1889 Cincinnati (Cincinnatis, Red Stockings, Reds)
Left: This rendering is based on partial visual documentation for uniform style and written documentation for color. Imoprtant 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 April 22, 1889. This exaggerated rendering of Cincinnati pitcher J Duryea (AA 89, NL 90, 91) was published in the Cincinnati Post on this day. Drawing depicts a white uniform with dark lettering and stockings. Newspaper reports from this first week of the season suggest the team wore their black uniforms. Duryea pitched April 20 at home v. St. Louis. Years Duryea with team from baseball-reference.com.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
January 1889: “The new uniforms for the Cincinnati team for next season [1889] will be decided on in a few days, and will be ordered immediately.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, January 20, 1889, page 13.
February 1889: “The Reds have ordered Nadjy uniforms similar to those worn by the Giants last season. In addition to the black uniform the Reds will wear a new white uniform with nobby jackets. Their stockings will be red.” From the Pittsburgh Dispatch, February 3, 1889. Research from Don Stokes. Regarding the black uniform, researcher Bill Grindler adds: “Nadjy refers to an operetta of the same name which opened at the Casio Theater on Broadway on May 14, 1888. In this operetta the title character of ‘Nadjy’ appears in at least one scene in an all-black ballerina costume including a hat.”
February 1889: “The Cincinnati Club’s new ‘Nadjy’ uniforms will be put on exhibition in Mabley & Carew’s windows as soon as they are completed.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, February 3, 1889, page 13. Mabley & Carew was a prominent department store in Cincinnati, founded in 1877. Info from wikipedia.com.
February 1889: “The Cincinnatis will probably wear white Norfolk jackets, with their Nadjy uniforms.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, February 7, 1889, page 2.
February 1889: “The padding will not be put in the Reds’ new ‘Nadjy’ uniforms by the manufacturers, but each player will be given his suit and allowed to pad it to suit his fancy.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, February 24, 1889, page 13.
March 1889: “The Cincinnati team for the first time in its history will discard their red stockings this season [of 1889]. Red Stockings and the Cincinnati Base Ball Club have been closely allied ever since their famous ancestors made the game a national pride. The claim is that spectators get tired of that old color—red—and demand something new.” From The Sporting Life, March 27, 1889.
April 1889: “The new uniforms of the Cincinnati team will be on exhibition in the show windows of Mabley & Carew this afternoon [April 6]. A prominent photographer will take a group picture of the Reds before the game this afternoon [with Toronto at Cincinnati].” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, April 6, 1889, page 2. The April 6 game was postponed due to cold weather. Mabley & Carew was a prominent department store in Cincinnati, founded in 1877. Info from wikipedia.com.
April 1889: “The [National] League’s colors are varied, of course. Boston, like Cincinnati, has clung long to the red.” From the Cleveland Leader, April 8, 1889, referencing a story by Ben Mulford of the Cincinnati Times-Star. Research from Gary Kodner.
April 1889: The Cincinnatis will put on their skin-tight Nadjy uniforms this afternoon [April 17 v. St. Louis in Cincinnati] for the first time.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, April 17, 1889, page 2.
April 1889: “The black uniforms worn by the Cincinnatis are very neat and pretty. They are patterned after those of the New York Giants.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 17, 1889. Research from Don Stokes.
April 17, 1889, Cincinnati v. St. Louis, at Cincinnati, home opener: “The new Nadjy uniforms are the finest ever worn by an Association team.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, April 18, 1889, page 8.
April 17, 1889, Cincinnati v. St. Louis, at Cincinnati, home opener: “At the end of the sixth inning, peering from the depths of a large tureen were nine pair of red legs encased in black hose.” From the Cincinnati Post, April 18, 1889, page 1. St. Louis scored four runs in the sixth and an illustration in the Post on this day showed only the players’ legs sticking out of a boiling pot above a fire.
April 17, 1889, Cincinnati v. St. Louis, at Cincinnati, home opener: “The Cincinnatis appeared on the field in their new black Nadjy uniforms.” From the New York World, April 18, 1889, citing a special dispatch from Cincinnati.
April 18, 1889, Cincinnati v. St. Louis, at Cincinnati: “One or two more defeats and the alarm will be sounded for the burning of the Nadjy uniforms.” From the New York Press, April 19, 1889.
April 18, 1889, Cincinnati v. St. Louis, at Cincinnati: “The Cincinnati players are stuck in their black Nadjy uniforms. […] Souvenir programs with photos of the local team were presented to every lady in attendance. The photos were of the old colors of the club—-red. Handsome as the Nadjy uniforms are, they are not liked by the old-timers who fight against shelving the red.” From The Sporting Life, April 24, 1889.
April 1889: “The Reds will wear white uniforms and red stockings this afternoon [April 21 in Cincinnati v. Kansas City].” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, April 21, 1889, page 2.
April 1889: “There was a general clamor among the baseball cranks last night [April 24] that the Cincinnati players should give their black Nadjy uniforms a coat of red paint.” From the Washington Post, April 25, 1889, page 2, citing the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette.
April 1889: “Cincinnati’s players considered their ‘Nadjy’ uniforms ‘Jonahs’ and have discarded them.” The New York Evening Telegram, April 25, 1889.
April 30, 1889, Cincinnati v. Kansas City, at Kansas City: “The visitors’ uniform of black knit Jersey stuff with big steel belt buckles fit very suddenly indeed.” From the Kansas City Times, May 1, 1889, page 3.
May 1889: “The Reds will be home next Saturday [May 4]. They will then done red stockings and cling to them until the snow flies next November.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, May 1, 1889, page 2.
