One of my long-lived interests is the history of baseball, kindled when I read Ring Lardner's superb
You Know Me Al (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/971435.You_Know_Me_Al) and then reaffirmed by the great book
The Glory of Their Times (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/461749.The_Glory_of_Their_Times).
Admittedly a niche interest, but here is a compilation of the history of American professional baseball team names:
"Major League Team Names" |
Wordorigins (http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/more/850/)
QuoteIt's called the "great American pastime," and baseball has been an integral part of life in the United States for, give or take, the last 160 years. So here are the origins of the names of the Major League Baseball teams, past and present.
For those not familiar with the structure of American professional baseball, the Major League Baseball consists of, and has consisted of since the early days of the twentieth century, two leagues, the National League (founded 1876) and the American League (founded 1901). But at various times, particularly in the nineteenth century, other leagues existed, and I make reference to them below when needed. There are also a number of minor leagues, which now exist primarily as "farm" teams to develop player talent for the majors. And until the middle of the twentieth century, professional baseball in the U.S. was segregated, with African-Americans not permitted to play in the two major leagues. There were separate Negro leagues, with the best teams every bit the equal in player quality with the white, major league teams. Following the integration of baseball with Jackie Robinson playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, the Negro leagues folded. Where I could find the information, I've included the origins of Negro league team names.
The dates listed after the team names are the dates the name came into baseball use, not the date the modern organization that currently uses the name was founded.
[Continued . . . (http://www.wordorigins.org/index.php/more/850/)]