19th Century Detroit Eye Candy

[Joe_G.]

Originally Posted by pro9

Joe, it looks like the players bench is on the field as there were no dugouts. When did dugouts come into use? Could you catch a foul ball in the area behind the line defining where the players could sit?

I'm not certain on the rule during late 1880s but suspect anything a player could reach and catch on the fly would count as an out. It could get interesting as you approach the opposing team's bench.

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

The white socks for Detroit means 1887 , right ? Someone needs to identify the opposing team.

Hello Mike, the home jerseys in 1886, 1887, and 1888 had white stockings. The 1886 Tomlinson cabinets were with the road uniforms (red socks and red belt). Craig Brown has accumulated a wealth of information on team uniforms by year, an endeavor I've tried to contribute to, check it out: http://www.threadsofourgame.com/category/1886-1890/#

Originally Posted by SAllen2556

Wow. Really cool stuff. That poster from 1887 is priceless. I have subscription to the Free Press archives and here's a blurb from the July 4th, 1887 game. The photos don't show an overflow crowd in the outfield. No mention of an overflow crowd in the July 4th, 1886 story, however. Note the very odd rule of a ball hit into the crowd.

Agreed Scott, the poster is impressive, hope more copies surface.

I have two Detroit game-in-progress images in my collection. The first one is an imperial cabinet from 1886, a home game against Chicago, in which Detroit was dressed in an special all white suit. This game featured a crowd of over 10,000 fans and they roped off the outfield.

I also have a large 1888 negative of a Detroit game in Philadelphia. I really enjoy the game-in-progress images. The following is a digital sepia image created from the negative.

The Detroit Historical Society images could be 1886 or 1887 (or other), I hope to narrow it down with a little more research.