1887 Pittsburgh (Pittsburghs, Pittsburgs, Alleghenys)
Documentation recorded on these uniforms:
White– visual & written
Gray– written only
These renderings are included in the book, BASEBALL THREADS.
Visual documentation on these uniforms:
Photo A
Dated April 1887 to mid-June 1887. Old Judge baseball card of A McKinnon (87). Full view at left, detail view at right. Year of photo confirmed as McKinnon only played for Pittsburgh in 1887. Date range of April 1887 to mid-June 1887 determined in combination with the image of player Bishop, see below. The photo backgrounds were similar in both the McKinnon and Bishop images, suggesting each was made at the same session. It is possible the uniform McKinnon wore in this photo, in addition to all of the Pittsburgh uniforms displayed on the baseball cards from 1887, was the pearl-gray road uniform described in a newspaper account from this year. The shirt had a pocket on the left breast. Based on the studio background, it is possible these images were made in Boston by photographer George A. Gray, though unconfirmed. Pittsburgh played in Boston May 16-19, 1887. McKinnon’s last game played was July 4, 1887, and he died of typhoid fever on July 24, 1887. Year McKinnon with team, last game and date of death from baseball-reference.com. Cause of McKinnon’s death from the Pittsburgh Post, July 25, 1887. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo B
Dated April 1887 to mid-June 1887. Old Judge baseball card of B Bishop (86, 87). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date range determined by fact that Bishop was released from the team in mid-June 1887. Red circles indicate two identifiable elements of the studio background: at left a pronounced wrinkle in the backdrop, and at right an unknown object on the ground. As these elements appear in other studio portraits of Pittsburgh players, it can be suggested that each of the images was made at the same session. It is possible this uniform, in addition to all of the Pittsburgh uniforms displayed on the baseball cards from 1887, was the pearl-gray road uniform described in a newspaper account from this year. Based on the studio background, it is also possible these images were made in Boston by photographer George A. Gray, though unconfirmed. Pittsburgh played in Boston May 16-19, 1887. Detail view showed a large button on the top of the cap, a shirt pocket and two leather straps on the fabric belt. Years Bishop with team from baseball-reference.com. Bishop release information from the Pittsburgh Post, June 20, 1887.
Photo C
Dated April 1887 to mid-June 1887. Gypsy Queen baseball card of A Whitney (AA 84-86, NL 87). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date range determined by the images of McKinnon and Bishop shown above. Detail view shows short sleeves or detachable sleeves and a pant seam without trim. Years Whitney with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo D
Dated April 1887 to mid-June 1887. Old Judge baseball card of T Brown (Pit AA 85, 86, Pit NL 87, Ind 87). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date range determined by the images of McKinnon and Bishop shown above. The image was made before August 15, 1887 as this was the date Brown was released by Pittsburgh. Detail view seems to confirm that lace ties were worn by this team. Detail view also shows creases or seam lines in pants, possibly suggesting padding around the knees. Only a few Pittsburgh players from this photo session appeared to be wearing this style of pants. Years Brown with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Brown release date from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 16, 1887.
Photo E
Dated April 1887 to mid-June 1887. Old Judge baseball card of F Carroll (AA 85, 86, NL 87-89, 91, PL 90). Full view at left, detail view at right. Photo date range determined by the images of McKinnon and Bishop shown above. Detail view shows creases or seam lines in pants, possibly suggesting padding around the knees. Only a few Pittsburgh players from this photo session appeared to be wearing this style of pants. Years Carroll with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Photo F
Dated 1887. Old Judge baseball card of S Barkley (AA 86, NL 87). Full view at left, detail view at right. Detail view shows light-colored or white lace ties and decorative stitching on the shirt placket and shirt pocket. Years Barkley with team from baseball-reference.com. Image from the Library of Congress, Washington.
Dated 1887. Detail view of photo C. Detail view shows subtle bands, possibly 3 or 4, circling the cap.
Photo G
Dated mid-August 1887 to October 1887. Kalamazoo Bats baseball card. Date range determine by the absence of player Brown from this photo. Brown was released by the team on August 15, 1887. Based on the grandstand behind the players, this photo was most likely taken at Recreation Park, Pittsburgh. A similar grandstand was in the background of the 1889 Pittsburgh team photo. It can therefore be assumed the team was wearing the home uniform in this image, which consisted of a white uniform with dark-colored caps. The belts and stockings were of a mid-tone color. Contrary to the newspaper reports from 1887 (listed below) which stated the team wore white caps at home, the team wore dark caps in this photo, probably red in color.
