1897 Baltimore (Baltimores, Orioles)

This rendering is based on partial 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: documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on this uniform:

Photo A

Dated November 1897 to December 1897. Photo collage of two touring teams that played a series of exhibition games in the west and in California after the 1897 season had ended. The collage was created by a San Francisco photographer and was labelled “California Tour 1897.” Date range of collage determined by the time period these teams played in California. A print of this collage had the date December 10, 1897 stamped on it. The team representing Baltimore was shown on the left and a team selected from various National League teams and called “All-America” was shown on the right. The Baltimore players were photographed wearing a white or light gray shirt with dark letters across the shirt. The cap was in the pillbox style with four subtle horizontal bands and the silhouette of an oriole above the brim. Historian James Bready wrote in Baseball in Baltimore (1998) that the caps used on the post-season tour of 1897 were the “first Oriole caps to be adorned with a cloth bird.”

Players on Baltimore team, top cluster of four portraits from left, and with their regular season team of 1897 in parenthesis: A Pond (Rea AtL, Bal), J Corbett (Bal), E Horton (Rea AtL) and B Clark (Bal). Second row of three: H Reitz (Bal), J Kelley (Bal) and P Donovan (Pit). Third row of four: J Doyle (Bal), T O’Brien (Bal), M Griffin (Bro) and H Jennings (Bal). Bottom portrait: (A Marks). Player IDs from collage. Regular season teams from baseball-reference.com. The person at the bottom of collage was Abe Marks, described by historian James Bready as a “factorum” or an attendant for the team. On the post-season tour, Marks assisted both clubs and was photographed for the collage wearing a cap that read “Baltimore – All America B. B. Teams.” Historian Roy Kerr noted in Big Dan Brouthers (2013) that one of Marks tasks was to sell score cards at the ball park. Image scan from Nigel Ayres. This image was also reprinted in the Baltimore Sun in 1957, according to Albersheim’s Auction. Original photo by Theodore C. Marceau, San Francisco.

Dated November 1897 to December 1897. Detail view of photo A, portrait of J Kelley at left, and P Donovan at right. Donovan was one of two players on the Baltimore team who were borrowed from other NL clubs to complete the roster for the tour, the other was M Griffin. Donovan played the 1897 season with Pittsburgh and Griffin with Brooklyn. The players were photographed wearing a white or light gray buttoned shirt with the city name arched across the chest. Kelley was one nine players for Baltimore in the collage who wore his collar turned up. Donovan was one of the two remaining players who wore his collar down.

Dated November 1897 to December 1897. Detail view from photo A of the Baltimore cap of J Corbett. Detail view showed the horizontal bands on the pillbox-style cap and the silhouette of the oriole above the brim. Historian James Bready wrote in Baseball in Baltimore (1998) that the caps used on the post-season tour were the “first Oriole caps to be adorned with a cloth bird.” The bird was depicted perched on a single branch. Detail view from Ilan M. Pluznik.

Photo B

Dated October 1897 to December 1897. Photo of J Corbett, full view at left, detail view at right. Detail view showed the lettering on the shirt as well as the belt worn by the player. Note that the shirt had no pocket. The shirt and cap matched that shown in the photo collage for the post-season tour of 1897, see photo A. However, the studio background did not match that show in the portraits in photo A, suggesting this portrait of Corbett was made at a different time. Image scan from James Bready wrote in Baseball in Baltimore (1998).

Photo C

Dated October 1897 to December 1897. Photo of J Kelley, full view at left, detail view at right. Detail view showed the button placket on the shirt as well as buttons on the sleeves for sleeve extensions. The shirt matched that shown in the photo collage for the post-season tour of 1897, see photo A. However, the studio background did not match that shown in the portraits in photo A, suggesting this portrait of Kelley was made at a different time. Image scan from James Bready wrote in Baseball in Baltimore (1998).

Written documentation on this uniform:
October 1897: “Manager Barnie announced yesterday that arrangements had been completed for the trip of the Baltimore and All America teams, which begins on October 10 next. […] The Baltimores [will] wear gray uniforms, with black and orange stockings.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, October 3, 1897.

October 1897: “The Baltimores will wear gray uniforms with the orange and black hosiery so familiar to base ball enthusiasts.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 8, 1897. Research from Don Stokes. This newspaper added that “each player has deposited $100 with the management to insure [sp] good playing. Any player who fails to take good care of himself forfeits his $100 and walks back from ‘Frisco. That should put delinquents in good condition for another season.”

October 1897: “Brooklyn, N.Y., Oct. 4 —- […] The material for the Baltimore suits is of a light blue-gray shade, and across the shirt will be the name ‘Baltimore.’ Oriole stockings of black with orange stripes, and a black cap of Boston style, with an Oriole worked on the front in orange colors..” From The Sporting Life, October 9, 1897. Research from Chuck McGill.

Team genealogy: Baltimore touring team, 1897
Baltimore participated in a two-month exhibition tour of the US West and California after the 1897 season had ended. The tour began in Hoboken, New Jersey, on October 3, 1897 and arrived in San Francisco on November 6, where they played until early December. After games in Los Angeles, the tour ended in San Bernardino, California, on December 13. Hoboken date from The Sporting Life, October 23, 1897. California dates from from Charlie Bevis, Jimmy Collins, A Baseball Biography (2012).