1898 Brooklyn (Brooklyns, Trolley Dodgers)

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 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 these uniforms:

Photo A

Dated February 27, 1898. This montage of player portraits was published on this day. The montage included six players who did not play for Brooklyn in 1898. All of these drawings were based on photos made during the previous season of 1897 or before, some were based on the Brooklyn team photo taken in June 1897.

Top row, from left: E Dowd (New NEL 97, dnp 98), C LaChance (93-98), J Bean (Roc EL 98, New NEL 98), J Grim (95-99), H Payne (96-98) and R Miller (98). Second row: A Shickard (?), M Griffin (91-98), (B Barnie mgr 97, 98), G Smith (Bro AA 85-89, NL 90, 97, StL 98) and J Anderson (Bro 94-99, Was 98). Third row: C Fisher (Bro 97, Oma WL 98), J Dunn (97-00), J Ryan (98), B Kennedy (92-01), J Crishan (?) and F Jones (96-00). Bottom row: B Shindle (94-98), F Hansford (98), J Yeager (98, 99), A Smith (97-99) and B Hallman (98). Player IDs and image from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, February 27, 1898. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Image scan from Ken Samoil.

Photo B

Dated late September 1898 to mid-October 1898. Year of photo confirmed by the appearance of players Ryan, Magoon, McKenna, Miller, Hopper, Hallman and Wagner, all of whom only played for Brooklyn in 1898. Date range of late September 1898 to mid-October 1898 determined by players Anderson, Howell and Wagner, all of whom joined the team by late September and remained on the team until the end of the season on October 15, 1898. Anderson and Wagner joined the team on September 21, 1898. Fifteen of twenty players in this photo wore a light gray road uniform with dark stockings. The city name was arched across the shirt with the second “O” in Brooklyn divided across the opening of the shirt. The lettering was very similar to Brooklyn uniforms from previous years. In the photo above, the light gray shirt did not have a breast pocket. The cap, shown in the foreground, was either light gray or white in color and possibly had two thin horizontal bands. The stockings may have been red, a color which the team wore in past years. A newspaper report from early 1898 said that the uniforms were to be “similar to those of last year [1897].” Of the remaining five players in the photo, four players (two in the back row and two in the middle row) wore uniforms that were either a lighter shade of gray, or white, and that had no lettering across the front. At least one of these players, standing far left, wore a uniform that had a light-colored letter ‘B’ on a breast pocket. For a better view, see the detail view below. Three of these four players were new to the team in 1898, and based on this it could be suggested that this was the Brooklyn home uniform for this year. A newspaper report of a home game in 1898 said that players wore “a big red ‘B’ on their chests”. One player, seated fourth from left, wore a white uniform with the city name spelled out across the chest. This may have been the home uniform from the previous year of 1897. Five of the players in the photo wore their collars styled up.

Top row, from left: A Smith (97-99), T Daly (90-01), J Ryan (98), J Grim (95-99), J Anderson (Bro 94-99, Was 98), C LaChance (93-98), F Jones (96-00), J Sheckard (97, 98, 00-06) and G Magoon (98). Middle: K McKenna (Bro 98, Brcktn NEL 98), R Miller (98), B Kennedy (92-01), W Gaston (Bro 98, 99, Tor EL 98, Ham CL 98), M Griffin (91-98), J Dunn (97-00), L Hopper (98), J Yeager (98, 99) and H Howell (98, 00). Front, on ground: B Hallman (98) and B Wagner (Bro 98, Was 98). Player IDs and image from the Spalding Base Ball Guide 1899, published as a review of the 1898 season. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. Dates on Howell and Wagner joining team and date for end of season from retrosheet.org. This photo was credited to the American Sports Publishing Co., New York, which also published the Spalding Base Ball Guide and was owned by Albert Spalding.

Dated late September 1898 to mid-October 1898. Detail view of photo B. Detail view showed the second letter “O” in Brooklyn divided across the shirt opening.

Dated late September 1898 to mid-October 1898. Another detail view of photo B. This detail view showed the cap positioned in the foreground. It is possible the cap had several narrow horizontal bands.

Dated late September 1898 to mid-October 1898. Another detail view of photo B, two views shown. The detail view at left showed a single letter “B” on the breast pocket of a white shirt. The detail view at right is a darkened version of the same image. The red circle indicates the position of the letter on the pocket.

Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1898: “The Brooklyns have been measured for their uniforms. They will be similar to those of last year, with the possible exception of the color of the braid on the caps.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, March 28, 1898.

April 12, 1898, Brooklyn v. Lancaster (Atlantic League), exhibition game at Lancaster: “For Brooklyn, [Mike] Griffin singled and [Fielder] Jones sacrificed. [Candy] Lachance hit to [George] Leidy, who, much to everyone’s surprise, muffed the ball, and Capt. Griffin, who was conspicuous with red, white and blue stockings, came in with the winning run.” From the Lancaster (PA) New Era, April 13, 1898. Research from Ed Morton.

April 30, 1898, Brooklyn v. Philadelphia, at Brooklyn, Washington Park, opening day: “The players marched out upon the field and stood bunched back of third base, the Brooklyns with their gray coats and white breeches and the Phillies with their dark blue sweaters and gray breeches.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, May 1, 1898.

June 14, 1898, Brooklyn v. New York, at Brooklyn, Washington Park: “Roaring Bill Kennedy was the star of yesterday’s performance at Washington Park. […] The other eight men who wear a big red ‘B’ on their chests and draw pay twice a month contributed something to the final result, but Kennedy—like the leaders in all expeditions—Army, Navy, or North Pole, gets all the credit.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 15, 1898. Research from Ken Samoil.

Team genealogy: Brooklyn 1883-1957
Brooklyn was formed as a minor league team in 1883 and joined the American Association (AA) in 1884. The AA was a major league operating 1882-1891 and Brooklyn played in the AA between 1884 and 1889. Brooklyn moved to the National League (NL) for the 1890 season. The NL began operation in 1876. Brooklyn played in the NL between 1890 and 1957, when the team moved to Los Angeles. Information from wikipedia.