Magenta Colored Uniforms?

Talking about a practice game that the Empire Club played in April of 1874, E.H. Tobias wrote the following:

These players donned for the first time a new uniform composed of white pants and shirts trimmed with magenta colored braid and the letter "E" on front of the shirt, with magenta caps and stockings.

Being a man and, hence, only capable of recognizing about six different colors (as compared to a woman's ability to recognize thirty-seven different shades of red), I wasn't sure exactly what magenta was. The only "magenta" I knew was a character from The Rocky Horror Picture Show (see photo at top of post).

Of course, I knew it was a color and always thought that it was some kind of maroon. But, after doing a bit of research, I have come to find out that magenta is actually a purplish/pinkish thing. Who knew?



The point of all this is that magenta seems a very odd color to choose for a baseball uniform. Seriously, what kind of team wants to wear purplish/pinkish socks while playing baseball? And what's this about "magenta colored braid" trimming the shirts?

I think that this information is a discovery with major historical implications. How can we possibly think of the great Empire Base Ball Club of St. Louis in the same light now that we know that they were wearing purplish/pinkish caps? How can we now think of the great Adam Wirth playing centerfield in 1874 without laughing?

One just has to assume that all the other clubs were making fun of them.