1917 Road Uniform

In April of 1917 we have a newspaper account that says the Cardinals wore road uniforms consisting of gray shirts that said St. Louis across the front, and solid white socks. This account is especially confusing, because photographs show the team in 1917 didn’t have anything on the front of the jersey, and because the team didn’t wear the any words on the jersey from the previous eight seasons. We think maybe because this is from April 3rd, eight days before the season started, that the uniforms this reporter saw were simply practice uniforms or spring training uniforms. There’s an oddball chance this reporter was even looking at a Browns player.

History Mysteries:
Is the newspaper describing a practice uniform?
Is the newspaper describing a St. Louis Browns uniform?

St. Louis Star and Times: April 3, 1917
If the uniform makers insist on taking color from the Cardinals’ uniform, the team will be losing its identity. The 1917 model of traveling uniforms for the Robison Field team is made of light gray.
The stockings, which for years have been either solid cardinal or cardinal-striped, have no trace of the candy color this year. They are solid white. The only trace of cardinal on the new uniform is on the breast where the word, “St. Louis,” is inscribed in cardinal.