1875 Western, Keokuk IA (Westerns)
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: “Uniform…white with blue stockings and trimmings, letter ‘K’ on bosom and on cuff of each sleeve, making a trio of ‘K’s. Hat to be worn instead of cap.” From the Keokuk (IA) Daily Constitution, March 31, 1875. Research from Mark Pestana, Bob Tiemann, and from Paul Batesel, Players And Teams Of The National Association, 1871-1875 (2012).
April 1875: “The Hartfords, Elm City, Athletics and Westerns, of Keokuk, will all wear blue stockings. What nonsense this is. Are there not enough are there not colors enough to select from without copying those of the leading clubs? The Bostons are the original ‘Reds,’ the ‘Athletics’ being the first to don the blue. The Hartfords should have chosen the gray, and the Westerns dark brown or Buffalo color.” From the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 1, 1875, page 2. Research from Ed Morton.
April 1875: “The uniform of the Westerns, of Keokuk, will be blue stockings, light knee pants, light shirt trimmed with blue, with the letter ‘K’ worked in blue on the breast, and a small ‘K’ in blue on each cuff on the sleeve, with hat trimmed with the blue.” From the St. Louis Democrat, April 15, 1875, page 4. Research from Ed Morton.
May 28, 1875, Keokuk v. Ludlow, KY, at Ludlow Bas Ball Grounds, exhibition game: “The Ludlows were dressed very neatly in suits of white, trimmed with narrow parallel stripes of blue down the side of the pantaloons and around the collar. The shield of the breast was ornamented with an Old-English L. The uniform of the Keokuk Club was trimmed with blue in a single stripe, and the shield adorned with the letter K in blue, smaller copies of the same letter being placed in each upper corner of the shield.” From the Cincinnati Daily Gazette, May 29, 1875. Research from Paul Winter.
Team genealogy: Western was formed in Keokuk, Iowa, in 1872, and joined the National Association (NA) in 1875. The NA was baseball’s first league, operating 1871-1875. Western folded during the 1875 NA season. –Information from Paul Batesel, Players and Teams of the National Association, 1871-1875 (2012).
Rendering posted: August 3, 2014
Diggers on this uniform: Bob Tiemann, Ed Morton, Mark Pestana, Paul Winter,