Sports teams have some interesting stories behind their team names. In this series, we look at every baseball team name origins.
AL East, AL Central, AL West, NL East, NL Central, and NL West
History of Team Names – American League Central
Chicago White Sox
The Chicago White Sox are amongst the oldest professional teams in baseball. However, their origins date way back to the 1894 reconfiguration in the Western League, which was amateur, not professional. The team at that time was the Sioux City Cornhuskers, which were purchased by former St. Louis Brown Charles Comiskey (the last name might ring a bell, no?). Comiskey’s first order of business was to get the team out of Sioux City, and headed for the greener pastures, or bluer lakes, of St. Paul, Minnesota. For five years the team existed as the Saints – very original. When the Western League restructured, again, it became known as the American League, yet still were considered amateur. The fact they were amateur was very important, as the professional National League allowed them to put a team in the metro Chicago area. Comiskey bolted for the Windy City, and named the franchise White Stockings (as they indeed wore white stockings as part of their uniform), which was a name they borrowed from the old Chicago Cubs team of the same name. The year after they arrived, the American League declared itself professional, and were in direct competition against the National League. The sports writers at the Chicago Tribune began running headlines using the shortened version “White Sox”, which were much better for print purposes.
Kansas City Royals
Kansas City’s first touch of the baseball was not in 1969, which the current franchise dates back to. There was a team long before called the Kansas City Athletics, which as you might infer, moved to Oakland (check back tomorrow for a complete history). The loss of the Athletics so enraged Missouri Senator Stuart Symington that he demanded a team, and threatened legislation that would make it a reality – seems like a level headed guy, eh? MLB caved, and granted them a team for 1971. Unhappy with that, he demanded to allow the team to play in 1969 (which later history would show actually affected Seattle’s bid for a new team called the “Pilots”). The team was named the Royals as a tribute to the livestock, horse show and rodeo, which is an annual event in KC for over 100 years.
Detroit Tigers
With a somewhat similar history to some of the other old AL teams, the Tigers also find their roots in the 19th Century. They began in 1894 in the Western League under the name Tigers. That makes them the oldest one destination and one name teams in the current American League. To reiterate, the Western League was an amateur league. It changed to the American League at the turn of the century. The name “Tigers” has an interesting history. In the club’s first couple of years, the team was known by two names – Wolverines and Tigers (evidence of Tigers as early as 1895 in the Detroit Free Press). The names were not official ones, just nicknames. However, the story goes that real reason the team finally went with the Tigers was as a tribute to the Detroit Light Guard Military Unit, who were better known as the Tigers. When the team became professional just after the turn of the century, the name became official after the club sought permission from the military.
Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians were not always in Cleveland, and were not always “Indians”. Their history dates back to the Grand Rapids (Michigan) Rustlers in 1894, who played in the Western League. Six years later the team moved to their current home in Cleveland, and were called the Lake Shores, with an obvious reference to them being on the shores of Lake Erie. At that same time, the Western League, which was a minor league, became the American League. Only one year later, the American League officially became a professional league to compete with the National League, and that precipitated the Lake Shores to change their name – again. The team became known as the Cleveland Bluebirds. Most people disliked the name, and media just called them “Blues” for short (they had blue uniforms…obviously). Unsurprisingly, the team changed its name again, this time the “Naps” after a name-the-team contest. “Naps” was in reference to one of the game’s greats, Napoleon “Naps” Lajoie. You’re not going to believe this, but in 1912 it happened again – the name changed, this time to the Molly Maguires after the Irish and Irish American coal miners. Though there are other theories, in 1914 the team was named the Indians in reference to the Boston Braves, who had a great run. Phew.
Minnesota Twins
The Minnesota Twins’ story begins in 1894 in the Western League as the Kansas City Blues. The team moved in 1901 to Washington to be one of eight charter members of the newly formed American League. They operated under the names Senators and Nationals. Nationals was an obvious yet curious choice – of course Washington is the home of the federal US Government, however, the American League (which often referred to its teams as “Americans”) was in heated battles for superiority after claiming major league status with the National League. Anyway, fast forward to 1961. Though there were periods of success, the franchise was far from stable. When the league offered an expansion franchise to Minnesota, Washington’s owner asked for permission to give Washington the expansion team so he could move his team to St. Paul. The league agreed. As a way to respect both great Minnesota cities, the team adopted the name Minnesota (he originally wanted “Twin City”) and Twins (to show the team belonged to both St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Origins of every NHL team’s name (Eastern Conference/Western Conference)
Origins of every NBA team’s name (Eastern Conference/Western Conference)
Photo by Thomas Park on Unsplash