From left: A Dalrymple (87, 88), J Fields (AA 87-89, 91, 92, PL 90), A Whitney (AA 84-86, NL 87), P Galvin (AA 85, 86, NL 87-89, 91, 92, PL 90), P Smith? (AA 85, 86, NL 87-89), E Morris (AA 85, 86, NL 87-89, PL 90), F Carroll (AA 85, 86, NL 87-89, 91, PL 90), J Coleman (AA 86, NL 87, 88, 90), D Miller (AA 84-86, NL 87-93) and S Barkley? (AA 86, NL 87). Player IDs and years with team from baseball-reference.com, and also from Nigel Ayres. Due to quality of image, some identifications are unconfirmed. Image scan from Jay Miller, Joe Gonsowski and Richard Masson, The Photographic Baseball Cards of Goodwin & Company, 1886-1890 (2008). Card produced by Charles Gross & Co., a Philadelphia-based cigar manufacturer and merchant.
Written documentation on these uniforms:
March 1887: “As the members of the [Pittsburgh] team report they are measured for their uniforms. Each man will have two — one of pearl gray, with blue trimmings, and the other will likely be white and blue, although it has not yet been decided definitely. Spalding will make them.” From the Philadelphia Times, March 27, 1887.
March 1887: “Pittsburg[h] is to adopt the famous maroon stockings as part of its costume.” From the Owego Daily Record, March 30, 1887.
April 1887: “[Pittsburgh’s] Dalrymple, in the red blue uniform and white stockings and cap of the Chicagos, was taking his portion of the fun like the rest. From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 1, 1887. Report from a practice session.
April 2, 1887, Allegheny v. Buffalo, at Allegheny, Recreation Park: “On Saturday nearly 4,000 people paid for admission into Recreation Park to see the Alleghenys enjoy themselves with Chapman’s ‘Bisons.’” From the Pittsburgh Post, April 4, 1887. Use of the Allegheny name in use. The Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette reported on the same game. Comparing the two reports of the game played April 2, the Gazette favored the “Pittsburgh” name, while the Post favored the “Allegheny” name.
April 1887: “When the Pittsburg[h] Club makes its first appearance in other [National] League cities, the spectators will be very apt to think that a circus has struck town. Their uniform coats will be the cause of suspicion. They are made of flannel, with alternate stripes of red and white. The boys have poked a good many jokes at Manger Phillips over his selection.” From the Philadelphia Times, April 3, 1887.
April 1887: “The Pittsburg[h] players away from home will wear gray with maroon belts and stockings, and for the home games the costumes will be white with the same color in stockings and belts. The caps will match the uniforms.” From the Washington (DC) Evening Star, April 5, 1887.
April 1887: “The traveling suits of the Pittsburg[h] team will be of pearl-gray color. The color of the playing uniform has not been decided upon yet, but will likely be a white jacket, with blue trunks.” From The Sporting Life, April 6, 1887.
April 19, 1887, Pittsburgh v. Altoona (PSA), at Pittsburgh, Recreation Park, exhibition game: “The Alleghenys wore their new maroon jackets yesterday [April 19].” From the Pittsburgh Post, April 20, 1887. This report called the Pittsburgh team the “Alleghenys” throughout.
April 1887: “The Alleghenys have received their new uniforms. Their Norfolk jackets give them an exceedingly gay appearance.” From the Wheeling (WV) Sunday Register, April 24, 1887.
April 1887: “James McCormick, the pitcher, arrived in the city [of Pittsburgh] this morning [and] attached his signature to a Pittsburgh contract. […] The big man’s uniform was ordered a few days ago, and will be here [in Pittsburgh] tomorrow.” From the New York Sun, April 30, 1887.
April 1887: “At the beginning of the 1887 season [Pittsburgh catcher Fred] Carroll buried his pet monkey, which earlier served as an unofficial mascot for the team, beneath the home plate at Pittsburgh’s Recreation Park in a pre-game ceremony.” From the Fred Carroll bio page at wikipedia.com, citing several non-contemporary sources, retrieved June 24, 2023. See more on this story below.
April 30, 1887, Pittsburgh v. Chicago, at Pittsburgh, Recreation Park, home opener: “The old blue uniforms of the Chicagos presented a sad contrast to the trim, snow white suits of the [Pittsburgh] home team.” From the Pittsburgh Commercial Gazette, May 2, 1887.
April 30, 1887, Pittsburgh v. Chicago, at Pittsburgh, Recreation Park, home opener: “It is now a matter of history that the Alleghenys have played their first game in the [National] league championship contest and scored a brilliant victory.” From the Pittsburgh Post, May 2, 1887. Use of the Allegheny nickname.
