the National Baseball Hall of Fame & Museum. Original photo possibly by William DiFariss, Chicago.
Dated 1886, possibly July 22, 1886. Detail view of photo C. Detail view showed a cap with subtle bands and a shirt pocket on the left breast.
Dated 1886, possibly July 22, 1886. Detail views of background in New York and Philadelphia team photos. Left: detail view of the New York team photo, photo C. Right: detail view of Philadelphia (NL) team photo. Note the similarities between the two photos: the wooden frame (possibly a device to mark the batter’s box?) leaning against the brick wall behind the players, the markings on the bricks, and the condition of the dirt. These photo clues seem to suggest that both photos were taken on the same day. Additionally, both the New York and Philadelphia teams were photographed twice, once with caps on and a second time with caps off.
Photo D
Dated 1886, possibly July 22, 1886. This photo was made at the same time as photo C, only in this photo the players wear their hats instead of holding them.
Top row, standing, from left: M Dorgan (83-87), R Connor (NY NL 83-89, 91, 93, 94, NY PL 90), T Keefe (NY AA 83, 84, NY NL 85-89, 91, NY PL 90), P Gillespie (83-87) and J Devlin (NY NL 86 – 1 game, Syr IL 86). Front row, seated: B Ewing (NY NL 83-89, 91, 92, NY PL 90), J O’Rourke (NY NL 85-89, 91, 92, NY PL 90), D Richardson (NY NL 84-89, 91, NY PL 90), J Ward (83-89, 93, 94), D Esterbrook (NY AA 83, 84, 87, NY NL 85, 86), (J Mutrie, mgr NY AA 83, 84, NY NL 85-91), J Gerhardt (NY 85-87, AA 87), M Welch (83-92) and P Deasley (85-87). Player IDs based on photo C. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Carson Lorey. Original photo possibly by William DiFariss, Chicago.
Dated 1886, possibly July 22, 1886. Detail view of photo D. Detail view showed white caps with subtle sewn horizontal bands on the body and possibly dark trim along the front of the bill. The shirts were light gray with dark-colored lace ties and a breast pocket. Player Keefe, standing center back, wore civilian pants and with his suspenders lowered. Player Gillespie, standing at right, wore a sprig of flowers in his pocket.
Photo E
Dated April 1886 to June 1886. Date range determined by the appearance of player Corcoran who was loaned to another team by early July 1886. Players wore a light gray uniform in these portraits with dark lace ties. A newspaper in April 1886 described this uniform as being cadet gray in color and as the team’s practice uniform in 1886. This uniform was most likely also worn in games.
Top row, from left: M Dorgan (83-87), R Connor (NY NL 83-89, 91, 93, 94, NY PL 90), J Ward (83-89, 93, 94), J Gerhardt (NY NL 85-87, NY AA 87) and D Esterbrook (NY AA 83, 84, 87, NY NL 85, 86). Middle: D Richardson (NY NL 84-89, 91, NY PL 90), M Welch (83-92), (J Mutrie, mgr NY AA 83, 84, NY NL 85-91), T Keefe (NY AA 83, 84, NY NL 85-89, 91, NY PL 90) and L Corcoran ((NY 85, 86, Was 86). Front: J O’Rourke (NY NL 85-89, 91, 92, NY PL 90), B Ewing (NY NL 83-89, 91, 92, NY PL 90), P Deasley (85-87) and P Gillespie (83-87). Player IDs from collage. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Info on Corcoran loan from the New York National Police Gazette, July 10, 1886. Original photos by John Wood, New York.
Photo F
Issued 1886, based on photos dated April 1886 to June 1886. Old Judge baseball cards of New York players. Date range of April 1886 to June 1886 determined by the appearance of player Corcoran who was loaned to another team by early July 1886. These portraits were drawn from studio images dated 1886, see photo E.
