What's in the Name? (MLB)

[glorydays]

Everyone knows - at least I would hope - why the Baltimore MLB team is named the Orioles (Maryland's state bird is the Baltimore Oriole).

But have you ever wondered where the other teams names came from?

Before you peek, take a guess - and share how many you guessed correctly...

The answers can be found "From the Mixed up Files of Benson Pebbles."

[BaltimoreTerp]

Cardinals, Reds, Red Sox - Red as the team color

White Sox - White as the team color

Brewers - Milwaukee is famous for breweries

Dodgers - From "Trolley Dodgers", a nickname for Brooklynites who had to cross streets with trolley tracks

Giants - An owner referred to the team as "my giants" one afternoon

Rangers - The Texas Rangers in law enforcement

Astros - Originally Astronauts, name changed when NASA opened the space flight center in Houston

Indians - I think one of their players was, or was referred to as an American Indian, and they renamed the team for him.

Some of the others I don't know, are obvious (Rockies, Mets/"Metropolitans") or are probably not very interesting.

[backwardsk]

Minnesota Twins: twin cities- Minneapolis and St. Paul.

[RShack]

Astros - <s>Originally Astronauts</s>, name changed when NASA opened the space flight center in Houston

Originally the Colt .45's

[GeorgiaBird]

Are we sure this is correct? How is this one possible considering the team was an expansion club in the 1960s. I am also not convinced the Toronto one is anything close to the full story.

New York Mets – This organization was originally known as the Metropolitan Baseball Club in the 19th Century, but “Metropolitan” was too long for Box scores. “Mets” wasn’t, and that’s the name that stuck.

[NOVA OriolesFan]

The Blue Jays one just sounds too lame to be true. I've always liked names like the Orioles where the name has its origins in the team's home city and or state that said.

[RShack]

Are we sure this is correct? How is this one possible considering the team was an expansion club in the 1960s.

That list was poorly researched.

• Both the Angels and the Padres were names of PCL teams forever.
• The name-change to Astros had zero to do with why the Bullets did it, it was 100% about LBJ sticking the Space Flight Center in Houston. Astronauts were moving to town and everybody there was excited about that.
• KC and the thing they named the team after are both in Missouri, not Kansas. (Jeez.)
• The NY Metropolitans were a team from the 1880's, and had zilch to do with the guys who started the current Mets. They borrowed the name from history, but that's all it was.

What he said about the Orioles is true but ignores the significance: Dynasty teams by that name in 3 different leagues, going back forever.

[Mad Mark]

I've always thought that the "Royals" name had at least something to do with the old Negro League Monarchs. Seems more plausible than being named after a cattle show...

[glorydays]

I've always thought that the "Royals" name had at least something to do with the old Negro League Monarchs. Seems more plausible than being named after a cattle show...

From Baseball Almanac:

The team was named the Royals as a respectful nod to the legacy of the legendary Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League.