1890 New York (New Yorks, Giants)

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 April 1890. Photo year determined by appearance of players O’Rourke, Burkett, Crane, Scanlan, Hornung, Dooley and Sommers. These men only played for New York in 1890. Photo date of April 1890 determined by appearance of player Dooley, who played in spring games for New York but did not play during the season and was released before April 26, 1890. The unusually large number of players in this photo was due to New York absorbing portions of the folded Indianapolis team. New York wore a white uniform in this photo, with dark stockings, a dark belt with a dark buckle, and a dark button on top of a white cap. An 1890 preseason newspaper report described this outfit as the white home uniform with black letters, belt and stockings. Reports also state the team was planning to wear black caps in 1890, however this photo showed team with white caps. Player Burkett, fifth from left, held a cap with dark horizontal bands and it is possible this was the road cap. Photo included a painted studio backdrop that had been previously used for New York team photos from late 1888. This background was identifiable by a painted grandstand and flag pole at far left, and a balustrade railing and steps at far right. See 1888 New York entry for more info on this backdrop.

Players in photo, from left: M Tiernan (87-99), J Boyle (dnp, Chi PL 90, NY NL 92), M Welch (83-92), T O’Rourke (NY NL 90, Syr IA 90), J Burkett (90), J Sharrott (90-92), A Rusie (90-95, 97, 98), A Clark (90-91), S Crane (NY NL 90, Pit NL 90), J Glasscock (90, 91), (J Mutrie mgr NY AA 83, 84, NY NL 85-91), D Buckley (90, 91), M Scanlan (90 3 gms), C Bassett (90-92), J Denny (90-91), J Hornung (90), C Dooley (dnp), A Sommmers (NY NL 90, Cle NL 90) and P Murphy (87-90). Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Dooley release info from The Sporting Life, April 26, 1890. Photo scan from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee. Original photo by Eng. Co., for the New York Sporting Times.

Dated April 1890. Detail view of photo A. Detail view shows lettering across a wide button placket and that one button was positioned in the opening of the “Y” in York. Detail view also shows the stitching on the shirt pocket and two types of shirt sleeves. Player at left wore a short-sleeved shirt with detachable long sleeves and the player at right wore full-length sleeves. Detail view also shows that player on the left wore a dark belt buckle.

Dated April 1890. Detail view of photo A. Detail view shows design and stitching on the cap. Player at left held a cap with dark horizontal cloth bands and this may have been the road cap.

Photo B

Dated April 19, 1890. Photo of New York (NL) playing Philadelphia (NL) at The Polo Grounds, New York. This image was part of a published photo essay covering both the New York NL and PL home openers on this day. The image showed the New York team at bat, and wearing a uniform that was white in color, with a white cap and dark stockings. Image and game date from The Illustrated American, May 10, 1890.

Photo C

Dated April 19, 1890. Photo of New York (NL) playing Philadelphia (NL) at The Polo Grounds, New York. This image was part of a published photo essay covering both the New York NL and PL home opener on this day. The photo was captioned: “Denny (N.Y.N.L.) put out at first.” The image showed the New York uniform being white in color, with a white cap and dark stockings. Image and game date from The Illustrated American, May 10, 1890.

Written documentation on these uniforms:
November 1889: “When the [National] League [meeting] finally adjourned for the day, its accomplished business included […] the authorization of President Young to fix a distinctive color for each club uniform.” From the Paterson (NJ) Morning Call, November 16, 1889.

January 1890: “[The National League] decided unanimously by selection of white suits to be […] worn at home at all times. Visiting teams will have their own options in selecting their dress, providing […] it is easily distinguished from the home team.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, January 30, 1890. Research from Gary Kodner.

February 1890: “Manager Mutrie has arranged to leave for Charleston, S.C., with fourteen men of the New York League team Feb. 26. […] The new uniforms of the team were decided upon yesterday. The home suits will be white, with black stockings, caps, and belts, and the words ‘New York’ in black letters on the breast. The traveling suits will be of gray, with maroon trimmings..” From the Chicago Tribune February 22, 1890. Research from Don Stokes. This preseason report included a black cap in the uniform description.

February 1890: “The New York [National] League team’s home suits will be white, with black stockings, caps and belts, and the words ‘New York’ on the breast. The traveling suits will be of gray, with maroon trimmings.” From The Sporting Life, February 26, 1890.

April 1890: “The New York [National] League team will be uniformed same as last season, namely white with black stockings, belts and caps. The words ‘New York’ will be in black letters across the chest.” From The Sporting Life, April 5, 1890.

April 19, 1890, New York (NL) v. Philadelphia (NL) at New York, opening day: “New York was attired in white uniforms with black stockings. […] Philadelphia wore gray suits with red stockings and belts.” From Preston D. Orem, Baseball 1882-1891 From The Newspaper Accounts (1966, 1967, reprinted by SABR in 2021). Note that Orem in his publication had a different description of the uniforms from this day. The error derived from the fact that there were two home openers on April 19, 1890, held in adjacent ballparks in New York, and both featuring teams representing New York and Philadelphia. One was a National League contest and the other of the Players’ League. Based on other reports of the two Philadelphia uniforms from 1890, it appears Orem switched the uniform descriptions from these two games by accident.

Team genealogy: New York 1883-1957
New York was formed to join the National League (NL) in 1883, with many of its players coming from a disbanded NL team in Troy, NY. The NL began operation in 1876 and this New York team played in the NL from 1883 to 1957. The team moved to San Francisco after the 1957 season. Information from wikipedia.