1898 New York (New Yorks, Giants)

These renderings are based on visual documentation for uniform style and partial written documentation for color. Minor details may be undocumented or difficult to determine. An educated guess is made to complete the renderings.

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on these uniforms:

Photo A

Dated mid-September to mid-October 1898. Year of photo confirmed by the appearance of player Rusie in combination with the appearance of players Carrick, Foster and Grady. These men only played together for New York in 1898. A mid-September 1898 to mid-October 1898 date can be suggested by two regulars who were absent from the team photo: M Tiernan (87-99) and F Hartman (98, 99). Tiernan last played in a game this season on September 5, 1898, and afterward a newspaper noted he had “quit the club” after an illness and disagreements with the manager. Hartman last played for New York on September 15, 1898 and a newspaper reported he subsequently left the team due to the “result of a fine.” For the following game played on September 16, the newspaper described New York as a “patched up team.” The team photo was taken at the Polo Grounds in New York. This determination can be made based on comparing this photo to other know photos of the park during this period. Between September 16 and October 15, the end of the 1898 season, New York played 15 games at the Polo Grounds and it was most likely that the team photo was made between these dates. Players wore a white uniform in this photo with a dark cap, a dark belt and dark stockings. The traditional accent color for New York during this time was black. The city name was arched across the front of the shirts. More notably, the pants had three front-facing belt loops, instead of the typical single front-facing belt loop which was common throughout the 1880s and 1890s. One player in the back row, third from left, wore the turtleneck sweater over his uniform. Another player in the back row, fifth from left, wore a tucked-in pullover shirt over his uniform. One player in the foreground, second from left, wore a striped baseball jacket over his uniform.

Top row, from left: K Gleason (96-00), G Van Haltren (94-03)), A Rusie (90-95, 97, 98), B Carrick (98-00), P Foster (98-00), C Seymour (96-00, 06-10) and M Grady (98-00). Front: G Davis (93-01, 03), J Meekin (94-99), J Doyle (92-95, 98-00, 02), E Doheny (95-01), J Warner (96-01, 03, 04), and C Gettig (96-99). Image and player IDs from the Spalding Base Ball Guide 1899, published as a review of the 1898 season. Dates of last games for Tiernan and Hartman from The Sporting Life, September 17, 1898 to October 22, 1898. Report of Tiernan quitting the club from The Sporting Life, September 24, 1898. Report of Hartman leaving the team from The Sporting Life, October 1, 1898. Original photo by the American Sports Publishing Company, New York, which produced The Spalding Base Ball Guide and was owned by Albert Spalding.

Dated mid-September to mid-October 1898. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed the three front-facing belt loops and the dark, probably black, pillbox cap.

Photo B

Dated 1898. Portrait of F Hartman (98, 99), full view at left, detail view at right. This portrait featured the identical uniform shirt that was worn by player Rusie for his portrait, compare to photo C. Red arrows indicate were a loose button thread and a small dark spot on the button placket can be seen in both photos, suggesting that each was made during the same photo session. An 1898 date can therefore be determined as this was the only year both players were together on the New York team. Player wore a light gray uniform in this photo with no shirt pocket. Detail view showed that the 1898 New York cap was in the pillbox style and featured four subtle horizontal bands. Player ID and image scan from the Library of Congress, which incorrectly listed the date for this photo as 1894. Years Hartman with team from baseball-reference.com. Original photo by Charles M. Bell Studio, Washington DC.

Photo C

Dated 1898. Portrait of A Rusie (90-95, 97, 98), full view at left, detail view at right. This portrait featured the identical uniform shirt that was worn by player Hartman for his portrait, compare to photo B. Red arrows indicate were a loose button thread and a small dark spot on the button placket can be seen in both photos, suggesting that each was made during the same photo session. An 1898 date can therefore be determined as this was the only year both players were together on the New York team. Player wore a light gray uniform in this photo with no shirt pocket. Detail view showed the button placket on the shirt and the third button overlapping the bottom of the letter “Y” in the city name. Player ID and image scan from the Library of Congress, which incorrectly listed the date for this photo as 1894. Years Rusie with team from baseball-reference.com. Original photo by Charles M. Bell Studio, Washington DC.

