Baseball Uniform

In 1849, the New York Knickerbockers wore the first ever recorded baseball uniforms. They wore pants made of blue wool, white flannel shirts and straw hats.

A nineteenth-century baseball team in uniforms

 U.S. patent #200,358 was issued in 1878 to Frederick Thayer for his baseball catcher's mask. It was similar to one worn by cowboys to keep from being kicked in the face while branding cattle.

The first baseball caps were made of straw.

In 1888 the Spalding sports goods company advertised 10 different baseball cap styles ranging from 12 cents for cheap muslin to $2 for the highest quality flannel.

The first infielder to wear a glove was Phillies shortstop Arthur Irwin in the 1880s. He designed and patented his glove, but sold the patent to the Reach-Shibe firm.

The Detroit Tigers were the first baseball club to have a logo on its cap in 1901, in their case an orange running tiger.

When Roger Bresnahan adopted the use of shin guards in Major League Baseball on Opening Day in 1907, angry fans threw snow onto the field.

Pinstripes were added to the New York Yankees uniform specifically to make Babe Ruth appear slimmer. Below is Jeff Tesreau, wearing a New York Giants pinstriped baseball uniform, c.1912–18

On August 8, 1976, the Chicago White Sox  took the field in Bermuda shorts. The shorts were the brainchild of White Sox owner Bill Veeck, who was known for his outlandish promotions. Veeck hoped that the shorts would help to boost attendance at White Sox games, which had been declining in recent years. The shorts were met with mixed reactions from fans and players alike, but the White Sox went on to win the game against the Royals, 5-2. They also won the second game of the doubleheader, but they lost the third game when they wore the shorts. The White Sox ultimately wore the shorts in three games, winning two of the three.

In South Korea, it is against the rules for a professional baseball player to wear cabbage leaves inside of his hat.