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1897 Cleveland (Clevelands, Spiders, Indians)

National League

Left & right: These renderings are based on incomplete visual documentation for uniform style only. Color information is unknown and the uniform is rendered in values of gray. Many important details may also be undocumented or difficult to determine and an educated guess is made to complete the rendering.

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented

Center: This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style only. Color information is unknown and the uniform is rendered in values of gray. Minor details may also be undocumented or difficult to determine and an educated guess is made to complete the rendering.

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented


Visual documentation on these uniforms:

Photo A

Dated 1897, possibly August 1897. Montage of player portraits, full view at left, detail view at right of players Pappalau, top, and Criger. Year of issue can be confirmed by the appearance of Pappalau, who only played for Cleveland in 1897, playing in only 2 games in June 1897 and later being released before September 10, 1897. Players Shearon and McGarr, both included in this montage, did not play any games for Cleveland in 1897. Pappalau and Shearon were both photographed wearing a dark uniform that had a white button at the collar. It could that this dark uniform was the Cleveland road uniform from 1897, however a newspaper report of a game in April 1897 described the Cleveland road uniform as gray in color and with a red C on the chest. The remaining portraits in the montage showed players wearing a white uniform, the Cleveland home uniform. Ten of the portraits shown, those of established Cleveland players Cuppy, Young, McAleer, Burkett, Tebeau, Childs, McKean, O’Connor and Zimmer, were not made in 1897 but instead were published four years earlier in 1893. The portrait of player Wallace was taken from the 1895 Cleveland team photo. The remaining portraits in this montage were made at various times between 1894 and 1897. Note that this montage does not include player L Sockalexis (97-99) who played most of his 66 games during the 1897 season early in the year and before his documented off-field troubles began in July 1897. All of this suggests an approximate issue date for the montage of August 1897.

Top row: N Cuppy (92-98), Z Wilson (95-98) and C Young (NL 90-98, AL 09, 10). Second row: B Wallace (94-98), J McAleer (NL 89, 91-98, PL 90, AL 01), J Burkett (91-98) and J Shearon (91, 96, dnp 97, Roc/Mon EL 97, Syr EL 97). Third row: C McGarr (93-96 dnp 97, Col WL 97), P Tebeau (NL 89, 91-98, PL 90) and H Blake (94-98). Fourth row of 3 portraits: J Powell? (97, 98), J Pappalau (Cle 97 2 gms, GR WL 97, Mil WL 97) and D Gear (Cle 96, 97, KC WL 97, FW ISL 97). Fifth row of 2 portraits: C Childs (91-98) and E McKean (AA 87, 88, NL 89-98). Bottom row: J O’Connor (92-98), L Criger (96-98) and C Zimmer (AA 87, 88, NL 89-99). Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Pappalau release info from The Sporting Life, September 18, 1897. Sockalexis info from David Flietz, SABR BioProject: Louis Sockalexis, retrieved April 3, 2020.

Photo B

Dated 1897. Commemorative pin utilizing thirteen portraits, nine of which were also shown in photo A. One portrait, that of player Wallace, was similar but not the same as the image used in photo A. The remaining two portraits on the pin showed men in street clothes, one of which was C McGarr, top row third from left. McGarr was shown in photo A wearing a uniform. Players Wilson, Shearon, Powell, Pappalau, Gear and Criger were not included on this pin, though they were included in the montage of portraits shown in photo A. This pin displayed the nickname of “Indians,” which apparently came into use in 1897 with the addition of Cleveland player Louis Sockalexis, a member of the Penobscot tribe of Maine. According to a SABR biography written by David Flietz, Sockalexis signed with Cleveland on March 19, 1897 and was “the first Native American […] to perform in the National League.” Flietz wrote that “the local sportswriters were so enamored of the exotic newcomer that a headline in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on March 20 [the day after the signing] referred to the team as ‘Tebeau’s Indians.’” Flietz also noted the nickname was used again on March 27 when the “Plain Dealer stated, ‘The Indians have a spring schedule which is bound to give them good, hard work.’” The Sporting Life on March 27 offered the headline of “They’re Indians Now” and added that “there is no feature of the signing of Sockalexis more gratifying than the fact that his presence on the team will result in relegating to obscurity the title of ‘Spiders,’ by which the team been handicapped for several season[s], to give place to the significant name ‘Indians.’ ‘Spiders’ did well enough with men like Jay Faatz, ‘Darby’ O’Brien and the like on the team, but it is peculiarly inappropriate to the present aggregation of stocky players.” Both “Spiders” and “Indians” were used by newspapers in 1897. The pin does not include an image of Sockalexis, who played most of his 66 games during the 1897 season early in the year.

