1899 Rochester (Rochesters, Bronchos)

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

Rendering accuracy:Year: documented    Team: documented

Visual documentation on these uniforms:

Photo A

Dated late April 1899. Year of photo determined by the appearance of players Burke, Cavelle, Becker, Coogan and Kelb, all of whom only played for Rochester in 1899. The back of this photo was hand-dated May 13, 1899, and this may be the date the image was published in a newspaper. The team played their first home game in Rochester on this date. However, a date of late April 1899 can be suggested for photo A by several factors. One, the team began the 1899 season on the road, first playing at Springfield on April 29, and did not return to Rochester until May 13. Two, the appearance of player Kelb in photo A. Kelb was released in the days before May 6, 1899, before the team returned home and without playing in a regular season game for the team. Three, the non-appearance of player Bean, who was the team’s regular shortstop. Bean missed the first week of the 1899 season and played his first game for Rochester at Worcester on May 8, 1899. As photo A was created by a Rochester photographer, it is therefore probable photo A was made in the last two weeks of April before the start of the season. The team played exhibition games at Utica April 20-21, at Syracuse April 22-23, and at Binghamton April 25-26, therefore photo A was most likely taken in Rochester before April 20 or on April 27-28. No report has been found to confirm any of these possible photo dates. The players wore a light gray uniform in this photo, with dark lettering on the shirt, a dark belt and dark stockings. The team’s cap was not shown in the photo. The shirt was short-sleeved and four of the thirteen players in the photo wore their collar open at the neck. One player wore his collar styled up. The shirt did not have a shirt pocket. Twelve players wore a white or light gray undershirt and one player wore a dark undershirt. One player in the back row, second from right, wore a light gray shirt with no lettering and with a shirt pocket. One player wore pants with padding. A newspaper report from April 1899 described the Rochester uniform as gray in color and with “scarlet and black” stockings, a “scarlet belt, and a scarlet cap with a black peak.” The quality of photo A makes it difficult to confirm the team wore striped stockings as suggested by this report.

Top row, from left: G Barclay (99, 01, 05, 06), H Smith (Roc 99-01, 03-05, Pit NL 99), B Conn (99, 01), H O’Hagan (99-02), J Burke (Roc 99, StL NL 99) and C Morse (98-00). Middle: B McHale (Roc 98, 99, Har EL 99, Sac CaL 99, Bri CnL 99), C Campau (99, 00), (A Buckenberger mgr 99-01, 05-07), C Cavelle (Roc 99, Har EL 99, NH CnL 99) and B Becker (99). Front: D Coogan (Roc 99, Rom NYL 99, Bin NYL 99), B Smink (99, 00) and G Kelb (dnp?). Player IDs from photo. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Kelb release date from The Sporting Life, May 6, 1899. Bean first game date from the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, May 9, 1899. Original photo by Irving Saunders, Rochester.

Dated late April 1899. Detail view of photo A. Detail view showed the city name arched across the chest and with the lettering extending to the armpits. Detail view also showed that the letter forms were not identical or uniform, indicating they were cut by hand. Close inspection of the photo also showed that the shirt had three buttons, not four which was typical of the period, and that the button placket had a pointed tab. The belts were wider than typically found during this time period.

Photo B

Dated late July 1899 to mid-September 1899. Year of photo determined by the appearance of players Burke and Becker, each of whom only played for Rochester in 1899. Date range of late July 1899 to mid-September 1899 determined by the appearance of player Householder, who joined the team in the days before July 29, 1899. Householder, as well as players Bowen, Bean and Lush, were included in photo B but were not included in photo A taken in late April 1899. As discussed above, Bean was with the team for the majority of the season but missed the first week of games. Bowen and Lush joined the team after photo A was taken, Bowen joined in early June and Lush joined in early July. Conversely, players McHale, Cavelle and Coogan were in photo A but not in photo B and all of these men had been released by the time photo B was taken. McHale was released in late May, Cavelle in late June and Coogan in mid-July. The photo may have been taken after the team won the Eastern League championship in early September 1899 and may have been the same image manager Buckenberger was reported to have sent to The Sporting Life newspaper in early October 1899. The players wore a light gray uniform with dark stockings in this photo, a uniform very similar to that shown in photo A. However in photo B, only two players, Smith and Morse, wore a shirt with dark lettering similar to photo A. The remaining eleven men in photo B wore a shirt with light-colored letters, possibly indicating the team had new uniforms made during the season or that the scarlet lettering had faded in color during the season. As with photo A, the team’s cap was not included in the photo. Also similar to photo A, the shirts in photo B were short-sleeved and some of the players, in this case seven, wore their shirts open at the neck. One player in photo B, Campau, wore his shirt collar styled up, however he was not the same player who did so in photo A, that was Coogan. At least three players wore a dark undershirt in photo B and two players wore an undershirt with broad, bold stripes. At least one player wore pants with padding, and some of the players had dirt on their pants indicating the uniforms had recently been worn.

