1884 St. Louis (Brown Stockings, Browns)
Left: This rendering is based on visual documentation for uniform style and written documentation for color. Some 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 written documentation 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:
Photo A
Dated 1884. Photo date determined by appearance of players Wheeler and Davis. Photo shows team wearing a white uniform. A newspaper account from this year described that the accent color was brown, as used on the cap, necktie, lettering, belt and stockings. Photo shows that the pant also had trim along the seam. Several players wore a white overcoat. Note, the year in which this photo was made is sometimes misidentified in other resources.
Top row, from left: T O’Neill (84-89, 91), F Lewis (StL AA 83, 84, StL UA 84, StL NL 85), J McGinnis (82-86), T Dolan (StL AA 83, 84, StL UA 84, StL NL 85, 86) and C Comiskey (82-89, 91). Middle: B Gleason (82-87), A Latham (AA 83-89, NL 96), P Deasley (83, 84), G Strief (StL AA 83, 84, KC UA 84, Chi/Pit UA 84, Cle 84) and H Wheeler (StL AA 84, KC UA 84, Chi/Pit UA 84, Bal UA 84). Front: J Quest (StL AA 83, 84, Pit AA 84), H Nichol (83-86) and D Davis (StL AA 84, Bos NL 84). Player IDs from Mark Fimoff, SABR 19th-Century Pictorial Committee. Years with team from baseball-reference.com. A version of this image was sold at auction in 2020. It included a photo frame with players’ names added in the 20th century, and listed the player in the front row, far right, as B Widner. Making the case for Davis, researcher Ken Samoil states that “Daisy Davis […] and Harry Wheeler both joined the Browns for the 1884 season, so the image is apparently mid-dated [in 1884]. Bill Widner, according to his SABR biography, played ‘in the amateur and semi-pro ranks before signing with the local American Association team (Cincinnati) while still a teenager on May 28, 1887.’ He would have been just 16 at the start of the 1884 season, and there is no record of him being on the roster of the Browns at any time during that season or the one before.”
Dated 1884. Detail view of photo A.
Photo B
Dated 1884. Photo date confirmed by appearance of players Wheeler and Davis. Photo shows team wearing same uniform as shown in photo A. Photo B is a composite of separately photographed players combined into one scene.
Top row, standing, from left: G Streif (StL AA 83, 84, KC UA 84, Chi/Pit UA 84, Cle 84), J McGinnis (82-86), T O’Neill (84-89, 91), J Quest (StL AA 83, 84, Pit AA 84), C Comiskey (82-89, 91), B Gleason (82-87) and H Nicol (83-86). Front: H Wheeler (StL AA 84, KC UA 84, Chi/Pit UA 84, Bal UA 84), A Latham (AA 83-89, NL 96), D Davis (StL AA 84, Bos NL 84), T Dolan (StL AA 83, 84, StL UA 84, StL NL 85, 86), P Deasley (83, 84) and F Lewis (StL AA 83, 84, StL UA 84, StL NL 85). Player IDs from Nigel Ayres. Years with team from baseball-reference.com.
Dated 1884. Detail view of photo A.
Written documentation on this uniform:
February 1884: “The St. Louis club will this season [1884] play in a handsome suit of white, with brown belts and stockings. The uniform will be the most tasteful ever shown in St. Louis, and the return to the old club colors will doubtless be enthusiastically greeted by the admirers of the team.” From the Cincinnati Enquirer, February 4, 1884, page 2.
February 1884: “The St. Louis uniforms will be the handsomest ever put on the field here locally, and will consist of a very pretty shirt, small collar, plain front with the words St. Louis in brown letters across the front; a brown scarf will be used with the shirt; the pants will be plain white, the stockings solid brown of a very handsome shade; the caps will be white with brown stripes after the [National] League pattern, and the belt will be brown with a large nickel buckle. There will be natty little coat of white with brown trimmings worn with the uniform and the entire outfit will be of best procurable material.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, February 16, 1884. Research from Oliver Kodner.
February 1884: “The St. Louis club will return to brown stockings next year [1884] and has adopted a very handsome shade of that color. The caps will be of the League pattern, with white and brown stripes, with brown belts with large nickel buckles. A natty little coat will be worn with the uniform.” From the Cleveland Leader, February 19, 1884, page 6.
April 5, 1884, St. Louis (AA) v. St. Louis Reserves, at St. Louis, Sportsman’s Park: “Quite a scene was enacted at the Directors’ headquarters at Sportsman’s Park yesterday, as President Von der Ahe displayed magnificent new uniforms of the St. Louis and Reserve players […] Those of the St. Louis players are beauties. They are of the purest white flannel, the shirts being of a soft, smooth texture, with the ‘St. Louis Browns’ in brown cashmere handsomely woven across the center. Pretty silk cord lacings are used, giving the shirt a very attractive and handsome appearance. The breeches are of a blouse pattern. The stockings are a beautiful brown, while the belt is of a fine brocaded silk woven material. Each player receives two suits, with each one of which goes a pair of garters and a pretty necktie. The caps have two brown stripes around them.” From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, April 6, 1884. Research from Jeff Kittel. This report was from an exhibition game between the St. Louis American Association team and the team’s reserve squad. Note that the team photo from this year showed a uniform with only the city name displayed, and did not include the team nickname.
April 5, 1884, St. Louis (AA) v. St. Louis Reserves, at St. Louis, Sportsman’s Park:: “The Browns…appeared in their rich new costumes of white shirts and white breeches, with dark brown stockings and belts and caps of the [National] League style in brown and white. The uniform was not complete, as there are…jackets of white flannel with brown to be added.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, April 7, 1884. Research from Peter Morris. This report was from an exhibition game between the St. Louis American Association team and the team’s reserve squad.
May 2, 1884, St. Louis v. Indianapolis, at St Louis: “When the bell called out the home club, thirteen men appeared in uniform, all but Deasley wearing buttonhole bouquets.” From the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, May 3, 1884, page 12.
July 20, 1884, St. Louis (AA) v. Louisville, at St. Louis: “The Browns yesterday [on July 20] appeared in very handsome new white shirts with small polka dots. They are very becoming.” From the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 21, 1884. Research from Oliver Kodner.
1884, referenced in March 1885: “A correspondent writes […] expressing his views on the St. Louis’ use of the brown in their uniform. It is undoubtably an ugly a combination as could be got together, but with the polka dot shirts used last year [in 1884] it was redeemed very materially.” From the St. Louis Post-Disptach, March 21, 1885. Research from Oliver Kodner. This report suggested a polka dot shirt was worn by the team in 1884.
Team genealogy:
St. Louis 1882-
St. Louis was formed to join the American Association (AA) in 1882. The AA was a major league operating between 1882 and 1891 and St. Louis played in the AA in every year of the league’s existence. The team moved to the National League (NL) for 1892 season. The NL began operation in 1876 and St. Louis has played in the NL every year since 1892. Information from wikipedia.
1884 St. Louis summary
Uniform: white, brown stockings
First worn: April 5, St. Louis
Photographed: two team photos from year
Described: February, April
Material: flannel, cashmere lettering, silk laces, brocaded silk belt
Manufacturer:
Supposition:
Variations: wore polka-dot shirts July 20, St. Louis
Other items: white coat with brown trimming
Home opener report: no, May 1 v. Indianapolis
Rendering posted: March 14, 2023
Diggers on this uniform: Jeffrey Kittel, Ken Samoil, Nigel Ayres, Oliver Kodner, Peter Morris,