Top row, from left: R Connor (NY NL 83-89, 91, 93, 94, NY PL 90), L Corcoran (NY 85, 86, Was 86), M Dorgan (83-87), D Esterbrook (NY AA 83, 84, 87, NY NL 85, 86), B Ewing (NY NL 83-89, 91, 92, NY PL 90) and J Gerhardt (NY NL 85-87, NY AA 87). Bottom row: P Gillespie (83-87), T Keefe (NY AA 83, 84, NY NL 85-89, 91, NY PL 90), J O’Rourke (NY NL 85-89, 91, 92, NY PL 90), D Richardson (NY NL 84-89, 91, NY PL 90), J Ward (83-89, 93, 94) and M Welch (83-92). Player IDs from item. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Year of card publishing and images from oldcardboard.com, citing the collection of Jim Blumenthal. Corcoran loan date from the New York National Police Gazette, July 10, 1886. Drawing based on original photos by John Wood, New York.
Issued 1886, based on photo dated April 1886 to June 1886. Detail views of photo E, the Old Judge baseball card of J Gerhardt (NY NL 85-87, NY AA 87). Drawing made from studio portrait, see photo F. Player was depicted wearing a light gray shirt, with dark lace ties and decorative stitching around the placket, on the collar and around the shirt pocket.
Photo G, H & I
Dated circa 1887, utilizing portraits from April 1886 to June 1886. Kalamazoo Bats baseball cards featuring New York players, from left, R Connor (NY NL 83-89, 91, 93, 94, NY PL 90), J O’Rourke (NY NL 85-89, 91, 92, NY PL 90) and J Ward (83-89, 93, 94). The players were photographed wearing a light-gray uniform and a white pillbox-style cap with four bands of subtle horizontal stitching around the body and dark-colored trim along the front edge of the brim. The pose of the players, the studio lighting and the uniforms worn were all very similar to the portraits shown in photo E. Several features in both photos E and G confirm the images were made at the same time. Note that the truncated necktie of O’Rourke and the handkerchief in Ward’s breast pocket were identical in both photos. This suggests that all of the portraits of New York players by photographer J. Wood in 1886 were made both with and without the players wearing their caps. Player IDs from items. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Year of card set issue from oldcardboard.com. Original photos by John Wood, New York.
Photo J
Dated July 10, 1886. This montage of New York player portraits was published on this date. These engravings match the photographic portraits also dated April 1886 to June 1886, see photo E, further confirming a photo date in the first half of 1886. Some players are shown facing in opposite directions, indicating multiple studio portraits were taken. Note that the decorative stitching on the shirt collar can be seen in these drawings.
Outer circle, clockwise from top left: T Keefe (NY AA 83, 84, NY NL 85-89, 91, NY PL 90), (J Mutrie, mgr NY AA 83, 84, NY NL 85-91), P Deasley (85-87), M Welch (83-92), L Corcoran (NY 85, did not play for NY 86, Was 86), M Dorgan (83-87), J Ward (83-89, 93, 94), D Esterbrook (NY AA 83, 84, 87, NY NL 85, 86), P Gillespie (83-87) and D Richardson (NY NL 84-89, 91, NY PL 90). Inner circle, from top left: J O’Rourke (NY NL 85-89, 91, 92, NY PL 90), B Ewing (NY NL 83-89, 91, 92, NY PL 90), R Connor (NY NL 83-89, 91, 93, 94, NY PL 90) and J Gerhardt (NY NL 85-87, NY AA 87). Portraits and player IDs from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, July 10, 1886. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Nigel Ayres. Engravings based on original photos by John Wood, New York.
Photo K
Dated circa 1887. Allen & Ginter’s baseball card of T Keefe (NY AA 83, 84, NY NL 85-89, 91, NY PL 90), and detail view at right, showing uniform color and stitching. Possibly, this drawing was made of the 1886 uniform.
Photo L
Dated circa 1887. Allen & Ginter’s baseball card of J Ward (NY 83-89, 93, 94), and detail view at right, showing stitching on cap. Possibly, this drawing was made of the 1886 uniform.