Top row, from left: J McAleer (NL 89, 91-98, PL 90, AL 01), E McKean (AA 87, 88, NL 89-98), (C McGarr, 93-96 dnp 97, Col WL 97) and C Childs (91-98). Second row: C Young (NL 90-98, AL 09, 10), N Cuppy (92-98), P Tebeau (NL 89, 91-98, PL 90), unidentified and B Wallace (94-98). Third row: C Zimmer (AA 87, 88, NL 89-99), J O’Connor (92-98), H Blake (94-98) and J Burkett (91-98). Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Sockalexis info from David Flietz, SABR BioProject: Louis Sockalexis, retrieved April 3, 2020.

Photo C

Dated April 1897 to early September 1897. Cabinet card of J Pappalau (Cle 97 2 gms, GR WL 97, Mil WL 97), full view at left, detail view at right. Date range of photo determined by the fact that Pappalau only played for Cleveland in 1897, playing in only 2 games in June 1897 and later being released before September 10, 1897. Player wore a white uniform in this portrait with the city named arched across the breast. The shirt had buttons with a very narrow button placket, crew-neck stitching at the top of the placket, and no shirt pocket. Pappalau wore a turtleneck sweater rolled down over his shirt collar. Year Pappalua with team from baseball-reference.com. Release info from The Sporting life, September 18, 1897. Original photo by John H. Ryder, Cleveland.

Photo D

Dated 1896 or 1897. Portrait of L Criger (96-98), full view at left, detail view at right. This photo was included in a montage of portraits published in 1897, see photo A. An 1897 date may also be suggested by the fact the Criger played only 2 games for Cleveland in 1896, spending most of the season in the Inter-State League. However an 1897 date cannot be confirmed as the lettering on the uniform Criger wore was much thicker in weight than that shown in the Pappalau portrait known to be from this year, see photo B. Years Criger with team from baseball-reference.com.

Photos E, F, G & H

Dated 1897 to 1898. Cameo Pepsin Gum Pins of Cleveland players. Top row, left, J Pappalau (Cle 97 2 gms, GR WL 97, Mil WL 97) and right, L Sockalexis (97-99). Bottom row, left, C Zimmer (AA 87, 88, NL 89-99) and right, J Powell (97, 98). Based on the similarity of the typography on the pins, it can be suggested that the top two pins were made together at one time, and that the bottom two pins were made together at a different time. Pappalau only played for Cleveland in 1897, therefore an 1897 date can be suggested for top two pins. The Zimmer portrait, lower left, was first published in 1893. The portrait of Powell was made in either 1897 or 1898. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Pappalau release info from The Sporting life, September 18, 1897.

Photo I

Issued 1898. Photo dated 1894 to 1898, most likely 1897 or 1898. Portrait of B Wallace (94-98) issued by the National Copper Plate Company, full view at left and detail view at right. Player wore a white or light gray in this photo. The background behind the player was most likely added after the photo was made. The detail view at right showed that the shirt had a letter “C” on the right breast. Based on this it could be suggested the photo was made in 1897. A newspaper report from this year described the Cleveland road uniform as having a red “C” on the shirt. Detail view also showed that the shirt had a pocket on the left breast and that the button placket was visible up to the neck line and not hidden by the shirt collar. This image of Wallace does not match that shown in the montage of portraits from 1897, see photo A. This exact image was also published in a June 17, 1899, supplement of The Sporting News. Wallace had been transferred to St. Louis in 1899 and the caption under the player’s name in the supplement read “St. Louis 1899.” Years Wallace with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Ken Samoil.


Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1897: “Cleveland, March 22. – […] Eighteen robust-appearing young men in uniforms of various shapes and colors reported at Johnny Lavack’s gymnasium for practice today.” From The Sporting Life, March 27, 1897. This is a report from spring training.

April 22, 1897, Cleveland v. Lousiville, at Louisville, opening day: “On the left [of the diamond], dressed in gray, are sixteen young men, across whose shirt front is the solitary initial C in red. These are the Cleveland Indians, next to Baltimore the greatest team of ball players ever gathered together.” From the Louisville Courier-Journal, April 23, 1897. Research from Ed Morton and also from Ken Samoil. For more on the Indians nickname, see photo B above.


Team genealogy: Cleveland 1887-1899
Cleveland was formed to join the American Association (AA) in 1887. The AA was a major league operating 1882-1891. Cleveland moved to the National League (NL) in 1889. The NL began operation in 1876 and Cleveland played in the NL from 1889 to 1899. After the 1899 season, Cleveland was dropped by the league and the team disbanded. Information from wikipedia.



Rendering posted: April 7, 2020
Diggers on this uniform: Ed Morton, Ken Samoil,