1875 Red Stocking, St. Louis (Red Stockings, Reds, Co-Ops)
This rendering is based on written documentation only for uniform style and color. No visual documentation is known and an artist’s conceptualization is used to create the rendering.
Rendering accuracy:Year: documented Team: documented
Visual documentation on this uniform:
None
Written documentation on this uniform:
February 1875: “Tomorrow will be an important day for the ball-tossing fraternity. […] In the evening the regular annual convention will be held. Several delegates have arrived and others are expected, […] representing Boston, Atlantic, Athletic, St. Louis, Chicago, Hartford, Mutual, Red stocking (St. Louis), New Haven, Keokuk and the Centennial nines.” From the Boston Post, March 1, 1875, page 2, dateline: Philadelphia, February 28.
March 1875: “St. Louis has christened her new Base Ball Club the Red Stockings. That’s stealing.” From the Boston Post, March 9, 1875, page 1.
March 1875: “The uniform of the St. Louis Reds will consist of red stockings, gray pants, shirts and caps trimmed with red. A small red stocking will be worked on the shirts, and the word St. Louis over it.” From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, March 21, 1875. Research from Ed Morton, and also from Paul Batesel, Players And Teams Of The National Association, 1871-1875 (2012).
April 1875: “The St. Louis Reds will wear red stockings, gray pants, shirts and caps trimmed with red, a small ‘red stocking’ and the words ‘St. Louis’ will be worked on the shirts.” From the Chicago Tribune, April 4, 1875. This contemporary report suggests the team was planning to use a graphic representation of a stocking and not the words ‘Red Stocking’ on the shirt front.
April 1875: “The Reds have been practicing daily at their park during the past week. […] Their new uniforms will be done to-day. This uniform consists of a gray cap, gray shirt and gray pants, all trimmed with red, and red stockings.” From the St. Louis Republican, April 11, 1875. Research from Jeffrey Kittel, thisgameofgames.com, retrieved October 25, 2020.
April 1875: “The uniform of the St. Louis ‘Reds’ will consist of gray pants, shirts, and caps, with red trimmings, and stockings of deep red. ‘Red Stockings,’ in small letters, will be worked on the shirts, and the words ‘St. Louis’ over it.” From the Chicago Inter Ocean, April 17, 1875, page 12. Research from Ed Morton.
May 4, 1875, Red Stocking, St. Louis, v. St. Louis Browns, at St. Louis, home opener: “The ‘Reds’ we are pleased to say have adopted a pretty flesh colored shirt with the red stocking embroidered on the front; the same harmonizing tastefully with the dark gray breeches, gray cap, and scarlet hose.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 5, 1875. Research from Gary Kodner. This game-day report suggests that only a graphic representation of a stocking was displayed on the front of the shirt and that no words were included. Game date from retrosheet.org.
May 5, 1875, Red Stocking, St. Louis, v. Keokuk, at Keokuk, Iowa: “The Reds played a very fair game in most respects, except their in-fielding, which was rather loose.” From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 7, 1875, page 4, citing a special dispatch. Use of the Reds nickname. The headline read: “The St. Louis Reds vs. the Keokuk Westerns.”
May 25, 1875, Red Stocking, St. Louis, v. Chicago, at Chicago: “Chicago vs. Red Stockings. We present below the score for the third championship match between the Chicago Club and the St. Louis Reds.” From the New York Clipper, June 12, 1875. An example of both “Red Stockings” and “Reds” in use as nicknames, both in the plural form.
May 1875, Red Stocking, St. Louis, v. Chicago, at Chicago: “During the present week another club from St. Louis, wearing red stockings, has been here, and has been beaten twice.” From the Chicago Tribune, May 29, 1875. Red Stocking played at Chicago on May 25 and May 27, 1875. The St. Louis Brown Stockings (NA) had played in Chicago the previous week before the Red Stockings games. Game dates from retrosheeet.org.
August 1875: “From the fact that the Athletic [of Philadelphia] and Boston clubs will not visit the West again, and that neither have or will play the Red Stockings nine, of St. Louis, on their tour, it is probable that the St. Louis – Reds have withdrawn from the arena.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, August 25, 1875.
Team genealogy: Red Stocking, St. Louis 1860s-1876
Red Stocking was formed in St. Louis, Missouri, in the 1860s. The Red Stocking name came from their uniform which was modeled after the Cincinnati team of the late 1860s. The St. Louis club joined the National Association (NA) in 1875. The NA was baseball’s first league, operating 1871-1875. Red Stocking dropped out of the NA during the 1875 season but continued to play games through the end of 1876 before folding. In 1876, they helped to form a new organization for second-tier teams, the International Alliance, which soon dissolved with the creation of the League Alliance in 1877. –Information from Paul Batesel, Players and Teams of the National Association, 1871-1875 (2012).
Rendering posted: July 19, 2017
Diggers on this uniform: Ed Morton, Gary Kodner, Jeffrey Kittel,