Detroit Wolverines, 1886
Photographer: Frank N. Tomlinson
Photo Subject: Team image of the 1886 Detroit Wolverines. The second row has four Hall of Fame members: Dennis “Big Dan” Brouthers, Edward “Foxy Ned” Hanlon, James “Deacon” White and “Big” Sam Thompson. The roster included in this image are:
Top row, from left: Larry Twitchell (p), Charlie Bennett (c), Bill Watkins (mgr), Lady Baldwin (p, of) and Charles Hall (did not play for Detroit).
Middle: Pretzels Getzein (p), Dan Brouthers (1b, HOF), Jim Manning (of), Ned Hanlon (of, HOF), Deacon White (3b, HOF) and Sam Thompson (of, HOF).
Front: Jack Rowe (ss), Sam Crane (2b) and Hardy Richardson (of).
Of special interest: The Wolverines normally wear white stockings and would wear red stocking only when playing against Chicago. Since both uniforms are similar, the red stockings were worn to better distinguish the Detroiters from the Chicagoans.
Fun Fact: The Detroit Wolverines team was admitted into the National League as a replacement team for the Cincinnati Red Stockings. A too rich payroll was cited as a major reason for the Red Stockings folding, but my favorite cause for the demise of the Reds is . . . beer. According to Jonathan Fraser Light:
"W.H. Kennett [Red’s club president] was adamant regarding the sale of beer and said the team would quit the league if there was to be no drinking. As a result of the rift, the Reds were replaced in the National League by Detroit after the 1880 season."
So was born the Detroit Wolverines, whose owner in 1885 went out and purchased the “Big Four” (Dan Brouthers, Hardy Richardson, Jack Rowe and Deacon White) for $4,000. And due to a too rich payroll, Wolverines owner Frederick Kimball Sterns was forced to sell his star players and ultimately disband the team in 1889. Still, the 1886 and 1887 season teams posted incredible records (87-36 in 1886 and 79-45 in 1887) winning the 1887 National League pennant and the 1887 World Series against the St. Louis Browns.
Painting Detail: Printed on 13” x 19” canvas and painted using Schmincke Mussini and Marshall’s oil paints. Finer details were made using Prismacolor pencils.
Acknowledgement: Jonathan Fraser Light in The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball. Special thanks to Craig Brown’s website, Threads Of Our Game, which is an excellent resource for pre-1900 baseball uniforms.