Early Baseball Uniform Trends

It's picture day! Check out some pretty awesome baseball fashion modeled by teams from right here in the Northwest.

I couldn’t sleep last night, so I did what any normal person would do. I came downstairs and looked at old baseball pictures online.

I was looking for something in particular, but as I tend to do, I fell down other rabbit holes. I discovered a team wearing quilted baseball pants. This obviously stood out to me since no one can think about anything besides the current baseball pants fiasco. Then, I ran across several other pictures of players wearing quilted pants. One thing led to another, and rather than spam my Bluesky timeline with random pictures, I thought I’d take a look at the fashion trends that popped out to me during my insomnia research.

Let’s start with the pants that started this whole thing.

Pretty Sure This Is What They Mean by Hot Pants

The Snohomish Baseball Team of 1904. Sno-Isle Libaries 2010.011.004

There’s a lot I enjoy about this picture; the sensual posing, the dog in the back row, but I as I was taking all that in I noticed the pants. They are thick and quilted! That makes sense. Baseball season starts in the spring, when it’s often still cold and definitely still wet, and it ends during the dark, chilling days of fall.

Once I saw those, I couldn’t unsee them. They popped up in many more photos including:

Hopkins Drug Store, Tacoma, ca. 1910-1912. Washing State Historical Society 2001.0.184.

A Coupeville, Whidbey Island Team, ca. 1900-1910. University of Washington Digital Collections PH Coll 376.57.

The pants made it all the way across the state to Sprague, ca. 1905. Washington State Historical Society 2004.8.9.

You in Your Autumn Sweater

If it’s cold enough for your legs to need quilted pants, you may also need something up top to keep warm. Enter, of course, the fantastic baseball sweaters of yore.

Absolutely everything about this picture is perfect. No notes. The Seattle Asahi team, Japanese Baseball Champions of the Pacific Coast in 1917. University of Washington Digital Collections PH-COLL 128.12.

Not as polished as the Asahi team, but I like what’s happening around the neck. This is a 1930 team from South Tacoma, but I like to think the SO doesn’t sound for South; they’re just emphasizing their Tacoma-ness. Washington State Historical Society 1957.64.B22491

Here we have an unidentified baseball player from 1911, Waterville High School in Waterville, WA (between Wenatchee and Lake Chelan) modeling a standard baseball sweater. Washington State Historical Society, 2013.154.1.149.5.

If a sweater isn’t warm enough, might I suggest a jacket?

The 1903 Tacoma Tigers looking sharp in their double-breasted jackets. Washington State Historical Society 1970.45.20.

Black is Black, I Want These Uniforms Back, It’s Gray it’s Gray, Since They Went Away

There was a lot of teeth gnashing last year over the Mariners and their black City Connect pants. People were very upset by them! I thought they were great. Black baseball pants were not invented as a publicity stunt to sell more jerseys, it turns out.

The 1912 Waterville Bunchgrassers (!!) model the all-black look. It’s not just for the goth kids anymore. Washington State Historical Society 2013.154.1.203

The 1907 Mineral (way out there in Lewis County) Junior Baseball Team also models all-black uniforms. It’s a great choice for a kids team because kids are messy. Washington State Historical Society 1999.4.1.7.

The 1914 Spokane Northwestern League Team says, hey, black uniforms are not just for kids! They grow them up with the addition of pinstripes and really cool hats. Washington State Historical Society 1957.64.B19100.2.GL.

Here, we see the Fort Spokane (no year given) baseball team model an early black pants look. There are several indigenous players on this team. It’s one of those pictures I see and realize there’s a lot going on here that’s not immediately obvious. University of Washington Digital Collections ER7.3.10.

You Say “Horizontal”, I say “Vertical”, You say “Why?”, And I Say “Because It Looks Cool and Different”

I first ran across this uniform look when I was researching shipyard baseball in Seattle in 1918. I wasn’t sure what to make of it, but it was pretty popular around WWI. There may be a reason it died out, but I like that it’s so different and what is fashion if not taking chances?

This photo is either from 1917 or 1918. It shows Louis Guisto in a Dupont uniform and Walter Mails (also a major leaguer!) in a Duthie Shipyard uniform. University of Washington Digital Collections: PH Coll 1594.41

The Seattle Asahi team also wore the look in 1918. University of Washington Digital Collections PH Coll 129.1

The Manley Moore Lumber Co. from Fairfax, Pierce County c. 1910 shows off a take on the look with the city name running vertically and the company name horizontally. Washington State Historical Society 2014.45.1.43.

We Never Go Out of Style

Here’s a few final looks that didn’t fit neatly into any category.

One thing older baseball uniforms have that has disappeared in modern times is stripes everywhere. We see the thick stripes on the socks, but what stood out to me where the three players with striped shirts under the jerseys. I’m not sure if it’s too much with the striped hats, but I’m a fan of stripes. Stripes everywhere! Olympia High School, ca. 1910. Washington State Historical Society 2006.78.1.

The Franklin High School (Seattle) Baseball Team was stylin’ in May 1909. These are simple uniforms, but I like the balance, particularly the black underneath the collars. Bring back collars on baseball jerseys and make them contrast like this. Washington State Historical Society 1943.42.13675.

We’re going to end with a look at my favorite baseball team of all time, the Merry Widows Baseball Club, ca. 1908:

I love the askew hats. Obviously the result of needing to account for hair styles, but there’s no reason we can’t make baseball hat wearing a little more fun. All the fuddy duddies who complained about Ken Griffey Jr. wearing his hat backwards can go away, he was on the right track! University of Washington Digital Collections PH Coll 128.104.