1892 Cincinnati (Cincinnatis, Reds, Red Stockings)
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 renderings.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team: documented
Visual documentation on these uniforms:
Photo A
Dated late May 1892 to October 1892. Year of photo determined by the appearance of player O’Neill, who only played for Cincinnati in 1892. Date range of late May to October determined by the appearance of player Browning, who was released by Louisville and signed by Cincinnati during the week before May 28, 1882. Players wore a white uniform in this photo, with a white pillbox-style cap, and dark lettering on the shirt. The belt and the stockings were also dark in color. Newspapers reported in 1892 that the uniform was white and the stockings were the “time-honored red.” Of the twelve players shown, seven wore short sleeves. Two players wore a dark undershirt. One player wore a dark-colored cap. Several players wore pants with quilted padding at the hips.
Top row, from left: F Vaughn (AA 86, NL 92-99), T O’Neill (92), C Comiskey (92-94), E Chamberlain (92-94), T Mullane (AA 86-89, NL 90-93) and P Browning (Cin 91, 92, Lou NL 92). Front row: G Smith (91-96), B Holliday (AA 89, NL 90-98), M Murphy (92-95), F Dwyer (AA 90, NL 92-99), A Latham (90-95) and B McPhee (AA 82-89, NL 90-99). Player IDs from Carson Lorey, identity of Dwyer from Ken Samoil. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Browning transaction info from The Sporting Life, May 28, 1892. Image scan from Carson Lorey, citing the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame Facebook page.
Dated late May 1892 to October 1892. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed the button placket on the shirt, most visible on player at right, and that one white button overlapped the first “N” in the city name. Detail view also showed the team’s fabric belts, most likely red in color.
Dated late May 1892 to October 1892. Another detail view of photo A. This detail view showed the style of the lettering on the shirt, the button placket, and a shirt pocket, most visible on the player at right. Note that the white button overlapping the “N” on both shirts may have been darkened by a retoucher after the image was made. Also note the possible indication of subtle pinstripes visible on the long-sleeved shirt sleeve.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1892: “The Cincinnati uniform at home will be white, while the time-honored red stockings will be worn at home and abroad. On their out of town jaunts the team’s uniform will be of light gray flannel with a faint stripe of blue running through it.” From the Hamilton (ON) Journal News, March 12, 1892. Research from Don Stokes.
March 1892: “The Cincinnati Club will stick to the time-honored red stockings, which earned for them the name of Cincinnati Reds.” From The Sporting Life, March 12, 1892.
April 12, 1892, Cincinnati v. Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, home opener: “Cincinnati, April 12— […] A military band furnished the music, and as [Charlie] Comiskey and the [Cincinnati] boys moved upon the field arrayed in their spotless uniforms of white and red, the beautiful strains of ta-ra-dum floated upon the air.” From The Sporting Life, April 16, 1892. Game date from retrosheet.org.
May 22, 1892, Cincinnati v. Louisville at Louisville: “Louisville, May 23— […] In the game yesterday afternoon the Louisville and Cincinnati players were wearing black crape in memory of ‘Hub’ Collins, whose death Saturday was entirely unexpected.” From The Sporting Life, May 28, 1892. Another newspaper report of this game mentioned only Louisville in regard to wearing memorial crepe (crape): “Out of respect to the memory of ‘Hub’ Collins the Louisville players wore bows of crape upon their shirt.” From The New York Press, May 23, 1892. Collins was a member of the Brooklyn team when he died May 21, 1892. He had formerly played for Louisville. Collins career info and death date from baseball-reference.com.
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: September 2, 2022
Diggers on this uniform: Carson Lorey, Don Stokes, Ken Samoil,