1894 Pittsburgh (Pittsburghs, Pirates)

These renderings are 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

Visual documentation on these uniforms:

Photo A

Dated early April 1894. Date determined by appearance of player Earle, who was released from the team about April 9, 1894, and by the fact that the team left Pittsburgh on April 14, 1894 to start the season in St. Louis on April 19, 1894. Photo most likely taken in Pittsburgh at Exposition Park. Players wore two different uniforms in this photo. Some players wore what newspapers described as the Pittsburgh home uniform, white shirt and pants with black stockings and cap. The home shirt had no lettering on the chest. The other players wore what newspapers described as the Pittsburgh road uniform, white shirt, blue pants and cap, and black stockings. The city name was arched across the chest on the road uniform. The pants had quilted padding.

Top row, from left: F Shiebeck (Pit 94, Was 94), A Gumbert (93-94), R Ehret (92-94), A Lukens (dnp 94, Phi NL 94, Hzltn PSL 94) and B Earle? (Pit 92, 93, dnp 94, Lou 94, Bro 94). Middle row: T Colcolough (93-95), E Smith (92-97, 01), P Donovan (92-99), A Terry (Pit 92-94, Chi 94, 1 gm with Pit in 94), C Mack (91-96), F Killen (93-98) and J Sugden (93-97). Front: J Stenzel (92-96), G Nicol (Pit 94, Lou 94), P Knell (Pit 94 1 gm, Lou 94), (A Buckenberger, mgr 92-94), J Glasscock (93, 94), J Beckley (NL 88, 89, 91-96, PL 90), D Lyons (93, 94, 96, 97) and L Bierbauer (91-96). Player IDs from item. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Earle release date from The Sporting Life, April 14, 1894. Info on team leaving Pittsburg from The Sporting Life, April 21, 1894. Image scan from Carson Lorey, retrieved from ebay.com.

Dated early April 1894. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed pillbox caps with subtle thin horizontal bands. The city name on the shirts were spelled “Pittsburg” and one of the white buttons on the shirt overlapped the letter “S” in the city name. The pants had quilted padding. Player at left wore his sweater under his shirt and with the collar of the sweater overlaying the shirt collar.

Photos B & C

Dated early April 1894. Left, photo of F Shiebeck (Pit 94, Was 94), and right, photo of A Lukens (dnp 94, Phi NL 94, Hzltn PSL 94). These photos were produced as part of a series of images of Pittsburgh players, most likely taken in Pittsburgh at Exposition Park on the same day as the team photo, see photo A. Players wore the white home uniform in these photos. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scans from ebay.com.

Photos D & E

Dated early April 1894. Left, photo of F Killen (93-98), and right, photo of A Gumbert (93-94). A newspaper reported on April 3, 1894 that “the other day Frank Killen got into a pitching position in the box so that a snap shotter, representing the weekly paper, might get in his work on him.” These photos were produced as part of a series of images of Pittsburgh players, most likely taken in Pittsburgh at Exposition Park on the same day as the team photo, see photo A. Players wore the white home uniform in these photos. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Report of Killen photo from The Sporting Life, April 7, 1894. Image scans from ebay.com.

Photos F & G

Dated early April 1894. Left, photo of C Mack (91-96), and right, photo of D Lyons (93, 94, 96, 97). These photos were produced as part of a series of images of Pittsburgh players, most likely taken in Pittsburgh at Exposition Park on the same day as the team photo, see photo A. Players wore the Pittsburgh road uniform in these photos. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scans from ebay.com.

Photos H & I

Dated early April 1894. Left, photo of P Donovan (92-99) and C Mack (91-96), and right, photo of manager A Buckenberger (92-94). These photos were produced as part of a series of images of Pittsburgh players, most likely taken in Pittsburgh at Exposition Park on the same day as the team photo, see photo A. Players wore the Pittsburgh road uniform in these photos. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scans from ebay.com.

Photo J

Dated April 1894. The date for this image can be determined by appearance of player Lukens, who was released before April 28, 1894, and did not play for Pittsburgh during the regular season. Players wore a white uniform shirt in this photo, with the city name arched across the chest. The belt, pants and stockings were of a dark tone. Newspaper reports from 1894 called this uniform the road uniform and described it as consisting of a white shirt, red belt and blue pants. Reports varied when describing the stocking color, recorded as red in one report and black in another. Of the pants visible in the photo, five of the nine had quilted padding. The white shirts worn by the players demonstrated many different sleeve styles, including short sleeves, long sleeves, rolled sleeves, 3/4-length sleeves and sleeve extensions.

