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1897 Grand Rapids MI (Grand Rapids, Bobolinks)

Western League

Left: This rendering is based on 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

Right: This rendering is based on written documentation for uniform style and color. No visual documentation is known and an artist’s conceptualization is used to create the rendering.

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented


Visual documentation on these uniforms:

Photo A

Dated mid-April 1897 to early June 1897. Year of photo determined by the appearance of twelve of the fourteen players shown in the photo. These twelve men only played for Grand Rapids in 1897. A mid-April 1897 to early June 1897 date range for the photo can be determined by several factors. The mid-April 1897 date can be determined by the appearance of player Foreman, who joined the team on April 10. The early June date can be determined by the appearance of players Gettinger and Buckley, both of whom were released by the team in the week before June 5. A late April 1897 date could be suggested for the photo by the non-appearance of player M Hogan (GR 97, Day ISL 97). Hogan joined the team in early May, played in a game on May 8, and after 4 games was released before May 22. Players wore a white or light gray uniform in this photo, with dark lettering, a dark belt and dark stockings. The city name covered most of the shirt front and the shirt may have been without a shirt pocket. Two of the players wore a turtleneck sweater under their uniform with the collar rolled down on top of the shirt collar. Four of the six players in the front row wore pants with quilted padding. A newspaper in early 1897 described the team’s home uniform as white with black trimmings. The color of the cap was not included in this description.

Top row, from left: L Cross (GR 97, StP WL 97), J Strauss (GR 97, Co WL 97), J Ganzel (97), A Twineham (97), E Scott (97) and C Campau (97). Front: J Slagle (97), unidentified in back, G Hatfield in front (GR 97, New AtL 97), T Gettinger? (GR 96, 97, KC WL 97), B Glenalvin (GR 97, StP WL 97), B Reidy (GR 97, Mil WL 97), B Foreman (GR 97, KC WL 97, Col WL 97) and D Buckley (GR 97, Col WL 97). Players IDs based on reference photos from baseball-reference.com and wikipedia.com, retrieved April 22, 2020. Assistance on IDs from Ken Samoil and Nigel Ayres. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Foreman arrival info from The Sporting Life, April 17, 1897. Gettinger and Beckley release info from The Sporting Life, June 5, 1897, with research from Ken Samoil. Hogan game info from The Sporting Life, May 15, 1897, and release info from The Sporting Life, May 22, 1897. The name listed below the picture was that of Bryson J. Reynolds, a cigar merchant in Grand Rapids. Reynolds info from the Grand Rapids City Directory, 1902. Image scan from Chuck McGill. This print was labeled in the lower right corner, “Reed Eng Co.” Possibly this was the photographer or printer.


Dated mid-April 1897 to early May 1897. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed that a white shirt button overlapped the top of the letter “A” in “Grand” on the front of the shirt.


Written documentation on these uniforms:
January 1897: “‘No More Gold Bugs’ — The ‘Sound Money’ campaign being over, Grand Rapids will reform. The uniforms of the Grand Rapids team next year will be black knee breeches and white shirts.” From The Sporting Life, January 1, 1897. Research from Ed Morton. A newspaper reported in March 1897 that the home uniform was white, with no mention of black pants. The ‘sound money’ reference in the above report pointed to the recent 1896 presidential election in which the “gold standard” monetary system was a primary campaign issue.

March 1897: “The traveling uniforms of the several Western League teams this season will be as follows: Indianapolis, gray with brown trimmings; Milwaukee, gray with light blue trimmings; St. Paul, dark blue with black trimmings; Minneapolis, gray with black trimmings; Kansas City, dark blue throughout; Columbus and Detroit, gray with maroon trimmings; Grand Rapids, gray with black trimmings. All the clubs will wear white at home, with the same colored trimming as used on the road uniform.” From the St. Paul Globe, March 21, 1897, with research from Peter Reitan and Chuck McGill. This report was also printed in The Sporting Life, March 27, 1897, with research from Chuck McGill.

May 1897: “Every ball club has to have a name. […] It was the Gold Bugs last year for Grand Rapids and now it’s the Bobolinks. It is supposed the name is taken because the names of the two owners are ‘Bob.’” From The Sporting Life, May 1,1897. In 1897, the owners of the Grand Rapids team were Bob Leadley and Bob Glenalvin. The Bobolink is a small, black bird with a colored head and that breeds in the summer in the northern U.S. and southern Canada. Bobolink info from wikipedia.com.


Team genealogy: Grand Rapids 1894-1897
Grand Rapids, Michigan, joined the Western League (WL) in 1894 when the league reformed. The reorganized WL operated between 1894 and 1899. Grand Rapids played in the WL between 1894 and 1897. The team was transferred to Omaha after the 1897 season. Information from wikipedia.com



Rendering posted: April 23, 2020
Diggers on this uniform: Chuck McGill, Ken Samoil, Nigel Ayres, Peter Reitan,

Other uniforms for this team:

All years - Grand Rapids, MI

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