1888 Kansas City (Kansas Citys, Cowboys)
Left: This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style only. Color information is unknown and the uniform is rendered in values of gray. Minor details may also be undocumented or difficult to determine and 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. 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 1888. Photo date confirmed by appearance of players Allen, Fagan, McTamany, Esterday, Briody, Hankinson and Kirby. Players wore a white or light gray uniform in this photo. The letters “K C” and lace ties can be seen on the shirts of several of the players.
Top row, from left: H Porter (88, 89), M Allen (88), B Fagan (88), J McTamany (88) and H Esterday (88). Middle: S Barkley (88, 89), J Davis (UA 84, AA 88, 89), D Rowe (NL 86, AA 88), F Briody (88) and F Hankinson (88). Front, on ground: J Donahue (88, 89) and J Kirby (88). Player IDs from photo. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee. Barkley spelled incorrectly on card. Original photo by Joseph Hall, Brooklyn.
Dated 1888. Detail view of photo A. Detail view shows shirt lacing, tied in a variety of ways, and the team’s dark-colored cap.
Photo B
Dated 1888. Old Judge baseball card of B Fagan (88). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date can be confirmed as this was the only year Fagan played for the team. Full view shows a white uniform with dark-colored cap, belt and stockings. Detail view shows quilted padding on pants, including additional pant material below the knee padding. Year Fagan with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo C
Dated 1888. Old Judge baseball card of J Donahue (88, 89). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date may be confirmed as photo background appears to be similar to the background in photo B. Detail view shows cap with subtle horizontal bands and a white braid, and a white shirt with lace ties. Years Donahue with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo D
Dated 1888. Old Judge baseball card of M Allen (88). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date can be confirmed as this was the only year Allen played for the team. Detail view shows dark-colored cap, quilted padding on hip and knees, and dark-colored trim on the pant seam. Year Allen with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo E
Dated 1888. Old Judge baseball card of L Daniels (88). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date can be confirmed as this was the only year Daniels played for the team. Full view shows a gray unifom, with dark colored cap, belt and stockings. Detail view shows shirt lettering, lace ties and pocket all similar to the white uniform shown in photos B thru D. Similarity in photo backgrounds between this photo and photos B thru D suggest all photos were taken at same session. Note style of fielding glove worn on left hand. Year Daniels with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Jay Miller, Joe Gonsowski and Richard Masson, The Photographic Baseball Cards of Goodwin & Company, 1886-1890 (2008).
Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1888: “Kansas City has not yet made up its mind on what its team will wear next season. There is no doubt, however, but that the Cowboys will make a very presentable appearance.” From the St. Paul Globe, March 25, 1888. Research from Don Stokes.
March 1888: “The Kansas City Club has decided upon a gray uniform with blue trimmings.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 26, 1888, citing the Cincinnati Commercial. Research from Gary and Oliver Kodner.
September 1888: “It’s rather late in the season, nevertheless the Cowboys have been spruced out in new uniforms of navy flannel. They will be worn for the first time at Cincinnati on Sept. 11.” From the Sporting Life, September 12, 1888. Research from Chuck McGill.
September 1888: “The Kansas City team’s new uniforms are very unique. They are made up of dark blue shirts and knickerbockers, red stockings and belts and regular cowboy hats with the word ‘Cowboy’ worked on the shirt front. They do not carry any lassos nor concealed weapons with them. Their appearance alone is enough to rattle any team, much more the umpire.” From the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, September 17, 1888. Note, this may be one of the first examples of a team officially known by its city name to instead display the unofficial team nickname on its uniform.
September 1888: “Kansas City’s team is having a new uniform made of blue flannel. Each shirt is ornamented with the word ‘Cow Boys’ in red letters.” From the New York Herald, September 18, 1888. Note, this may be one of the first examples of a team officially known by its city name to instead display the unofficial team nickname on its uniform.
1888: “Kansas City had ordered new uniforms. The word: ‘Cowboys’ would appear on the shirts.” From Preston D. Orem, Baseball 1882-1891 From The Newspaper Accounts (1966, 1967, reprinted by SABR in 2021), pg. 354.
1888, referenced in 1889: “Manager Watkins thinks blue uniforms [from 1888] are a ‘hoodoo,’ and the new Cowboys’ attire [in 1889] will be a black shirt, with gray pants and dark colored stockings.” From The Sporting Life, January 2, 1889.
Team genealogy:
Kansas City 1888-1889
Kansas City was formed to join the American Association (AA) in 1888. The AA was a major league operating between 1882 and 1891. Kansas City played two season in the AA and folded after the 1889 season. Information from wikipedia.
Rendering posted: April 17, 2016
Diggers on this uniform: Don Stokes, Gary Kodner, Mark Fimoff, Oliver Kodner,