1898 Richmond (Richmonds)

This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style and written documentation for color. Minor 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 1898. Photo date confirmed by players Leahy, Lutenberg and Sparks, all of whom only played for Richmond in 1898. Players wore a light gray uniform in this photo, with dark belts and stockings. The lettering on the shirts was also dark. The majority of players wore shirts with 3/4-length sleeves. The team wore their baseball sweaters under their shirts. The sweaters were dark in color with white stripes on the sleeves. The players wore the collars of their sweaters draped over their shirt collars. It is possible the dark color of the lettering, belts and stockings were enhanced by a retoucher after the photo was taken to make these elements darker than they actually were.

Top row, from left: G Dundon (98, 99), T Hess (98, 99), S Seybold (98, 99), B Hargrove (97-99) and S Shannon (Ric 98, 99, Cha SA 98). Middle: D Leahy (98), L Lutenberg (98), (J Wells mgr 95-99), T Sparks (98) and G Klopf (Ric 98, KC WL 98) Front: H Schmidt (97, 98), S Vigneux (98) and J Chesbro (97-99). Player IDs from item. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from the Spalding Base Ball Guide 1899, which was published as a recap of the 1898 season in April 1899.

Dated 1898. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed that the letter “H” in Richmond was divided across the shirt opening and that in some cases, a button overlapped the letter “M.” Detial view also showed that the shirt did not have a breast pocket.

Photo B

Dated 1897 to 1899, possibly 1899. Portrait of J Chesbro (97-99), full view at left, detail view of uniform lettering at right. The light gray cap, the white stripes on the sweater collar, and the light tone to the lettering all do not match the team photo from 1898, see photo A. However, an 1899 date for this image cannot be conclusively determined as it is not clear if the 1898 team photo had been retouched and altered. Years Chesbro with team from baseball-reference.com. Original image from Walter W. Foster, Richmond.

Written documentation on this uniform:
February-March 1898: “Williams […] renewed Jake Wells as the field manager, and restored the nickname Bluebirds for the Richmond ballclub. The ballclub continued the tradition of blue and gray uniforms with some modifications. The team now donned blue stockings, belts and caps, gray shirts and pants and white striped sweaters.” From Scott P. Mayer, The First Fifty Years of Professional Baseball in Richmond, Virginia: 1883-1932 (2001), Master Theses, University of Richmond, citing the Richmond Dispatch, February 27, 1898, and March 13, 1898.

Team genealogy: Coming soon