May 1889: “President Stern, of the Cincinnati Club, has wisely ordered the team to return to their old time honored red stocking suit, and to throw away the ridiculous circus show Nadjy uniforms. Mr. Stern says: ‘Never as long as I am at the head of the Cincinnati Club will it depart from the red and white uniform. On Saturday next [May 4] the boys will lay away their Nadjy suits for good, and that will end the fancy uniform business for me.’ The Cincinnatis have not played their game since they had the Nadjy uniforms on.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 3, 1889, page 1.
May 1889: “The Cincinnatis have offered their Nadjy uniforms for sale. It would be a good idea to also sell the teams quitting qualities.” From the Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 4, 1889, page 4.
May 4, 1889, Cincinnati v. Louisville, at Cincinnati: “The Cincinnatis had out their warranted double-distilled mascot suits yesterday afternoon [May 4], but, as if to mock the fans who decried the Nadjys, the white and red seemed to act as a Jonah, as a Cincinnatis played one of their poorest games of the season. […] Whether the Cincinnatis wear white, green, blue, yellow or gray uniforms has no more influence on their ball playing than the ear splitting, blood-curdling yells of a mongrel cure has on the course of the moon. It is impossible however, to make the average base-ball crank believe this. About nine out of every ten patrons of the Cincinnati club firmly think the poor showing of the Cincinnati team this season is due entirely to the black Nadjy uniforms. […] If the patrons of the game are looking for a first-class omen of bad luck, the Cincinnatis have a far bigger Jonah, as Jonahs go, then the black Nadjy uniforms. The beautiful double-breasted maroon jackets worn by the Reds this season [1889], according to popular base-ball superstition, are harbingers of all manner of bad luck.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, May 5, 1889, page 10. Portions of this report were published by the New York Weekly Press, May 9, 1889.
May 1889: “From the Cincinnati Enquirer—For sale, nine elegant black Nadjy uniforms, suitable for baseball, lawn tennis or circus work. Warranted to break up the strongest combination ever organized. First class Jonah guaranteed with each uniform. Apply with dark lantern and a gallon of chloroform to Colonel Deitsch Oehler at the Cincinnati Park between 1 and 2 o’clock tomorrow morning.” From the New York Press, May 7, 1889.
May 1889: “[Cincinnati] have not played in old red stocking style with their ridiculous Nadjy uniforms on.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 7, 1889.
May 1889: “Cincinnati in their dark suits looked like they were ready for burial. […] The Reds lost nine of their first fourteen games.” From Preston D. Orem, Baseball 1882-1891 From The Newspaper Accounts (1966, 1967, reprinted by SABR in 2021), pg. 392.
May 1889: “[Buffalo] managers Rowe and White might disguise the Bisons by buying the Nadjy uniforms which have been discarded by the Cincinnatis.” From the Buffalo Sunday News, May 12, 1889. Note that Jack Rowe and Deacon White played for Pittsburgh in 1889, however baseball-reference.com also lists the two as managers of the 1889 Buffalo team, possibly meaning they had some involvement with team operations.
1889: “Cincinnati had put away the fancy uniforms. There would be no more ‘Nadjy’ suits and the time-honored suits were resurrected as sentiment won the day. In contrast the fancy variegated suits of the previous season, the Reds had adopted a black type of uniform of a somewhat somber type.” From Preston D. Orem, Baseball 1882-1891 From The Newspaper Accounts (1966, 1967, reprinted by SABR in 2021), pg. 387.
June 1889: “The Cincinnati Enquirer doesn’t like the Cincinnatis’ maroon jackets, and remarks: ‘It is a singular fact that success and the maroon color never traveled in the same base-ball teams. Maroon has hoodooed every base-ball team that included it in its make-up. Millionaire Lucas clothed his great ‘stone wall’ infield team in maroon-trimmed uniforms and not only did the team go out of site, but Lucas’ millions went along with it. Indianapolis has used maroon-colored trimmings for the last two seasons, and the Hoosier team has always been a picture of bad luck. New York wore the maroon season after season and never won the championship until it dropped the color and selected black Nadjys.’” From the Buffalo Sunday Morning News, June 16, 1889. Also from the Topeka (KS) State Journal, June 22, 1889. Topeka research from Chuck McGill.
June 25, 1889, Cincinnati v. St. Louis, at St. Louis, Sportsman’s Park: “[Cincinnati] appeared as they used to in the olden times—in white uniforms and with red stockings which have always been a part of Cincinnati’s uniforms. They had left the hideous Nadjys behind.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, June 26, 1889, citing a special dispatch. Research from Don Stokes.
December 1889, interview with Cincinnati President Stern: “The old charter, incorporating the club as the ‘Cincinnati Baseball Club,’ has been replaced by one designating the club as the ‘Cincinnati Red Stocking Baseball Club.’ This is done to prevent others from appropriating the name.” From the Cincinnati Post, December 13, 1889, page 1.
1889 Cincinnati uniform summary
Uniform: white, red stockings
First worn: April 21, Cincinnati
Photographed:
Described: February, May, June
Material:
Manufacturer:
Supposition:
Variations:
Other items: red double-breasted coat
Home opener report: yes, April 18 v. St. Louis
Uniform: all black
First worn: April 18, Cincinnati, discarded about May 2
Photographed:
Described: February-June
Material: Jersey knit
Manufacturer:
Supposition: cap style, lettering style
Variations:
Team genealogy:
Cincinnati 1881-
Cincinnati was formed in 1881 to join the American Association (AA) for its inaugural season in 1882. The AA was a major league operating between 1882 and 1891. Cincinnati played in the AA throughout the 1880s and then joined the National League (NL) for the 1890 season. The NL began operation in 1876. Cincinnati has played every year in the NL from 1890 to present time. Information from wikipedia.
Rendering posted: May 27, 2017
Diggers on this uniform: Bill Grindler, Chuck McGill, Don Stokes, Gary Kodner,