1891 Philadelphia (Philadelphia, Phillies)

Left: This rendering is based on partial visual documentation for uniform style only. An educated guess is made on uniform color and on minor details that may be missing or difficult to determine.

Rendering accuracy:Year: undocumented    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:

Photos A & B

Dated 1890 or 1891. Left: Studio portrait of E Mayer (90-91). Right: studio portrait of an unidentified player. The uniforms in these portraits do not exactly match the uniforms shown in photos of the Philadelphia team in 1890. Therefore, based on Mayer’s time in Philadelphia, an 1891 date can be suggested for these portraits above. Players wore a white uniform in these photos, with a white cap encircled by two dark horizontal bands, dark lettering across the shirt, and thin dark laces tied in a “x” pattern. All of these features were similar to the 1890 Philadelphia uniform. However, close inspection has shown that the lettering across the shirt in the portraits above was more vertical than that found on the 1890 uniform. See below for a side-by-side uniform comparison. Players may have worn dark baseball pants in these photos or possibly dark dress pants, possibly thinking the image would not show below the waist. Player identification of Mayer from SABR, Reflecting The Past Newsletter, March 2013. Years Mayer with team from baseball-reference.com. Original images from the New York Public Library.

Photo C
Dated 1890 or 1891. Studio portrait of A Myers (89-91). Full view at left, detail view at right. The uniform in this portrait matched that shown in photos A and B. The banded cap, elongated lettering and thin lace ties were common in all three photos, suggesting all may have been made in 1891. However, the studio background in the Myers portrait does not exactly match that shown in the above portraits, which may suggest the Myers portrait was taken at a different session in 1891. Similar to photos A and B, the player in this photo may have worn dark baseball pants or dark dress pants. Player identification from SABR, Reflecting The Past Newsletter, March 2013. Years Myers with team from baseball-reference.com. Original image from the New York Public Library.

Uniform comparison study

Left: dated 1890, detail view of a Philadelphia (NL) team photo. Right: possibly dated 1891, detail view of an unidentified player, see full view above, photo B. Note that the uniform at right has lettering that was vertically elongated when compared to the uniform shown at left. This is especially noticeable in the opening within the letter “A” when comparing the two photos.

Photo D

Dated April 20, 1894. This drawing, based on a photograph of B Allen (90-94), was published in a newspaper on this date. Based on similarities to the uniforms depicted above, the original photo was likely made in 1890 and therefore this drawing is not of the 1894 Philadelphia uniform. Image and player ID from the Philadelphia Inquirer, April 20, 1894. Years Allen with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Ed Morton.

Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1891: “As yet [the Philadelphia] uniforms have not arrived, and they will only practice those parts of the game which their present outfits will allow.” From the Philadelphia Inquirer, March 14, 1891, page 3. The Inquirer said on this day that the team was “tossing the ball on Cape May Beach.” Research from Ed Morton.

March 1891: “The new [Philadelphia] uniform is the same as that of last year [1890], pearl gray with red trimmings. The cap is flat on top and has two rows of red. The ties, belts, and stockings are red.” From the Philadelphia Inquirer, March 19, 1891. Research from Don Stokes. The mention of ties most likely refers to lace ties on the shirt, not neckties.

April 22, 1891, Philadelphia v. Brooklyn, at Philadelphia, home opener: “Then came the Phillies, fifteen strong, attired in their natty new white suits, with red stockings and trimmings. Right behind the Phillies marched the Brooklyns, thirteen in number, in gray and red.” From the Philadelphia Inquirer, April 23, 1891, page 2. Research from Ed Morton.

May 1891: “A handsomely framed photograph of Ferguson and Fogarty, which the two famous players had taken together three years ago, is now on view at the Fifteenth and Huntingdon streets entrance to the pavilion at the Philadelphia [NL] Ball Park.” From the Philadelphia Inquirer, May 31, 1891, page 3. Phillies’ players Charlie Ferguson died April 29, 1888, in Philadelphia at age 25, and Jim Fogarty died May 20, 1891, in Philadelphia at age 27.

Team genealogy: Philadelphia 1882-
Philadelphia was formed to play in the League Alliance (LA) in 1882. The team joined the National League (NL) in 1883. The NL began operation in 1876 and Philadelphia has played in the league every year since 1883. Information from wikipedia.com and Robert D. Warrington.