Photos D & E

Dated 1898 to 1900, most likely 1898. Two portraits of M Grady (98-00) most likely taken at the same session. The similarity of the portrait on the left to the portraits on Hartman and Rusie above, see photos B and C, suggests these images of Grady were made in 1898. Player wore a light gray uniform in both photos with a turtleneck sweater worn under his shirt and with the neck rolled down on top of his shirt collar. The pants had padding at the knees. Player ID and image scans from the Library of Congress, which incorrectly listed the date for these photos as 1894. Years Grady with team from baseball-reference.com. Original photo by Charles M. Bell Studio, Washington DC.

Dated 1898 to 1900, most likely 1898. Detail view of photo E. Detail view showed a light gray shirt with white buttons. The position on the button overlapping the “Y” in New York did not exactly match the position of the button on the uniform worn by Hartman and Rusie in their portraits, see photos B and C. The shirt had sleeve extensions, held in place with a white button, and pointed shirt cuffs. Interestingly, the player was wearing only one sleeve extension on his left arm. Baseball-reference.com states that Grady was a right-handed throwing catcher. Note that the pants had three front-facing belt loops, partially visible under the players arms. This style matched the belt loops shown in the team photo from 1898, see photo A.

Photo F

Dated April 1898 to early July 1898. Photo of T McGreery (97, 98), taken from a series of photos showing the hands of New York baseball players. The date for this photo can be determined by the year marked in the lower left portion of the photo and by the fact that McGreery was released by New York around July 5, 1898. Photo showed a uniform with lettering across the chest that had slightly more condensed letter forms and slightly more open letter spacing when compared to the uniforms shown above, see photos B through D. This lettering style was more similar to the New York uniform of 1897. The uniform in the photo also had a shirt pocket. Photo documentation showed that neither the 1897 or 1898 uniform had a shirt pocket. Player ID from photo. Years McGreery with team and release date from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Ken Samoil. Original photo by Byron, possibly Joseph Byron, New York.

Written documentation on these uniforms:
April 15, 1898, New York v. Boston, at the Polo Grounds, New York, rained out after 3 innings: “The Giants were clad in their new uniforms and black sweaters.” From the New York Times, April 16, 1898. Research from Dan O’Brien.

June 23, 1898, New York v. Pittsburgh, at Pittsburgh: “Jack Menefee, who was last heard of with the Kansas City team, of the Western League, was tried in the pitcher’s position by [New York] Manager Anson. He wore a Pittsburg[h] uniform, as no other one was available.” From the New York Clipper, July 2, 1898.

Circa 1898, referenced in March 1899: “The measurements of those Giants who were on hand yesterday [at spring training in Charleston, SC] were taken for their uniforms, which will be the same old black and white of former years.” From the Brooklyn Daily Standard Union, March 14, 1899.

1898, referenced in March 1899: “The resignation of J. W. Spalding of the Board of Directors of the New York Baseball Club has stirred up [owner] Andrew Fredman[sp]. In answer to Spalding’s charges he states that Spalding took his step because of failure to secure the contract to furnish uniforms for the giants. […] The truth is Spalding charged fabulous prices for his uniforms and the contract has been let to a Philadelphia firm. Mr. Spalding only resigned after he discovered that he had lost the New York contract. Spalding on hearing of Freedman’s charges said: ‘[…] If he [Freeman] had ordered the New York outfits from us, our credit man would have refused to furnish them as he still owes us $442, or $24 each for eighteen uniforms purchased last year [1898].’” From the Buffalo Enquirer, March 18, 1899.

1898, referenced in March 1899: “[New York owner] Andy Freedman has paid for the uniforms his team wore last year [1898] and the same ones that he obliged the men to settle for out of their first month’s pay [in 1899].” From the Buffalo Courier, March 23, 1899.

Team genealogy: New York 1883-1957
New York joined the National League (NL) in 1883, with many of its players coming from a disbanded NL team in Troy, NY. The NL began operation in 1876 and this New York team played in the NL from 1883 to 1957. The team moved to San Francisco after the 1957 season. Information from wikipedia.com.