1889 Pittsburgh (Pittsburghs, Pittsburgs, Alleghenys)
Far left & third from left: These renderings are based on written documentation for uniform style and color. No visual documentation is known and an artist’s conceptualization is used to create the renderings.
Rendering accuracy: Year: documented Team: documented
Second from left & far right: These renderings are based on visual documentation for uniform style and written documentation for color. Some details may be undocumented or difficult to determine. An educated guess is made to complete the rendering.
Rendering accuracy: Year: documented Team: documented
Visual documentation on these uniforms:
Photo A
Dated April 1889. Old Judge baseball card of B Allen (dnp for Pit, Davenport CISL 89, Terre Haute IIL 89). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date determined by player’s time with the team. Allen was reported to be on the team roster on March 9, 1889 and was subsequently reported to have been released from the team May 4, 1889. He did not play in any games for Pittsburgh. Player wore the dark-colored uniform in this photo. This uniform was described in newspaper accounts from 1889 as having a black shirt and pants, with orange lace ties on the shirt, an orange-and-black striped cap, an orange belt and orange-and-black striped stockings. Player wore a necktie in this photo that appears to be tucked into a middle opening in the shirt. This confirms the shirt had lace ties. Note the visible string in this photo that connected to the baseball held by the player. Dates Allen with teams in 1889 from baseball-reference.com. Pittsburgh roster dates from Jay Miller, Joe Gonsowski and Richard Masson, The Photographic Baseball Cards of Goodwin & Company, 1886-1890 (2008), referencing the Sporting News. Image scan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo B
Dated April 1889. Old Judge baseball card of S Nicholl (Pit 88, dnp for Pit 89, Davenport CISL 89, Wheeling TSL 89). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date determined by similarity of studio background to photo A. Detail view shows cap with orange-and-black vertical stripes and a striped jacket. Dates Nicholl with team and spelling of surname from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo C
Dated April 1889. Old Judge baseball card of C Lauer (AA 84, NL 89). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date determined by similarity of studio background to photo A. Player wore padded pants in this photo. Detail view shows stockings with orange-and-black stripes. Note that player was not wearing baseball shoes for this photograph. Also note that Lauer may be the player reported to have received blood poisoning from this black uniform, see written descriptions below. Dates Lauer with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo D
Dated 1889. Photo date based on appearance of players Rowe and White, both men only played for Pittsburgh in 1889. Photo most likely take in Pittsburgh at Recreation Park as the grandstand behind the players matched a team photo from 1887. Players wore a white or light-colored uniform in this 1889 photo, with dark belt and stockings. At least six players wore long sleeves and at least seven players wore short sleeves. Most of the players who wore short sleeves also wore a white undershirt. One player, Maul, wore a dark-colored undershirt and one player, Dunlap, wore a white undershirt with subtle stripes. The uniform included white lace ties however, two players, Sunday and Rowe, wore dark-colored laces. One player, Sowders, wore padded pants. This photo is sometimes dated as 1888.
Top row, from left: F Carroll (AA 85, 86, NL 87-89, 91, PL 90), T Berger (Canton TSL 89, dnp for Pit in 89, Pit NL 90, 91), J Rowe (89), A Maul (NL 88, 89, 91, PL 90), D White (89), P Conway (89) and Beecher? Middle: P Galvin (AA 85, 86, NL 87-89, 91, 92, PL 90), B Sunday (88-90), J Fields (NL 87, 89, 91, PL 90), N Hanlon (NL 89, 91, PL 90), F Dunlap (88-90), B Kuhne (AA 85, 86, NL 87-89, PL 90), H Staley (NL 88, 89, 91, PL 90) and B Sowders (Bos NL 89, Pit NL 89, 90). Front, on ground: J Beckley (NL 88, 89, 91-96, PL 90), (Kelly, bat boy) and D Miller (AA 84-86, NL 87-93). Player IDs from another version of this photo, these IDs were non-contemporary. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Photo scan from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee.
Dated 1889. Detail view of photo D. Detail view shows subtle bands on white cap and white laces on shirt. Detail view also shows stitching on shirt pocket and around shirt placket.
Photo E
Dated 1889. Photo year confirmed by appearance of players White and Rowe, both men only played for Pittsburgh in 1889. Photo of team most likely taken at Philadelphia, Huntingdon Grounds. Photo caption of “August 1889” may not be correct as Pittsburgh did not play at Philadelphia during that month. Players wore a white or light-colored uniform with dark belt and stockings, similar to photo D. The uniform included white lace ties. Player Rowe, front row far right, was the only player to wear dark laces. Rowe also wore dark laces in photo D. Of the ten players pictured, five wore long sleeves and five wore short sleeves. There were 17 players pictured in photo D. Note the padded catcher’s mitt in lower left of frame.