Photo M
Dated 1887. Schedule and poster for the 1887 New York NL team. Full view at left, detail view at right. Detail view appears to show a blue uniformed player running the bases and a white uniformed team with red stockings playing the field. The latter may be representing the New York uniform, possibly from 1886.
Photo N
Dated 1880s. The Bat cigar box panel art featuring C Anson, Chicago, at left and T Keefe, New York, at right. The 5-cent cigar was produced by the Simmons Cigar Co., Chicago. Based on the image of Anson, the artwork may have been made circa 1886. The image of Keefe (NY AA 83, 84, NY NL 85-89, 91, NY PL 90) was likely made from a photo, and showed the player with white cap, shirt and stockings, and with blue pants. This does not match any other documentation of the New York uniform during this period and therefore the artist may have taken a few illustrative liberties. Years Keefe with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from bidsquare.com.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
April 1886: “The practice uniform of the New Yorks will be cadet gray, and the regular uniform white with maroon trimmings.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 3, 1886, and from The Sporting Life, April 7, 1886. Sporting Life research from Tom Shieber.
April 1886: “The practice uniform of the New York team will be gray, and the regular uniform will be white with maroon stockings.” From the Chicago Inter Ocean, April 18, 1886. Research from Don Stokes.
April 29, 1886, New York v. Boston, at New York, Polo Grounds: “Fifteen minutes later the band again sought the club house, and upon coming back the nine of New York were with them. A new march, written for the occasion, in honor of the home team, was the music. […] The New Yorks have white jackets and trousers, maroon stockings and belts of the same color. […] An enterprising photographer got the boys as nines and then in a group.” From the New York Herald, April 30, 1886. This entry implied that additional images were taken on the field before the game.
April 29, 1886, New York v. Boston, at New York, Polo Grounds, home opener: “At 3:20 the musicians marched to the little club house in the upper end of the grounds and escorted the Boston players to the diamond for their preliminary practice The players had a hearty reception, but their greeting was insignificant compared with the hilarious welcome given to the New York men when they appeared on the field abut twenty minutes later. […] The men looked neat in their new uniforms of white and blue. After they had batted and tosssed the ball around for fifteen minutes a photographer caught both clubs in a group, but not instantaneously by any means.” From the New York Tribune, April 30, 1886. Research from Tom Shieber. Note that this mention of blue does not match other color descriptions from this day. However, MLB historian John Thorn believes “despite the Allen & Ginter depiction of Giants with red lacing, I have always understood the colors for the Giants and the Mets to have been blue and white.” Thorn communication dated July 8, 2015.
April 29, 1886, New York v. Boston, at New York, Polo Grounds, home opener: After the New Yorks had practiced a few minutes a photographer came on the grounds with his camera The members of both teams sat on a bench, with Manager Mutrie in his Sunday attire — high hat and silver headed cane — in the center, and Master Goulding, the ‘Mascotte’[sp] of the New York team and Umpire Wesley Curry holding prominent positions. The photographer began his work. He was compelled to take several plates, and the delay was annoying to the spectators, and they gave evidence of their feelings by shouting at the gentleman who had charge of the camera. ‘Three strikes, photographer’s out,’ yelled one impatient fellow. When the cloth was finally removed a chorus of ‘Aha!’ went up from the assemblage.” From the New York Times, April 30, 1886.
April 29, 1886, New York v. Boston, at New York, Polo Grounds, home opener: “The great rivals are on the field, and wonderful things are done in the way of practicing. […] All this while the band has been steadily grinding harmony. It keeps on, while the beautiful clubs are being photographed.” From the New York Sun, April 30, 1896.