Top row, from left: E Householder (Roc 99, 00, Buf WL 99), C Bowen (99-02, Pat AtL 99), H O’Hagan (99-02), B Conn (99, 01) and J Burke (Roc 99, StL NL 99). Middle: C Campau (99, 00), H Smith (Roc 99-01, 03-05, Pit NL 99), (A Buckenberger mgr 99-01, 05-07), J Bean (98-01) and C Morse (98-00). Front: G Barclay (99, 01, 05, 06), B Smink (99, 00), B Becker (99) and B Lush (Roc 95, 99-01, Syr El 99, Der CnL 99, NH CnL 99). Image and player IDs from John L. Remington, The Red Wings – A Love Story (1969). Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Householder signing info from The Sporting Life, July 29, 1899. Bowen signing info from The Sporting Life, June 10, 1899. Lush signing info from The Sporting Life, July 15, 1899. McHale release info from The Sporting Life, May 27, 1899. Cavelle release info from The Sporting Life, July 8, 1899. Coogan release info from The Sporting Life, July 29, 1899. Remington image credited in 1969 to Mrs. J. W. Heil, Fairport, NY. This photo was also published in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, February 8, 1948, in which the photo was credited to W. L. Lush, Ossining, NY. This was most likely Rochester player Billy Lush, who died in Hawthorne, NY, (near Ossining) in 1951 at age 77. Though the creator of photo B is currently not known, the similarity in the studio background to photo A may suggest that Irving Saunders, Rochester, was the photographer of both images.

Dated late July 1899 to mid-September 1899. Detail view of photo B. Detail view showed the difference between the light-colored lettering in center of image and the dark-colored lettering at right. In both cases, the lettering extended to the armpits, obscuring the first and last “R” in the city name. The shirt did not have a shirt pocket.

Written documentation on these uniforms:
April 1899: “The uniforms of the Rochester team […] are gray and the stockings are of scarlet and black, with a scarlet belt, and a scarlet cap with a black peak. The sweaters are expected here tomorrow [April 15], and will be white.” From the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, April 14, 1899.

May 1899: “The Rochester team has been dubbed ‘the gypsies.’” From The Sporting Life, May 20, 1899.

July 1899: “Buckenberger’s Braves Making Determined Effort to Get to the Top of the Ladder.” Headline from The Sporting Life, July 29, 1899. Note that during this period “braves” and other native-American related nicknames were often applied by reporters to multiple teams.

September 1899: “On the night of Sept. 12 the Rochester Base Ball Company, Manager Buckenberger and the team were entertained at a banquet given in honor of the Eastern League Champions at the Livingston Hotel [Exchange Street, Rochester] by the Knockers’ Club, an organization of about 100 members. […] Here is hoping to see every one of the ‘Bronchos’ again next year.” From The Sporting Life, September 30, 1899. This was the only discovery of the Bronchos nickname used during the 1899 season by The Sporting Life, indicating the name may not have been applied to the team until the end of the season. Bronchos, typically spelled with an “h” during the 19th-century, was most likely generated as a word play off of Manager Buckenberger’s surname — a reference to a bucking broncho. The nickname may also have related to the team’s questionable style of play. The Sporting Life from 1899 printed many complaints from opposing teams about the Rochester players and their “rowdyism” displayed on the field. Regarding the Knockers’ Club, the September 30 issue of The Sporting Life said the organization was made up “of Rochester fans.”

October 1899: “We [i.e., The Sporting Life] are indebted to Manager Buckenberger for a handsome group photo of the Rochester team, winner of the Eastern League championship. The kind remembrance is appreciated.” From The Sporting Life, October 21, 1899.

Team genealogy: Rochester 1899-
Rochester joined the Eastern League (EL) in 1899, their fourth entry into the league. The EL operated between 1891 and 1911 and became the International League (IL) in 1912. Rochester played in the EL from 1899 to 1911 and has played in the IL from 1912 to present day. Information from Bill O’Neal, The International League (1992).