The 1917 team changed the sleeve patch emblem, bringing back the same emblem used on the cap in the 1901 and 1902 season.
We believe the Hornsby studio photo is depicting the home uniform with no piping on the cap or sleeve, and the other photographs depict the road uniforms which shows piping on the cap and a thin red pipe at the ends of the sleeves. Photographs and newspaper accounts are scarce for this season, and they seem contradictory. The newspaper claims the uniforms had St. Louis lettering across the chest, and that the road uniform had no red color and used white socks. The models below depict the photographic record, we believe the newspaper account, which is from early April, could be describing an exhibition or Spring Training uniform.
Newspaper Accounts
St. Louis Star and Times: April 3, 1917
ONLY FAINT TRACE OF CARDINAL ON UNIFORMS
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 Robinson 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.
Team Colors
Cardinals red – PMS 200
Cardinals Uniforms & Logos 