April 29, 1886, New York v. Boston, at New York, Polo Grounds, home opener: “The thirteen men [of the New York team] were all in the [marching] squad, clad in bran[d] new white suits with maroon trimmings. Each man carried a jacket on his left arm, and was careful to hold his bat at the proper angle as coachmen do their whips. […] A little more practice [by New York], with a few minutes’ delay while an artist photographed the two teams and everything was ready. Umpire Curry, a long, lean man, in a light gray suit, which must have been made to Roger Connors’ measure, called ‘low ball’ as [Boston’s] Joe Horning stepped to the bat.” From the Boston Globe, April 30, 1886.
April 29, 1886, New York v. Boston at New York, Polo Grounds, home opener: “The ‘giants’ were given a hilarious welcome as they marched from the clubhouse, preceded by Cappa’s Seventh Regiment Band; then the players looking neat in the new uniforms of white and blue, with manager Mutire in front.” From Preston D. Orem, Baseball 1882-1891 From The Newspaper Accounts (1966, 1967, reprinted by SABR in 2021), pg. 237. Orem may have transcribed this from the Tribune report published April 30, see above, which stated the New York accent color was blue, not maroon.
May 1, 1886, New York v. Boston at New York, Polo Grounds: “When a Bostonian [player] hit a ball a man in a white suit and maroon stockings invariably loomed up in front of it.” From the Boston Globe, May 1, 1886. A description of the New York uniform.
May 3, 1886, New York v. Philadelphia, at Philadelphia, Recreation Park, home opener: “A delegation of one hundred New York brokers occupied the lower story of the ladies’ pavilion and they hung out a dozen new brooms as an emblem of what they expected their favorite club to do. After the game, the brokers gracefully presented the brooms to the Philadelphia players. […] Buck Ewing, the New York catcher, lost his favorite catching glove at Recreation Park yesterday. […] Buck’s friends among the New York brokers have subscribed a purse, which is to be given to the lucky finder of the glove.” From the Philadelphia Times, May 4, 1886. New York lost to Philadelphia, 6 to 3.
May 1886: “Spalding’s revised edition of the ‘Art of Batting and Base Running’ contains a good [wood]cut of Roger Connor, last year’s champion [National] League batter.” From the Boston Globe, May 4, 1886.
May 1886: “The New Yorks are said to have a mascot in the shape of a bull pup, which is owned by Roger Conner [sp].” From the Detroit Free Press, May 11, 1886.
May 27, 1886, New York v. St. Louis (NL), at New York, Polo grounds: “Ward and Gerhardt have cut off their moustaches[sp], and were almost unrecognizable.” From the New York Sun, May 28, 1886.
June 18, 1886, New York v. Washington, at New York: “‘Mascotte’ Brewster, the lucky little chap whom the New Yorks have adopted, appeared in full uniform and created much amusement. He is only five years old.” From the Louisville Courier-Journal, June 19 1886.
July 1886: “Their [New York] recent bad luck was owning, they say, to their not having a mascot. Now that they have one, they are playing good ball.” From the Washington (DC) Evening Star, July 3, 1886, citing the New York Sun. Research from Ed Morton.
Team genealogy:
New York 1883-1957
New York was formed to join the National League (NL) in 1883, with many of its players coming from a disbanded NL team in Troy, NY. The NL began operation in 1876 and this New York team played in the NL from 1883 to 1957. The team moved to San Francisco after the 1957 season. Information from wikipedia.
1886 New York summary
Uniform: white, red stockings
First worn:
Photographed: team photo, April 29
Described: April, May
Material:
Manufacturer:
Supposition:
Variations:
Other items: dark jacket
Home opener report: yes, April 29 v. Boston
Uniform: light gray, red stockings
First worn: called a practice uniform in April
Photographed: team photo from possibly July 22, and portraits from April to June
Described: April
Material:
Manufacturer:
Supposition:
Variations: May have worn with white pants and white cap
Rendering posted: April 7, 2016
Diggers on this uniform: Bill Hickman, Carson Lorey, Don Stokes, Ed Morton, John Thorn, Mark Fimoff, Nigel Ayres, Tom Shieber,