June 1887: “The color of a least one uniform of each club in the [National] League and American Association is given below. It would be next to impossible to give the several different uniforms of each club, as they change the different pieces of one uniform to another, and may appear on the field in a different make-up every day for a week. However, one complete uniform of each club is as follows: […] Pittsburg[h] — White flannel, with maroon stockings, and cap as same material as shirts and trousers.” From the New York Sun, June 12, 1887, and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, June 14, 1887. Research from Todd Radom.
July 1887, not uniform related but interesting nonetheless: “Detectives have been shadowing the players of the Philadelphia and Pittsburg[h] Base Ball Clubs for several nights, and in consequence of evidence that has been collected against several of the players of both clubs, they are to be released and other men will take their places. […] It has been an open secret among men about town for the past month that several members of the Philadelphia team have been drinking hard, and it has also been known, as their record shows, they have played wretched ball. These men stayed up last Sunday night [July 3, 1887] to welcome the 4th of July and two of the players didn’t go to bed at all. On the Fourth they played two games with the Pittsburg[h] team and both clubs played wretchedly. In the afternoon game, twenty-five well-known lovers of the game signed an agreement not to go see another game on the Philadelphia grounds until the Phillies played better ball, the penalty to be the forfeiture of $10 every time any one of the twenty-five violated his promise. […] Harry Wright went to the head of a well-known detective agency near Fourth and Walnut streets [in Philadelphia] and told the detective what he wanted. […] The ball players were to be shadowed and when they were caught in the saloon having a good time Manager Wright, who was to be in the waiting at a place agreed upon, was to be sent for so that he could see with his own eyes just who the men were and what their condition was. […] It had been arranged that some of the Phillies were to show some of the Pittsburg[h]ers the town. [Pittsburgh] Pitcher Morris and Catcher Carroll and Captain Brown, the “Californian Trio,” [waited] for darkness and [also for Jim] Fogarty, of the Philadelphia club, who was to be their guide. Darkness came and so did Fogarty, and the quartet started off up Chestnut street and up Tenth. They were on the point of entering a saloon opposite St. Stephen’s Church when Manager Harry Wright, of the Phillies, who was in ambush at Tenth and Market streets, came down Tenth street. Fogarty saw him, and he and his companions went up a blind alley until Harry Wright passed down the street. […] One of the detectives went after [Pittsburgh] Manager Phillips to the Gerard house. Manager Phillips disguised himself in a slouch hat, pulled it down over his eyes and hurried on to Jayne street [where the men were now at a billiards hall]. He got there just as Morris and Brown were taking another beer. […] Then there was a stampede. It was nearly midnight. One of the detectives fell down a coal hole and bruised his shins. […] How long the [players] are to be watched is not known, but the detectives were still shadowing them at midnight last night [July 6].” From the Philadelphia Times, July 7, 1887. The Times dedicated several columns to the escapades of Fogarty and the California Trio, more beyond what has been included here. The newspaper cited that “detectives watching ball players is the very latest novelty in connection with the national game.”
July 25, 1887, Pittsburgh v. Indianapolis, at Pittsburgh: “Yesterday [July 25] all the players at Recreation Park wore badges of mourning in memory of their late fellow-player. Denny, of the Indianapolis club, wired every club in the League requesting them to wear similar badges. The Pittsburghs will wear theirs for thirty days.” From the Pittsburgh Post, July 26, 1887, page 6. The badges were in memory of Pittsburgh player Alex McKinnon, who died July 24, 1887, in Massachusetts, at age 30.
October 1887: “Large photographs of the Pittsburgh club’s beautiful floral tribute to Alex McKinnon were presented by Manager Phillips yesterday [September 30, 1887] to the members of the team and newspaper men.” From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 1, 1887. McKinnon’s last game played was July 4, 1887, and he died of typhoid fever on July 24, 1887. Year McKinnon with team, last game and date of death from baseball-reference.com. Cause of McKinnon’s death from the Pittsburgh Post, July 25, 1887.
The Fred Carroll Monkey Burial story.
The story put to wikipedia.com reads like this: “At the beginning of the 1887 season [Pittsburgh catcher Fred] Carroll buried his pet monkey, which earlier served as an unofficial mascot for the team, beneath the home plate at Pittsburgh’s Recreation Park in a pre-game ceremony.” Wiki cites several non-contemporary sources for this entry. Entry retrieved June 24, 2023.
