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 6 of an explanation of these.
The Western Division Teams 2
27. Athletics - The A's have a very long tradition that dates back to the 1860's in Philadelphia. The original team was simply called "Athletic Base Ball Club", but the team shortened it to Athletic and in prose they became plural (the Athletics). Athletic of Philadelphia was more accurate, but later generations have called the team the Philadelphia Athletics. They were a very strong team and joined the National League in 1876, but financial problems and poor play caused them to not go west to play games and they were dropped from the league for the next year. In 1901, they joined the new American League and had success by winning 5 World Series titles in 20 years, but the times turned on the team, and they left for Kansas City in 1955. The next 13 years weren't much better, so the team left KC for Oakland in 1968 where they have been ever since. Because of the abrupt leaving of Kansas City, the Royals were created to take their place. The A's logo is a classic look that dates back to at least the 1870's. The team was named the "white elephants by Giants's manager John McGraw, and the Athletics took the white elephant as their mascot, and you'll see the white elephant logo on the A's jersey sleeves to this day.
28. Dodgers - The Dodgers is another example of one of those teams that didn't have an official name for awhile. They began play in 1883 in Brooklyn and were first called the Atlantics, which was the name of a defunct team from before. Then they were called the Grays, then the Grooms (or Bridegrooms). From 1891-98, they were referred to as the Trolley Dodgers. For the next 11 years, they were called the Superbas. From 1914-31, they were called the Robins. In 1932, the team settled on the Dodgers, short for the old Trolley Dodgers name. It seemed to fit with the trolleys of the New York area. The Dodgers didn't win a World Series until 1955, which seemed to cement the Dodgers' being able to stay in Brooklyn, but the Giants and the Dodgers agreed to move west together, and after the 1957 season, the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles.
29. Rangers - The Rangers have one of the most confusing histories. The franchise began in 1961 as an expansion franchise. When the old Washington Senators left and went to Minnesota to be the Twins, Washington was allowed to have the expansion franchise which named itself.. the Senators. This version of the Senators was awful, losing an average of 90 games a season and having only one winning season. The poor decisions of the franchise and poor attendance made it seem necessary to move the team elsewhere. More poor decisions were made in trying to obtain a buyer for the team. Another problem for the team was the Baltimore Orioles (only 45 miles north) that began winning in the late 60's and early 70's, which sapped the fan base from seeing the Senators. After an offer to put a down payment on the team and the proposition of moving the team to Arlington, Texas, the GM agreed and the league voted to approve the move. The last game of the 1971 season had the Senators winning against the Yankees when crowds rushed the field, stealing whatever they could grab as souvenirs (including the bases). This happened because the security guards had gone home early. The team relocated to Arlington (a move that the league had struck down when the Kansas City Athletics tried to relocate a few years earlier) for the 1972 season. They were renamed the Rangers in honor of the historical law enforcement agency of the same name.
30. Diamondbacks - Baseball in Phoenix was a talked about thing for a number of years before the Diamondbacks came to be. The city grew from the 99th largest city in 1940 to the 9th largest in 1990. Add in the fact that Cactus League Spring Training takes place in Arizona and you have a hotbed of desire for an MLB franchise. The first serious talks of baseball in the desert was in the 1980's when the St. Louis football Cardinals were talking of moving to Arizona and sharing a facility with the new MLB franchise. That deal fell through and another deal came up in the early 1990's. In 1995, a franchise was awarded to Phoenix to begin play in 1998. Originally, the team was going to be an American League team (since that same year the Devil Rays were beginning play), but many owners objected, so the team went into the National League. This would cause an odd number of teams in each league, so the Brewers switched from the American League to the National League, which preserved balance. The name itself came from the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake which is common in the area.
Phew! Bet you didn't know all that!
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