Baseball is America's game, and some of the teams seem to portray the American spirit of the game. Some of that is because of how long they'd been around. But where did they get their names from? Sure some seem simple and obvious: Yankees for the Americans of the Revolitionary War era, birds like Cardinals, Blue Jays, and Orioles, or then there are colors like Reds. But what is a Met? What are the Dodgers dodging? Although there are many things in dispute in the MLB (such as baseball's origin itself, the year of the MLB's beginning, etc.), the names of the teams typically have a origin. Here is Part 1 of an explanation of these.
The Eastern Division Teams 1
1. Mets - The Mets began their franchise in 1962 as part of the first expansion year. Five years earlier, the Dodgers and Giants left New York, leaving only the Yankees in town. The Mets took their traditional orange and blue from the departed teams (Dodger blue and Giant orange). The name Mets is short for Metropolitans, and is named after New York Metropolitans club from the late 1800's.
2. Rays - The Rays began in 1998 as the Devil Rays, which is a type of actual fish found in the ocean. Some call is bad luck, but the Rays finished last nine of their ten first seasons. In 2007, it was announced that their name and look would change. The following year, the name was shortened to just "Rays", which would be used both for the fish as well as a light ray. Once that changed happened, they went to the World Series that same year.
3. Nationals - The Nationals came into existence in the second expansion year for the MLB - 1969. In that year, the Montreal Expos were created (named after the 1967 World's Fair Expo that was held in Montreal). The Expos never had good luck, only having a Division title in 1981. By 2002, the team was suffering considerably, and the MLB considered revoking their franchise. In 2003-04, the Expos literally had no home, playing home games in San Juan, Puerto Rico. In 2005, the Expos moved from Montreal to Washington, DC, and were renamed the Nationals. The name itself was a combination of two origins: from 1886-89, there was a team named the Washington Nationals (or as they were also known, Statesmen), and the old Washington Senators were sometimes referred to as Nationals or Nats.
4. Blue Jays - The Blue Jays began in another expansion year - 1977. They are simply named after the bird. However, Toronto specifically wanted a blue mascot for their new team since blue was the traditional color for the mascots of the other professional teams in Toronto.
5. Braves - The Braves have a very long history. Few people know that the Braves began their history as the historically famous Cincinnati Red Stockings, the first MLB team, established in 1869. The team voted to dissolve after the 1870 season, and they set up their new home in Boston. Beginning in 1871, the team was known as the Boston Red Stockings at first then became known as the Beaneaters in 1883 (also sometimes called the Red Caps). When Boston started another team in 1901, the Beaneaters struggled, so to promote themselves better, they changed their name to the Doves in 1907, then changed it to the Rustlers in 1911. In 1912, the team was named the Braves in honor of their owner's affiliation with the Tammany Hall political machine (which used an Indian chief as its symbol). The Boston Braves remained until they moved to Milwaukee in 1953. The Braves again relocated, this time to Atlanta for the 1966 season.
Check back for Part 2!
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