1887 Indianapolis (Hoosiers)
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: This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style and written documentation for color. Important 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 this uniform:
Photo A
Dated 1887, possibly early June 1887 to early July 1887. Year of photo determined by the appearance of players Hackett, Kirby, Arundel and Cahill, and of manager Thomas. Thomas managed only 29 games for Indianapolis between June 2 and July 9, suggesting the team photo above was taken during this period. However, Thomas was also the team secretary so the photo may have been taken earlier in 1887. The team wore a white or light gray uniform in this photo, with dark letters on the shirt, a dark belt and dark stockings.
Top row, from left: C Bassett (87-89), M Hackett (87), O Schomberg (87, 88), J Kirby (87) and T Arundel (87). Middle row: J Denny (87-89), H Boyle (87-89), (F Thomas mgr 87), Glasscock (87-89), G Meyers (87-89) and E Healy (87, 88). Front row: J McGeachy (87-89), J Cahill (87) and E Seery (87-89). Player IDs from image. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Thomas info from baseballhistorydaily.com.
Dated 1887, possibly early June 1887 to early July 1887. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed the shirt lettering and the buckle on the fabric belt.
Photo B
Dated mid-May 1887. Old Judge baseball card of L Corcoran (87). Full view at left, detail view at right. Year of photo confirmed as this was the only year Corcoran played for Indianapolis. Date of mid-May 1887 determined by the fact the Corcoran joined the Indianapolis team on May 9 and was released by the end of the month. Uniform matches team photo above. Cap appears to have broad stripes. Year Corcoran with team from baseball-reference.com. Date of Corcoran signing and release from Bob LeMoine, SABR BioProject: Larry Corcoran, retrieved June 24, 2025.
Photo C
Dated mid-May 1887. Old Judge baseball card of T Arundel (87). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date confirmed as this was the only year Arundel played for Indianapolis. A mid-May date can be suggested by the similarity in studio background to the Corcoran image above from this time period. Detail view showed broad stripes on cap. Year Arundel with team from baseball-reference.com.
Photo D
Dated 1887, likely mid-May 1887. Portrait of T Arundel (87), full view at left, detail view at right, was likely to have been made at the same time as the images above. 1887 was the only year Arundel played for Indianapolis. Detail view showed broad stripes on cap and the stitching on the shirt. Arundel may have been wearing a light gray uniform in this photo.Year Arundel with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from alamy.com.
Photo E
Dated 1887, likely mid-May 1887. Old Judge cabinet card of H Boyle (87-89). Full view at left, detail view at right. This image was likely to have been made at the same time as the images above. Detail view shows broad dark stripes on a dark cap, and a shirt with a button placket and a narrow shirt pocket. Boyle may have been wearing a light gray uniform in this photo. Years Boyle with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Photo F
Dated 1887, likely mid-May 1887. Old Judge cabinet card of J Denny (87-89). Full view at left, detail view at right. This image was likely to have been made at the same time as the images above. Detail view shows broad dark stripes on a dark cap and possibly the top of the button placket unbuttoned. Years Denny with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Photos G & H
Dated circa 1887. Buchner Gold Coin baseball cards of J Denny (87-89), left, and E Seery (87-89), right. Both illustrations show a red diamond on the shirt front. The Denny card shows a red diamond on the top of the cap as well. This diamond motif, albeit as a black diamond, was used by the St. Louis NL club in 1886. The St. Louis club disbanded before 1887 and many players came to Indianapolis. Both Denny and Seery played for St Louis in 1886 and Indianapolis in 1887. There is no photographic or written documentation to confirm this uniform was worn by the team. This uniform may have been a creation of the artist based on knowledge of the 1886 St. Louis uniform. Years with teams from baseball-reference.com. Images from oldcardboard.com.
Photo I & J
Dated circa 1887. Buchner Gold Coin baseball cards of J Denny (87-89), left, and M Polhemus (87). Illustrations show a cap with red horizontal bands and a shirt placket with red trim. There is no photographic or written documentation to confirm this uniform was worn by the team. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Images from oldcardboard.com.
Photo K
Dated circa 1888. Goodwin Champions baseball card of J Glasscock (87-89). Full view at left, detail view at right. This illustration depicted a gray uniform with the red-striped cap, red belt and red stockings. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Images from oldcardboard.com.
Photo L
Dated 1888, likely based on uniform from 1887. Cut-out paper figure representing the Indianapolis NL team for Base Ball Game, a board game by McLoughlin Bros., full view at left, detail view at right. Figure was depicted wearing a white cap with a star on top, white shirt and pants, black belt, and red stockings. There is no photographic or written documentation to confirm this uniform was worn by the team in 1887 or 1888. This uniform may have been a creation of the artist based on knowledge of the 1886 St. Louis uniform which featured a black diamond on the shirt. Figures were produced by McLoughlin Bros., New York, copyright 1888, and with the title, “Amusement for Boys to Cut Out.”
Written documentation on this uniform:
March 1887: “The directors [of the Indianapolis club], at their yesterday’s meeting, decided upon a uniform which will be a waist of sheep’s gray flannel, navy blue stockings, belts and caps. Each man will be supplied two uniforms.” From St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 24, 1887. Research from Gary Kodner and Oliver Kodner.
March 1887: “The uniform of the Indianapolis Club will be a gray suit with navy blue stockings, belts and caps.” From the Pittsburgh Daily Post, March 28, 1887. Research from Don Stokes.
