The Cincinnati Tigers were the first Negro League team I was ever aware of as a child. My father, who grew up just a few blocks from old Crosley Field, mentioned this team that wore the Reds uniforms and played whenever they weren't around. Accounts by Ted Radcliffe in his autobiography mention that the Tigers bought the Reds' old away 1935 uniforms, a claim that is backed up in most depictions of the club. Ebbets Field Flannels sells an incredibly accurate reproduction of both the cap and jersey, and I am eagerly watching the mail for the cap I ordered, long out of stock. However, when scouring the auction blocks of Ebay and other websites, I found another photo claiming to be the 1937 Cincinnati Tigers, wearing a second, completely forgotten and rarely depicted jersey. That photo can be seen below. Fourth from right looks like Ted Radcliffe, who was the Tigers' player-manager in their lone big league season. It was also his only season in Cincinnati, so this confirms in my mind at least that the photo is from 1937.
So what uniform is it? Well, a quick look at the Dressed to the Nines website shows that the Reds wore something similar in 1933. However the mystery continues. When enlarged, the leading "C" is bigger than the rest of the font, only seen in the 1934 Reds away threads. But those threads were not only in blue lettering, they clearly had "Reds" emblazoned on both sleeves and the placket striping ended mid chest. It seems unlikely that someone would take the time to remove those from 20 uniforms, but it's not impossible. Even more unlikely however is that someone would add piping all the way down the jersey. Again, not impossible, but unlikely. The mystery deepens even more, as the 1933 Reds jerseys (which DID have the striping down the placket) did not have an enlarged C, as evidenced in this photo of Eppa Rixey and Rabbit Maranville, presumably at that year's All-Star contest. And if the mystery hasn't confounded me enough, the Tigers in the second photo are wearing entirely different style socks! I cannot prove it, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the Tigers acquired their own uniforms later in the 1937 season, probably from a local manufacturer. The Tigers themselves left the Negro American League before the 1938 season, never to return to a level of play above semi-pro ball.
The answer to this seemingly minute question will probably never come to fruition. Very few game used examples of Negro League uniforms exist today. No Reds or Tigers from this time period have been found by anyone. As for the Reds, they wore replicas of the Tigers uniforms in 2013, 2016, and 2017. This lifelong Reds fan is waiting with bated breath for the next time. Depictions of both uniforms can be found here.
Have any more insight? See an error? Love Negro League baseball uniforms? Shoot an email to contact@nlbuniforms.com and let's chat!
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