1896 St. Louis (Browns)

This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style only. An educated guess is made on uniform color based on documentation from a related year. An educated guess is also made on minor details that may be missing or difficult to determine.

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on this uniform:

Photo A

Dated April 1896. Photo date determined by appearance of player Keck, who did not play for St. Louis and was released from the team by April 30, 1896. An early 1896 date can be confirmed by the appearance of Manager Diddlebock, who skippered St. Louis for only the first 17 games of the 1896 season, from April 16 to May 7, 1896, before being released by May 9, 1896. This photo was most likely taken at New Sportsman’s Park, St. Louis. The players wore a white or off-white uniform in this photo. The cap, lettering, belt and stockings were dark in color, presumably brown, the team’s traditional color. Newspaper reports described the accent color as brown in the preceding year of 1895 and the following year of 1897. The cap had a rounded crown, however two players wore a white pillbox-style cap. The city name on the shirts was displayed in unique, rectangular letter forms. The “O” in the city name was centered on the button placket. Some of the shirts in this photo had a white button overlapping a portion of this letter. The majority of shirts had a pocket on the left breast. One player wore a shirt with no lettering. Five of the players shown wore their shirt collar styled up. Six of the players wore a short sleeved shirt in this photo, the remainder wore shirts with sleeve extensions. Four players wore pants with quilted padding.

Standing, from left, and referencing the numbers written on the photo: 1- M Murphy (96, 97), 2- D McDougal (95, 96), 4- E McFarland (96, 97), 7- B Sheehan in back with collar up (StL 95, 96, Lew NEL 96), 8- B Hart (96, 97), 9- K Douglass (96, 97), 10- R Donohue (NL 95-97, AL 02, 03), 13- G Keck (dnp, Syr EL 96), 16- T Niland (StL 96, Det WL 96), 17- M Hogan (dnp, Ind WL 96), 18- A Latham (AA 83-89, NL 96), 19- R Connor (94-97), 20- M Cross (96, 97) and 22- T Parrott (96). Sitting, from left: 3- Quinn (StL UA 84, StL AA 84-86, StL NL 93-96, Bro NL 96), 5- B Kissinger (95-97), 6- B Myers (96), 12- J Wood (96, 1 gm), 11- D Cooley (StL 93-96, Phi NL 96), 14- T Dowd (93-97), 15- (H Diddlebock mgr 96) and 21- T Breitenstein (91-96). Player IDs from photo. Years with team and dates that Diddlebock managed from baseball-reference.com and retrosheet.org. Keck release info from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, April 30, 1896, with research from Ed Morton. Diddlebock release info from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 10, 1896.

Dated April 1896. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed the style of cap and the rectangular letter forms of the city name on the shirt. The letter “O” in “St.Louis” was centered on the button placket and was partially overlapped by a white button at the top of the letter. This can be seen on the uniforms of the three players standing in this detail view. However, not all uniforms were identical. The player sitting in this detail view had a white button overlapping the bottom portion of the letter.

Photo B

Dated April 12, 1896. This montage of player portraits was published in a newspaper on this date, full view at left, detail view of players T Parrott (96) and B Hart (96, 97) at right. Photo date confirmed by appearance of player Keck, who did not play for St. Louis and was released from the team by April 30, 1896. Drawings of players were based on photographs, possibly from various team photos from 1895 and 1896. Some drawings, but not all, were based on the 1896 St. Louis team photo, see photo A. The drawings of Parrott and Hart were similar to the 1896 St. Louis team photo.

Top row, from left: E McFarland (96, 97), B Sheehan (StL 95, 96, Lew NEL 96), Quinn (StL UA 84, StL AA 84-86, StL NL 93-96, Bro NL 96) and A Latham (AA 83-89, NL 96). Second row: T Niland (StL 96, Det WL 96), R Donohue (NL 95-97, AL 02, 03), B Myers (96) and R Connor (94-97). Third row: J Wood (96, 1 gm), T Dowd (93-97), M Cross (96, 97) and T Breitenstein (91-96). Fourth row: B Kissinger (95-97), T Parrott (96), G Keck (dnp, Syr EL 96) and K Douglass (96, 97). Fifth row: M Hogan (dnp, Ind WL 96), B Hart (96, 97), D Cooley (StL 93-96, Phi NL 96) and D McDougal (95, 96). One player, M Murphy (96, 97), was included in the 1896 team photo but not in the montage, image B. Image and player IDs from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 12, 1896. Image research from Gary and Oliver Kodner, cardinalsuniformsandlogos.com. Years with team from baseball-reference.com.

Written documentation on this uniform:
January 1896: “President Von der Ahe, of the St. Louis club, left for Chicago last night to make a contract with a Windy City sporting goods house for the next uniforms which will be worn by the Browns next season. It is announced that Mr. Von der Ahe will also attend to business connected with his new ‘Shooting the Chutes’ snap. It is to be hoped that the purchase of uniforms is not in any way connected with the later [sp] affair. For the past five years the brown stockings and white shirts have been on the chute pretty regularly.” From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, January 5, 1896. Research from Ed Morton. This report implied that the St. Louis uniforms were made by Spalding & Bros., Chicago. In regard to “Shooting the Chutes,” The Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball Clubs (2006) noted that “by 1896, Von der Ahe had desperately transformed New Sportsman’s Park into ‘the Coney Island of the West,’ complete with amusement-park rides and horse racing.”

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.

April 1896, newspaper ad for Simmons Hardware, 210 North Broadway, St. Louis: “We are Headquarters for Base Ball Supplies of all kinds. […] We furnish the St. Louis Browns with their new uniforms and supplies. Our line of Spalding’s and Reach’s Base Ball Goods is complete. The 1896 Base Ball Guide is now ready.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 16, 1896. Research from Ed Morton.

April 1896: “Arlie Latham is taking to his old associates like a duck to water and calculates to bring the Browns up to their old-time splendor.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 26, 1896. This is one of many instances where the Browns nickname was used by newspapers in 1896, and implying the team wore brown as an accent color during this year.

Team genealogy: St. Louis 1882-
St. Louis joined the American Association (AA) in 1882. The AA was a major league operating between 1882 and 1891 and St. Louis played in the AA in every year of the league’s existence. The team moved to the National League (NL) for the 1892 season. The NL began operation in 1876 and St. Louis has played in the NL every year since 1892. Information from wikipedia.