Top row, from left: F Shiebeck (Pit 94, Was 94), L Bierbauer (91-96), J Sugden (93-97), C Mack (91-96), J Beckley (NL 88, 89, 91-96, PL 90), E Smith (92-97, 01) and A Lukens (dnp 94, Phi NL 94, Hzltn PSL 94). Middle: D Lyons (93, 94, 96, 97), T Colcolough (93-95), P Donovan (92-99), F Killen (93-98), (A Buckenberger, mgr 92-94), R Ehret (92-94), J Stenzel (92-96) and J Glasscock (93, 94). Front, on ground: A Gumbert (93-94) and G Nicol (Pit 94, Lou 94). Image and player IDs from the Spalding Base Ball Guide, 1895. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Lukens info from The Sporting Life, April 7, April 28, May 19 and July 14, 1894.

Dated April 1894. Detail view of photo J. Detail view showed that a white shirt button overlapped the bottom portion of the “S” in the city name. The position of this button varied slightly from shirt to shirt. The player at left had a second button overlap the top portion of the “S.”

Photo K

Dated 1894. Portrait of J Beckley (NL 88, 89, 91-96, PL 90). Full view at left, detail view at right. Portrait showed a pill-box cap and the city name spelled without an “h.” “Pittsburg” had become the official spelling in 1891. The city reverted back to the original spelling of Pittsburgh in 1911. Detail view at right showed that a white shirt button overlapped the bottom of the letter “S” in the city name. The same button overlap was visible in the 1894 team picture, see photo A. Years Beckley with team from baseball-reference.com. Pittsburgh etymology from wikipedia.com. Original photo by Dana, Pittsburgh. The frame of this cabinet photo included the date and the term “Ivoryettes”, the latter was coined by the photo studio to describe an elegant lighting effect. Ivoryette info from Anthony’s Photographic Bulletin, Volume XXIII (1892).

Photos L & M

Left: dated 1894, portrait of J Sugden (93-97). Right, dated circa 1894, portrait of T Colcolough (93-95). The date for the portrait at left can determined by the photo frame, which included a printed date and was identical to the photo frame in photo K. The portrait at right was most likely made in 1894 as the uniform and cap shown in the photo match that shown in photos K and L. There are also similar qualities in the studio background and lighting for all three images. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Original photo of Sugden by Dana, Pittsburgh.

Photo N

Dated April 1894. Printed schedule of Pittsburgh home games. Full view at left, detail view at right. Detail view showed illustration depicting a Pittsburgh player wearing a white or light gray uniform with a black cap and black stockings. This depiction matched a newspaper report that said the team switched from a white cap in 1893 to a black cap in 1894.

Written documentation on these uniforms:
February 1894: “Manager Buckenberger stated yesterday that he had selected the uniforms for the Pittsburgh team for the next season. They will be red, white and blue, and Buck thinks they will be the prettiest in the [National] league. White shirts and pants, with black caps, belts and stockings, will be used on the home grounds, while the traveling uniforms will be white shirt, blue pants, red belt and stockings, with blue cap and sweater. The change to black stockings and caps at home will be a good thing, as the white caps last season [1893] were almost impossible to keep clean.” From the Pittsburgh Daily Post, Febraury 4, 1894. Research from Don Stokes. Note that a report from July 1894 stated the Pittsburgh road cap and road stockings were black in color.

March 1894: “Pittsburg[h] will admittedly have a ‘banner’ team the coming season with colors of red, white and blue.” From The Sporting Life, March 3, 1894.

April 1894: “Pittsburg[h], April 3. – […] The other day [Pittsburgh pitcher] Frank Killen got into a pitching position in the box so that a snap shotter, representing the weekly paper, might get in his work on him.” From The Sporting Life, April 7, 1894.

July 1894: “The Pittsburg[h]s have the best-looking traveling uniforms in the [National] league. Black stockings and caps, blue pants, white shirts and red belts make a very pretty combination.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, July 22, 1894. 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.