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Friday Fun (early): MLB Without Relocation NL Edition

Ed

Due to the NFL Draft and not getting a chance to do this last week, Friday Fun is coming early this week and will be split into two parts. Ever wonder what Major League Baseball would look like if it had never allowed relocation (and finances weren’t a thing)? Let’s look back at where all the current teams came from and how they got where they are now. I kept the team names up to date to make things easier (things were VERY confusing in the first draft) but go through those changes as well.

(For the American League Edition, CLICK HERE …eventually. Post coming on Friday)

The National League

  • Arizona Diamondbacks
    • ORIGINAL – started in 1998
  • Boston Braves
    • Beginning in 1871, the Braves were the first Boston team, but lost the city in the Ted Williams years and eventually started the great migration west to Milwaukee in 1953 before landing in Atlanta in 1966.
  • Chicago Cubs
    • ORIGINAL – Though they started in 1870, they were not known as the Cubs until 1903. Before that they were known as the White Stockings, then the Colts, then the Orphans (WTF?), before setting on Cubs.
  • Cincinnati Reds
    • ORIGINAL – The Reds began in 1881 as the Red Stockings but were originally an American Association team before moving to the National League in 1890. They changed to the Reds in 1890 and with the exception of a brief change to the Redlings from 1953-58, have been the Cincinnati Reds ever since.
  • Colorado Rockies
    • ORIGINAL – Started in 1993
  • Brooklyn Dodgers
    • Started back in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays, they didn’t move to LA until 1958. In that time though, they did change their name from the Grays, to the Atlantics, back to the Grays, to the Bridegrooms, to the Grooms, back to the Bridegrooms, to the Superbas (WOW), to the Trolley Dodgers, to the Dodgers, to the Robins, and then finally back to the Dodgers.
  • Florida Marlins
    • They haven’t moved since debuting in 1993 (unless you count Miami Springs to Little Havana) but in 2012 the team city name changed from Florida to Miami when they changed stadiums
  • Seattle Brewers
    • Oddly enough, the Milwaukee Brewers started in 1901 but that’s a different franchise. These Brewers started in 1969 as the Seattle Pilots (famously chronicled in Ball Four by Jim Bouton) but had to file bankruptcy after 1 season. Bud Selig bought them and moved them to Milwaukee where they have been ever since.
  • New York Mets
    • ORIGINAL – Started in 1962 in order to fill the void left by the Giants and Dodgers flight to California. Fun fact about our enemy the Metropolitans, their abhorrent blue and orange colors are actually inspired by the main colors of the teams that left.
  • Philadelphia Phillies
    • ORIGINAL – The oldest single city, single named team in American sports began in 1883
  • Allegheny City Pirates
    • This one is interesting because the Pirates have not really moved since they began play in 1882. Instead, it was the city that did the moving. Allegheny City was what is today the North Side of Pittsburgh. In 1907, Pittsburgh proper annexed the city of Allegheny and called it their North Side. Same Pirates though, though they went by simply Allegheny at first and then the Pittsburgh Alleghenys for a little while after that.
  • San Diego Padres
    • ORIGINAL – The Padres started in 1969 with three other teams (Expos, Royals, and Pilots). Interestingly enough though, the San Diego Padres have been around since long before then. The Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres started in 1936 and in their second season even became the first professional home of Ted Williams.
  • New York Giants
    • The New York Gothams started in 1883 but switched over to the Giants two years later. In 1957, they famously banded together with their arch enemy Dodgers in moving from NYC to California with the Giants settling in San Francisco.
  • St. Louis Cardinals
    • ORIGINAL – …they just weren’t always the Cardinals and it kind of gets confusing. The St. Louis Brown Stockings started in the National Association in 1875 then joined the National League as an original member in 1876. They were then kicked out of the National League for game fixing and continued as a semi-pro venture. They were then bought in 1882 and moved to the American Association and changed the name to the Browns. They then rejoined the NL in 1892, changed the name to the Perfectos (as good as the Superbas?) in 1899, and finally the Cardinals we know today in 1900. Even more confusing? These St. Louis Browns are not the same St. Louis Browns I haven’t gotten to yet with the Orioles from…Milwaukee?
  • Montreal Nationals
    • Washington Nationals baseball has been around since the 1800s, but those teams don’t exist anymore. More Washington Nationals baseball has been around since 1901, but they play in Minnesota now. Even more Washington baseball was around in the 1960s, but they are currently in Texas. As for the NOW Washington Nationals, they started in Montreal as the Expos in 1969. While the Expos were almost contracted in 2001 (which is a crazy story in itself), they were instead sold to Major League Baseball and moved to Washington DC in 2002.

Photo: Baker Bowl

History: Baseball Reference and Wikipedia filling in the gaps

Friday Fun: Meet the A’s 11-Year-Old Executive VP

Back in 1973, the Oakland A’s signed an 11 year old kid out of the parking lot and made him the batboy. Two years later, eccentric owner Charlie O Finley named him Executive VP and you absolutely know who this kid is…

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