Top row, from left: F Carroll (AA 85, 86, NL 87-89, 91, PL 90), D Miller (AA 84-86, NL 87-93), B Kuehne (AA 85, 86, NL 87-89, PL 90), H Staley (NL 88, 89, 91, PL 90) and E Morris (AA 85, 86, NL 87-89, PL 90). Front row: J Fields (NL 87, 89, 91, PL 90), J Beckley (NL 88, 89, 91-96, PL 90), N Hanlon (NL 89, 91, PL 90), (mascot), D White (89) and J Rowe (89). Player IDs from Nigel Ayres and also from a non-contemporary printed resource. Years players with team from baseball-reference.com. August game schedule from retrosheet.org. Original photo published in Athletic Sports in America, England and Australia (1889). Original photo by Levytype Co., Philadelphia.
Dated 1889. Detail view of photo E. Detail view shows an unadorned uniform, possibly as reaction to criticism of the team’s black-and-orange uniform from this same year.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
February 1889: “Pittsburg[h]’s players will wear an orange and black uniform.” From the Buffalo Courier, February 5, 1889.
February 1889: “The Pittsburg[h] players will wear orange and black uniforms. [Pitcher Pud] Galvin will demand extra pay for wearing orange.” From the Buffalo Express, February 19, 1889, citing the Cleveland Plain Dealer. According to Charles Hausberg, SABR BioProject: Pud Galvin (retrieved February 27, 2023), Galvin “was born to Irish immigrants who […] hailed from County Kerry in southwestern Ireland.” The color orange represented Northern Ireland.
March 1889: “It is very probable that the Pittsburg[h]s will be given pet names this summer if the present intentions in regard to their uniforms are carried out. Their traveling suit will be black shirt with an orange cord, black pants, orange belt, black and orange striped stockings; caps black and orange stripe, with the stripe running up and down. The dress suit to be worn at home will be white shirt, with a black cord, white pants, with a black belt; black and orange cap, black and orange stockings, half and half, the upper half to be black and the lower half orange. The jackets will be Norfolk style, with black and orange stripes one and a quarter inches wide. The Zebras and the Convicts would be appropriate.” From the New York Press, March 17, 1889.
April 1889: “The Pittsburg[h]s look like a flock of orioles in their gay colors.” From the Monticello (NY) Republican Watchman, April 20, 1889.
1889: “Pittsburgh had traveling uniforms of black pants, a black shirt with one orange cord, an orange belt and orange and black striped stockings. The suits for home use were black, white and orange.” From Preston D. Orem, Baseball 1882-1891 From The Newspaper Accounts (1966, 1967, reprinted by SABR in 2021), pg. 403.
April 1889: “The Pittsburg[h] Club is to have new uniforms already. The gaudy old gold and black won’t do. The colors have run. Yesterday Manager Phillips ordered a light blue shirt and pants, Yale’s color. The stockings and caps will remain the same.” From the Sporting Life, April 24, 1889. Research from Chuck McGill.
April 1889: “If gay uniforms are going to win the pennant, Pittsburg[h] will surely get it.” From the National Police Gazette, April 27, 1889.
May 11, 1889, Pittsburgh v. Chicago, at Chicago: “The modest gray shirt and trousers worn by ‘The Zulus’ [i.e., Pittsburgh] yesterday toned down the Dime Museum style of their regulation costume a trifle, but the yellow stockings and cap still remained an eyesore to every spectator not afflicted with color blindness.” From the Chicago Tribune, May 12, 1889. Research from Richard Hershberger. Game date from retrosheet.org.
May 1889: “It is a question whether or not Laner’s blood was in the finest condition when he pricked the boil open, on his arm, which has resulted in blood poisoning, and it is laid to the black Nadjy uniform.” From the National Police Gazette, May 18, 1889. This report may be referencing Pittsburgh player Chuck Lauer, though unconfirmed.
May 1889: “The ugliest and most disagreeable uniforms ever seen on a ball ground are those worn by the Pittsburg[h]s. They looked well in blue stockings, but the zebra arrangements they wear now are something terrible to contemplate.” The New York Press, May 19, 1889.
June 12, 1889: “The ‘Zulus’ [i.e., Pittsburgh] are no longer the Zulus. They have discarded the yellow caps and stockings and now wear white caps and black stockings.” From the Chicago Tribune, June 12, 1889. Research from Richard Hershberger.
June 28, 1889, Pittsburgh v. Philadelphia, at Pittsburgh: “Parti-colored caps […] gave [Philadelphia] quite a jaunty appearance, a striking contrast with the sober colors of the home team [Pittsburgh].” From the Philadelphia Times, June 29, 1889. Research from Don Stokes.
Team genealogy: Pittsburgh 1870s-
Pittsburgh began as Allegheny, an independent pro team in Pittsburgh formed in the late 1870s. Allegheny joined the American Association (AA) at its formation in 1882. The AA was a major league operating between 1882 and 1891. Allegheny played in the AA through the 1886 season and then moved to the National League (NL) as Pittsburgh in 1887. The NL began operation in 1876 and Pittsburgh has played in the league every year from 1887 to present time. Information from wikipedia.
Rendering posted: February 2, 2018
Diggers on this uniform: Chuck McGill, Don Stokes, Mark Fimoff, Nigel Ayres, Richard Hershberger,