1898 Montreal (Montreals, Royals)

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 this uniform:

Photo A

Dated July 1898 to September 1898. Year of photo confirmed by the appearance of players O’Brien and Payette, each of whom only played for this team in 1898. Date range of July 1898 to September 1898 determined by Payette, who only pitched in four games for Montreal, on July 31, August 13 and 20 and September 6, 1898. He was released before September 24, 1898. Players wore a white or light gray uniform in this photo. The belt and stocking were dark in color. The buttoned shirt had short sleeves and a letter on the left breast that was of a mid-tone color. The shirt had no pocket. The pillbox cap was white in color and may have had two or more horizontal bands in a light color. At least six players wore their shirt collars styled up. The player sitting on the ground at right wore a pillbox cap that was mid-tone in color, not white. One player, middle row fifth from left, wore a shirt without a letter on the breast. The player seated in the middle row at far left wore a white bandage wrapped on his lower left leg.

Top row, from left: T Bannon (97-00), D Butler (97, 98), D McFarland (97, 98, 00, 01), H Souders (98-02) and F Schiebeck (98-01). Middle: J O’Brien (Mon 98, Syr EL 98), J Shearon (98, 99, 01, 02), B Abbey (98, 99), C Dooley (97-02), F Jacklitsch (Mon 98-00, Lyons NYSL 98) and E Henry (98-00). Front: S Barry (98, 00), (Joy, mascot) and J Payette (98, 4 gms). Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Player IDs and image from the Spalding Base Ball Guide 1899, published in early 1899 as a recap of the 1898 season. Dates of games played by Payette from The Sporting Life, August 6, 20, 27 and September 17, 1898. Payette release info from The Sporting Life, September 24, 1898. The Sporting Life did not mention Payette’s first name, however the Ottawa Citizen on August 17, 1898, reported that “J. Payette, a pitcher from Montreal, will hereafter play with the Hull baseball team.” Citizen research from Justin Mckinney.

Dated July 1898 to September 1898. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed the letter “M” on the left breast and a pillbox cap that may have had two thin horizontal bands in a color. Detail view from Ken Samoil.

Photo B

Dated 1900, possibly based on a photo from 1898. Drawing of C Dooley (97-02), full view at left, detail view at right. This drawing was published in 1900 and may have been based on an alternate version of the team photo taken in 1898, see photo A. Detail view showed an artist’s interpretation of the horizontal bands on the pillbox-style cap. Years Dooley with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from Le Sport, Guide Officiel (1900). The caption under the drawing reads: Manager and Captain of the Montreal Club of the Eastern League.

Written documentation on this uniform:
April 1898: “Just think of it, 5000 souvenir photographs of Manager-Captain Dooley to be given away to those who attend opening game of the Jubilee boys, on May 14.” From The Sporting Life, April 30, 1898.

June 1898: “A Red Hot Town For Ball – Royals’ Superiority Proven.” Headline from The Sporting Life, June 11, 1898. One of many examples of the team nickname in use.

Team genealogy: Montreal 1897-1917
Montreal joined the Eastern League (EL) on July 16, 1897 with the transfer of the Rochester franchise. The EL operated between 1891 and 1911 and became the International League (IL) in 1912. Montreal played in the EL between 1897 and 1911, and in the IL between 1912 and 1917. The team dropped out of the IL after the 1917 season. Information from Bill O’Neal, The International League (1992). Rochester transfer date from Baseball America, Inc., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (1997).