1896 Baltimore (Baltimores, Orioles)
Left: This rendering is based on unconfirmed visual documentation for uniform style and written documentation for color. Important details may be undocumented or difficult to determine. An educated guess is made to complete the rendering.
Rendering accuracy:Year: undocumented Team: documented
Right: This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style and written documentation for color. Some 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 1896. Date confirmed by appearance of player Donnelly, who only played for Baltimore in 1896. Players wore a light gray uniform in this photo with a dark cap, belt and stockings. The cap had a rounded crown and the shirt pocket displayed an old-English “B.” Newspaper descriptions from early 1896 stated that the team had ordered white uniforms at home and gray uniforms for the road, each with a black cap, belt and stockings. One newspaper reported that the “old-time orange and black striped stockings will not be worn” in 1896. Players wore a variety of shirt-sleeve lengths in this photo. Six of the 17 players wore short sleeves with bare arms and 4 of the 17 wore short sleeves with a white undershirt. 4 wore long sleeves and 2 wore long sleeves with sleeve extensions. The shirt sleeves of one player were not visible in the photo.
Top row, from left: J Quinn (96-98), S McMahon (AA 90, 91, NL 92-96), D Esper (94-96), G Hemming (94-96), F Bowerman (95-98), B Clarke (93-98) and J Donnelly (96). Middle: S Brodie (NL 93-96, 98, 99, AL 01), B Hoffer (95-98), J Kelley (92-98), (N Hanlon, mgr 92-98), W Robinson (AA 90, 91, NL 92-99, AL 01, 02), H Jennings (93-99) and H Reitz (93-97). Front: J Doyle (96, 97), J McGraw (AA 91, NL 92-99, AL 01, 02), W Keeler (94-98) and A Pond (95-98). Player IDs and image from the Spalding Base Ball Guide 1897, issued before the start of the 1897 season. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. This team photo is sometimes misidentified as from 1894. Original photo by John Betz, Jr., Baltimore.
Photo B
Dated 1896. A slightly different version of photo A. In this version, photographed seconds before or after, some of the players have adjusted their positions, best seen in the position of player McGraw, front row, second from left. This second version also helps to determine that the small dog, shown in the front row, was not a live animal. This printing of the team photo included an inset photo, top left, of player J Corbett (Nrfk VL 96, Scrn EL 96, Bal NL 96, 97). Corbett first played for Baltimore on August 11, 1896 after playing in the Virginia League and the Eastern League during the 1896 season. This may suggest the Baltimore team photo was taken before August 1896. Info on Corbett’s first game from Bill Lamb, SABR BioProject: Joe Corbett, retrieved online June 8, 2019. Image scan from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-century Pictorial Committee. Original photo by John Betz, Jr., Baltimore.
Dated 1896. Detail view of photo B. Detail view showed a large old-English “B” on the shirt pocket. As not all of these letters were exactly the same, it can be suggested they were cut by hand. Detail view image from Carson Lorey.
Dated 1896. Another detail view of photo B. Detail view showed the style of cap with a rounded crown. Detail view also showed the shirt’s button placket with four white buttons against light gray flannel. Detail view image from Carson Lorey.
Dated 1896. A third detail view of photo B. Detail view showed thick ribbing on the stockings. Note the McGraw (at right) was not wearing cleats on his shoes for this photo. Detail view image from Carson Lorey.
Photo C
Dated 1895 to 1898. Photo of B Hoffer (95-98) at Union Park, Baltimore. Full view at left, detail view at right. Player wore a dark shirt with the city name across the chest. Under the shirt the player wore a dark sweater. The sweater may indicate that the photo was taken early in the season. The shirt and sweater may be the same articles mentioned in a March 1896 newspaper which reported the team was to wear a black uniform for spring training games in 1896 along with a black sweater that had “orange stripes at the collar and around the bottom.” The cap was in the same style as shown in the 1896 team picture, see photo A. Player ID, ballpark ID, and image from James H. Bready, Baseball in Baltimore (1998).
Photo D
Dated 1893 to 1901 or later. Photo of S Brodie (NL 93-96, 98, 99, AL 01), full view at left, detail view at right. Player wore a white uniform in this photo without any lettering on the shirt. The style of cap matched the 1896 team photo, see photo A. This may be a photo showing the home uniform worn in 1896, though unconfirmed. Note that the belt loops on the pants do not match the team photo from 1896. Player ID and image from James H. Bready, Baseball in Baltimore (1998).
Photo E
Dated 1893 to 1898 or later. Photo of B Clarke (93-98), full view at left, detail view at right. Player wore a white uniform in this photo without any lettering on the shirt, and possibly a white necktie. This may be a photo of the Baltimore home uniform from circa 1896. Player ID and image from James H. Bready, Baseball in Baltimore (1998), who also wrote that “Clarke was often a base coach, and, doubling as cheerleader, would stir up the spectators.”
Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1896: “New Feathers for Orioles — No More Stripes Around Their Legs — […] The new uniforms for the Baltimore Base Ball Club, which Manager Hanlon ordered in New York, will not arrive until after the club goes South. When they come they will be displayed in a window on Baltimore Street. The old Temple cup uniforms will be used in the South. The gray uniforms to be used away from home, as well as white home uniforms, will have black caps, belts and stockings. The sweater will be black, with orange stripes at the collar and around the bottom, and will have a big orange-colored ‘B’ on the breast. The old-time orange and black striped stockings will not be worn this season. The cap will resemble the Temple cup cap, except that it is much deeper, so as to stick on the head.” From the Baltimore Sun, March 10, 1896. Research from Don Stokes. This report suggests that Baltimore wore black uniforms for the Temple Cup series played in October 1895.
March 1896: “The first of the champions who will arrive at Macon, Ga., for the Baltimore Base-Ball Club’s spring practice will be the famous little third baseman, McGraw. […] Eight new uniforms of the temple cup kind, that is, black with orange trimmings and stripes, were received at base-ball headquarters yesterday from the makers in New York. As stated heretofore in The Sun, the temple-cup suits will be worn on the Southern trip, and as there were only ten of the old suits on hand, eight new ones, with sweaters, stockings and caps, had to be ordered.” From the Baltimore Sun, March 11, 1896. Research from Peter Reitan.
April 1896: “The nicknames of the National league clubs are as follows: Boston, Beaneaters; Cleveland, Spiders; Pittsburg[h], Pirates; Philadelphia, Quakers; Baltimore, Orioles or Oysters; Brooklyn, Bridegrooms; Cincinnati, Reds; Louisville, Colonels; St. Louis, Browns; New York, Giants; Washington, Senators; Chicago, Colts.” From the Windsor (ON) Evening Record, April 14, 1896.
Team genealogy: Baltimore 1882-1899
Baltimore joined the American Association (AA) in 1882. The AA was a major league operating 1882-1891. Baltimore played in the AA from 1882 to 1889 and then joined the Atlantic Association, a minor league, for the 1890 season. The team rejoined the American Association in late 1890 when the Brooklyn AA team failed. Baltimore played in the American Association for the 1891 season and when the AA folded, Baltimore was added to the National League (NL) for the 1892 season. The NL began operation in 1876. Baltimore played in the NL from 1892 to 1899. After the 1899 season, Baltimore was dropped by the league and the team disbanded. Information from wikipedia.
Rendering posted: June 9, 2019
Diggers on this uniform: Carson Lorey, Don Stokes, Mark Fimoff, Peter Reitan,