April 1887: “The uniforms of the Indianapolis nine will consist of gray shirts and pantaloons, navy blue stockings, belts and caps.” From the Washington (DC) Evening Star, April 5, 1887.
April 1887: “The uniform of the team is a very unattractive thing and will be changed. Blue trimmings will be discarded and red substituted. The suit will be made of material almost white in color, with the word ‘Indianapolis’ in red across the breast, red stockings and belts and caps of red and black.” From The Sporting Life, April 23, 1887. Research from Chuck McGill.
April 1887: “The members of the [Indianapolis] club will wear street suits of navy blue with four-button cutaway coats and white derby hats, the latter a gift from the directors. The club will have new uniforms for the opening [National] League game.” From the Philadelphia Times, April 24, 1887.
April 1887: “The uniforms of the Indianapolis nine will consist of gray shirts and pantaloons, navy blue stockings, belts and caps.” From The Sporting Life, April 26, 1887. Research from Tom Shieber. Note, this report is almost similar to the February report above, but seems to contradict with the April report, immediately above.
April 28, 1887, Indianapolis v. Detroit, at Indianapolis, Athletic Park, home opener: “Both clubs were becomingly uniformed, the home nine [Indianapolis] in their new suits of bird’s-egg-colored flannel, red stockings and striped caps.” From the Indianapolis Journal, April 28, 1887.
April 28, 1887, Indianapolis v. Detroit, at Indianapolis, Athletic Park, home opener: “The [Indianapolis] players appeared in clean uniforms with new caps, red and black striped, which added much to their appearance, and wearing blue blouses.” From the Indianapolis News, April 28, 1887.
May 1887: “The Indianapolis Club will have a new and more attractive uniform to travel in than the one they have so far worn, which is very unattractive to say the least. It will consist of sheep’s gray shirt and pants with red stockings and caps, the word ‘Indianapolis’ worked across the breast.” From the Philadelphia Times, May 1, 1887.
May 6, 1887, Indianapolis v. Detroit, at Detroit, Recreation Park, home opener: “The weakness in the Hoosiers lay in their inability to bunch their hits.” From the Indianapolis News, May 6, 1887. Use of the Hoosiers nickname.
May 6, 1887, Indianapolis v. Detroit, at Detroit, Recreation Park, home opener: “Those present at yesterday’s game [May 5, 1887] saw one of those keen, brilliant contests for which the Detroits and the Maroon-Hoosiers are noted.” From the Detroit Free Press, May 6, 1887. Example of a newspaper combining the old St. Louis nickname of “Maroons” with “Hoosiers.”
June 1887: “The color of a least one uniform of each club in the [National] League and American Association is given below. It would be next to impossible to give the several different uniforms of each club, as they change the different pieces of one uniform to another, and may appear on the field in a different make-up every day for a week. However, one complete uniform of each club is as follows: […] Indianapolis — Cream-colored flannel caps, shirt and trousers trimmed in red and black with red belt and stockings.” From the New York Sun, June 12, 1887, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 14, 1887. Research from Todd Radom. This may be a description of the uniform shown in the team photo above, see photo A. However, the description of the cap does not seem to match the striped cap shown in the Old Judge baseball cards, see photos above.
July 25, 1887, Indianapolis v. Pittsburgh, at Pittsburgh: “Yesterday [July 25] all the players at Recreation Park wore badges of mourning in memory of their late fellow-player. Denny, of the Indianapolis club, wired every club in the League requesting them to wear similar badges.” From the Pittsburgh Post, July 26, 1887, page 6. The badges were in memory of Pittsburgh player Alex McKinnon, who died July 24, 1887, in Massachusetts, at age 30.
August 1887: “Manager Fogel today ordered new dark blue jersey uniforms, with red belts, caps and stockings for the club, and they will wear them in Washington on Thursday [August 25, 1887].” From the Indianapolis Journal, August 24, 1887.
1887, referenced in an 1888 report: “The traveling suit [of Philadelphia NL in 1888] will be of navy blue, with red trimmings, exactly like those worn by the Indianapolis team the latter part of last season [1887], save that the cap will be blue, with red trimmings, instead of plain red.” From The Sporting Life, February 29, 1888. Research from Chuck McGill.
1887 Indianapolis summary
Uniform: white, red/black striped cap, red stockings
First worn: April 28, Indianapolis
Photographed: team photo from early June to early July, player portraits from mid-May
Described: April
Material:
Manufacturer:
Supposition:
Variations:
Other items: blue blouses (coats?)
Home opener report: yes, April 28 v Detroit
Uniform: blue, red caps and stockings
First worn: August 25, Washington
Photographed:
Described: August, February 1888
Material: jersey uniform
Manufacturer:
Supposition: cap style, shirt style, lettering
Variations: may have worn a gray uniform early in the season, with blue caps and stockings, or with red striped caps and red stockings. Each player was supplied two uniforms at start of season
Team genealogy:
Indianapolis 1887-1889
Indianapolis joined the National League (NL) in 1887 when the St. Louis NL team was sold and transferred. The NL began operation in 1876 and Indianapolis played in the the NL between 1887 and 1889. The team folded after the 1889 NL season. Information from wikipedia.
Rendering posted: May 8, 2016
Diggers on this uniform: Chuck McGill, Don Stokes, Gary Kodner, Oliver Kodner, Todd Radom, Tom Shieber,