Researcher Andy Terrick comments that “if you Google ‘Fred Carroll monkey,’ the bulk of this story can be found on numerous websites. It lives in the annals of Pittsburgh baseball’s tall tales, like the 1890 game when only 6 people were in the stands, or that the marker for Forbes Field home plate shouldn’t be in the building hallway it is located in, but should be in the nearby ladies’ room.”
Researcher Craig Britcher’s outlines the roots of the monkey-burial story in more detail: “Carroll began with the Alleghenys in 1885 and finished his career in Pittsburgh in 1891. A Californian, he was out west before the 1887 season and that seems to be the main reason the monkey’s story doesn’t show up in the Pittsburgh papers. Carroll appeared as an umpire in two games in San Francisco on January 23 and 30, 1887, according to the San Francisco Chronicle, and at some point thereafter begins his train trek back across the country.” The following newspaper reports were supplied by Craig Britcher:
March 2: “Charlie Sweeney and Fred Carroll each own a monkey which they will bring East with them and establish as mascots for their respective clubs.” –Sporting Life.
March 8: “Fred Carroll has purchased a monkey to do the mascot business for Washington.” –Detroit Free Press. (Apparently there was a chance Carroll wasn’t coming back to Pittsburgh or there was confusion between players Fred and Cliff Carroll.) A similar entry was noted in Paul Dickson’s Baseball Dictionary (2009), under “mascot.”
March 9: “Fred Carroll, one of the catchers of the Allegheny ball club, arrived in the city from Hot Springs yesterday.”–Pittsburgh Daily Post, page 4.
March 13: “Fred Carroll arrived in town on Tuesday [March 12]. He is looking well.” –Philadelphia Times, page 11. The reference to “town” in this entry meant St. Louis, as the dispatch was from that city.
March 16: “Fred Carroll’s mascot monkey died at Denver. It will find a resting place under Pittsburg’s home plate.” –Detroit Free Press, page 8. This story was subsequently picked up by other newspapers.
–According the above, the monkey was purchased before March 2 and died in Denver by March 9. No reports have been found to say the animal ever arrived in Pittsburgh.
–One could wonder if a burial happened in the preseason but there’s no apparent documentation to support this. Carroll and his teammates first practiced at Recreation Park in Pittsburgh on March 23. By my count, there were 12 exhibition games played in Pittsburgh before the NL home opener on April 30, about seven weeks after the monkey’s reported death.
–After the 1887 season started, mentions of the mascot monkey were seemingly non-existent.
–A 1954 Sport Magazine ad led me to Lee Allen’s 1950 book, 100 Years of Baseball. The ad had many questions inquiring “How well do you know your baseball?” One question read, “In what National League park was a monkey buried under home plate?” In his book, Allen wrote, “Then there was the case of Cliff Carroll, a player who traveled around the league with a pet monkey which eventually died and was buried under home plate on the field at Pittsburgh.” Note that Allen writes only “field at Pittsburgh.” This may be attributed to the early confusion of when the early Pirates/Alleghenys played at each early park. In 1970, the Boston Globe erroneously replaced “the field at Pittsburgh” with Forbes Field. Lee Allen was the Baseball Hall of Fame’s main research historian for years and a significant contributor to our general knowledge of the game. We do stand on the shoulders of giants, but with the internet and research advancements over the decades we can see further and clearer down the trail of the past.
–Thanks to Craig Britcher and Andy Terrick for the above analysis.
1887 Pittsburgh summary
Uniform: white, red cap and stockings
First worn: received before April 24
Photographed: team photo from year
Described: March, April, June
Material: flannel
Manufacturer: Spalding & Bro.
Supposition:
Variations: may also have worn with white caps
Other items: red Norfolk jacket
Home opener report: yes, April 30 v Chicago
Uniform: gray, red stockings
First worn: received before April 24
Photographed: studio portraits from, mid-June or before
Described: March, April
Material:
Manufacturer: Spalding & Bro.
Supposition:
Variations:
Team genealogy:
Pittsburgh 1870s-
Pittsburgh began as Allegheny, an independent pro team in the city of Allegheny, PA, located across the Allegheny River from Pittsburgh. The club organized in the mid-1870s and joined the American Association (AA) at its formation in 1882. The AA was a major league operating between 1882 and 1891. Allegheny played in the AA through the 1886 season and then moved to the National League (NL) as Pittsburgh in 1887. The NL began operation in 1876 and Pittsburgh has played in the league every year from 1887 to present time. Information from wikipedia.com.
Rendering posted: August 23, 2017
Diggers on this uniform: Andy Terrick, Craig Britcher, Nigel Ayres, Todd Radom,