1887 Metropolitan, New York (Metropolitans, Mets)
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 circa 1887. Old Judge cabinet card of D Orr (83-87). Full view at left, detail view at right. This version of the card was issued in 1888 when Orr played for Brooklyn–note team name at bottom of card. Orr was purchased on October 20, 1887 by Brooklyn when the Metropolitan team dissolved at the conclusion of the 1887 season. A photo date of 1887 can be suggested by studying the early baseball card releases by Goodwin & Co., see photo C for an earlier issue of this photo. Player wore a white cap, shirt and pants in this photo, with light-colored belt and stockings. A contemporary newspaper described the Metropolitan uniform for 1887 as white in color, with blue stockings and belt. The shirt in this photo had thin, light-colored lace ties and a placket with decorative stitching. Years Orr with team and sale date from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo B
Dated circa 1887. Old Judge baseball card of J Lynch (83-87). Full view at left, detail view at right. A photo date of 1887 can be suggested by studying the early baseball card releases by Goodwin & Co., see photos C & D for more info. 1887 was also the last year Lynch played major league baseball, excluding one game in 1890, and this potentially eliminates a photo date of later than 1887. Both uniform and photo background in this photo match that shown in photo A. Years Lynch with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo C & D
Dated circa 1887. Old Judge baseball cards of D Orr (83-87), left, and J Lynch (83-87), right. Similarity in photo setting and printed frame suggest these cards were produced and issued at the same time. Old Judge cards with this simplified border and lettering are called the “Script Series” by historians in reference to how the player’s names have been added to each photo. The Script Series was one of the first series of cards produced by Goodwin & Company and historians can date these cards from between 1886 and early 1887. Many of the Metropolitan players were originally portrayed in Old Judge baseball cards called the “Spotted Tie” series. The spotted tie series can be dated to an 1886 release and further suggests the cards of Orr and Lynch above were issued afterwards, about 1887. Image scan and Script Series info from Jay Miller, Joe Gonsowski and Richard Masson, The Photographic Baseball Cards of Goodwin & Company, 1886-1890 (2008).
Photos E & F
Dated circa 1887. Buchner Gold Coin baseball cards of D Esterbrook (83, 84, 87), left, and D Orr (83-87). Illustrations appear to match baseball card photos and written descriptions of the white uniform worn by Metropolitan during this period. Note that drawings show a blue braid above the bill of the cap. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Images from oldcardboard.com.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1887: “The Metropolitans are to be provided with two sets of uniforms, the fatigue uniform to consist of a handsome grayish brown material which will comprise the cap, shirts, pants and stockings, while the dress uniform will be that worn last season—-i.e., white, with blue belts and stockings.” From The Sporting Life, March 2, 1887. Research from Chuck McGill.
April 1887: “[Metropolitan] uniforms– white with blue trim.” From the New York Times, April 13, 1887. Research from Clifford Blau.
April 1887: “[Metropolitan] wore brown uniforms at Brooklyn.” From the New York Herald, April 17, 1887. Research from Clifford Blau.
April 16, 1887, Metropolitan, New York, v. Brooklyn, at Brooklyn, Washington Park, opening day: “The Metropolitans were the first of the contesting teams to put in an appearance on the field, and they looked strange in their new suits of brown and gray.” From the Brooklyn Eagle, April 17, 1887. Research from Don Stokes.
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: […] Metropolitan — Caper-colored shirt, cap, trousers and stockings.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 14, 1887, citing the New York Sun. Research from Todd Radom.
August 1887: “The Mets make a remarkable appearance in their different-colored shirts. Each one is different, and they form all the colors of the rainbow.” From The Sporting Life, August 24, 1887. Research from Tom Shieber. This report suggests Metropolitan wore “parti-colored” uniforms in late 1887. More information is needed to render these uniforms.
Team genealogy:
Metropolitan, New York 1880-1887
Metropolitan was formed as an independent pro team in New York, NY, in 1880 and through the end of the 1882 season competed as an independent against teams from the National League (NL) and the American Association (AA). The AA was a new major league formed in 1882 and Metropolitan joined the AA for the 1883 season. They played in the new league between 1883 and 1887 and the team disbanded after the 1887 season. Information from wikipedia.
Rendering posted: October 23, 2016
Diggers on this uniform: Chuck McGill, Cliff Blau, Don Stokes, Todd Radom, Tom Shieber,