1895 Nashville (Nashvilles)

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

Visual documentation on this uniform:

Photo A

Dated 1895. Date confirmed by appearance of players Sweeney, Trost, Ritz, Smith, McCann and Daniels, all of whom only played in Nashville in 1895. Players wore a dark-colored uniform in this photo. The shirt had lace ties of the same color and a white “N” on the left breast in a square-serif font. Players wore a mix of white and dark-colored stockings. The pillbox cap had vertical striping, however these stripes did not align properly between the crown and the visor. One player, seated in center front, wore a dark-colored uniform that possibly did not match the other uniforms in this photo. The player’s shirt had white buttons and what looks like white lettering arched across the front. It is possible the photographer asked the player to cross his arms to hide the fact that the shirt was different than the others. A newspaper report from March 1895 said that the team’s new uniform was navy blue in color, with a white “N” on the shirt, and that the color of the stockings and belt was white. This description matched the uniform worn by the players in the photo.

Top row, from left: G Cleve (94, 95), D Sweeney (95), M Trost (95) and F Butler (Nsh SA 95, Srntn EL 95). Middle: J Ritz (95), H Smith (95), G Stalling (94, 95), J McCann (95) and B Myers (95). Front: S Moran (Nsh SA 94, 95, Pit NL 95), E Daniels (95) and A Herman (95, 03-06). Player IDs from printed caption with photo. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Spalding Base Ball Guide, 1896.

Dated 1895. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed the lace ties on the shirt, more clearly seen on the player seated at far left and far right. The laces were likely the same color as the shirt and appeared to end halfway down the shirt and even wth the bottom of the letter N on the left breast.

Written documentation on this uniform:
March 1895: “All of the players will be here [in Nashville] for Wednesday’s game [on March 20, 1895] with the Athletics. […] The team will also appear in its new uniform, which is composed of navy blue shirts and trousers, white stockings and belts and white and blue college striped caps. The coats are navy blue, double breasted, with large pearl buttons, white collars and cuffs. On the breast of the shirt is a large N in white.” From the Nashville Tennessean, March 17, 1895. Research from Don Stokes.

Team genealogy: Nashville 1893-1895
Nashville joined the Southern League (SL) in 1893. The reorganized SL operated between 1892 and 1896 and folded after the 1896 season. Nashville played in the SL between 1893 and 1895 and folded after the 1895 season. Information from wikipedia.com and baseball-reference.com.