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 2 of an explanation of these.
The Eastern Division Teams 2
6. Red Sox - The Red Sox are a perfect example of how strange origins can be. The Red Sox began as a charter member of the new American League in 1901. Their name, however, wasn't officially present until 1908. From 1901-07, the team had no official name. They were referred to as the Americans, the Bostonians, and the Pilgrims. In 1907, the National League team of Boston (now the Braves) went to an all-white jersey and leaving the red out of it. The American League team took red for their color and had long red socks. Instead of officially being known as the red stockings, which was already well-known for Cincinnati and the National League team in Boston, the name "Red Sox" was chosen. The "Sox" for "socks" had already been used by the Chicago White Sox.
7. Marlins - The Marlins began in the expansion year of 1993. They are literally named after the fish, which is a common animal off the coasts of Florida. Beginning with the 2012 season, the Florida Marlins moved into a new stadium and because Miami put up so much of the costs, a new logo was designed and the Marlins would then be known as the Miami Marlins.
8. Yankees - In 1901, when the American League was establishing itself, there was bad blood between it and the National League. The National League didn't want an American League team in New York, so the franchise set itself up in Baltimore and became known as the Baltimore Orioles (after the National League team of the same name and location dissolved after the 1899 season). The two leagues were able to work out an agreement, and the franchise moved to New York in 1903. Until 1912, the team was known as the Highlanders because of the Hilltop Park where they played. The unnoficial nickname of Yankees (or Yanks) came from sports writers who couldn't fit Highlanders on a headline for newspapers. In 1913, the team name was changed to Yankees.
9. Phillies - The Phillies began in 1883 as the Philadelphia Quakers. They changed their name to the Philadelphias, which was shortened to Phillies. From 1884-90, both names were used, but in 1890 the name Phillies was officially used. The Philadelphia Phillies are the oldest continuous, one-name, one-city franchise in all of American sports.
10. Orioles - The Orioles can trace its origins to the minor league team called the Milwaukee Brewers. In 1901 when the American League was established, the Brewers played a loan season in the MLB before it relocated to St. Louis and became known as the Browns (in honor of former St. Louis team names that included Browns and Brown Stockings). The team never achieved much success in St. Louis (making it to the World Series once in 1944). The Browns were sold in 1953 and moved to Baltimore where the name changed to Orioles, which was in honor of the number of teams from Baltimore that had the name (including the Yankees original name).
Check back for Part 3!
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