Dressed to the Nines: Jerseys

Joe Visner, Brooklyn Bridegrooms, 1889

"... Pinstripes and Checks. Numerous 19th-century baseball clubs had adorned themselves with striped uniforms, some stripes wider than others, but true 'pinstripes' were not introduced until 1888. That season three big league clubs, Washington and Detroit of the National League and Brooklyn of the American Association, adopted the dapper pattern. The two National league clubs finished poorly in 1888, and the following season they reverted to more traditional uniforms. Donning pinstripes, Brooklyn improved from a sixth-place finish in 1887 to a second place showing in 1888. Looking to improve in 1889, the club added more stripes … this time in a horizontal direction. The result was the first checked uniform in big league history and Brooklyn won the pennant. For reasons unknown, Brooklyn discarded their cross-hatched duds for the 1890 season, and the club dropped to the cellar. Pinstripes and checked uniforms both returned to big league baseball in 1907. For that season, the Boston Nationals (later known as the Braves) adopted pinstripes, while the Brooklyn Superbas (later known as the Dodgers) wore checked jerseys. The team best known for their pinstripes, the New York Yankees, first tried the style in 1912 and adopted pinstripes for good beginning in 1915."
Dressed to the Nines: Jerseys