Who Are These Guys?

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know…

The date is approaching! It is almost time for the Forest Citys, the Highlanders, and the Worlds Champions to take the field. If you were “lucky” enough to be tucked under the covers with a bed time story by this writer, then you know exactly who I am talking about.

In the developmental days of baseball, teams were named for situations, characteristics, geography and even their players. These types of team nicknames were prevalent long before marketing, demographic studies, and money took over. Many teams were just called by one name only in the newspapers as writers would use Forest Citys, Detroits, and Bostons to describe the local nine.

So in early April, the Indians will open the season but some youngsters will go to sleep with the knowledge that Louis “Chief” Sockalexis was the inspiration for the nickname. They might even later recite how the Forest Citys, named after the emerald necklace of green trees and thick forests around Cleveland, evolved into the Spiders when the ball club employed many players who were tall, skinny and lanky.

After a few intermittent team names and poor play, Napoleon Lajoie became player/manager which caused Cleveland to quickly become known as the Naps. After Lajoie left the team in 1914, a new name was needed and the owner reached back in the club’s history to honor the former player and Native American. The team was christened the Indians, which has survived until today.

 Also at that time, the Highlanders were a low paid group of enthusiastic ball players that played their home contests in Hilltop Park, on the most elevated part of Manhattan. Obviously, they adopted their name based on their locale but evolved into the Yankees as scribes used the nickname in mild protest of Highlanders as it was also a term for a British military unit. Upon moving to the Polo Grounds, Yankees was adopted full time. Now, they are better paid, have a glorious stadium of their own but are still the Yankees.

Just to the south in Brooklyn, the residents and players for the local team were very adept at maneuvering throughout the streets and arriving at the stadium without being hit by the numerous trolley cars. Being named the Trolley Dodgers was just natural and appropriate. Even after moving into Ebbets Field (1913) and having many players live across the tracks in a nearby hotel, the name stuck, shortened to Dodgers and was even kept upon moving thousands of miles away from the trolley cars.

Tradition even went so far in the early 20th century as to have the winner of the World Series remove their nickname, logo or insignia on their uniform and replace it with “Worlds Champions” for the following season. In this era of “look at me” players and over-the-top alternate jerseys, I am surprised this old custom has not been resurrected.

So, in conclusion, as if you were taking notes, baseball and its development is beautiful. It is always changing…just look at the team names and locations over the past century. It is always evolving…look at the rules, strategy, and analysis for the previous 100 years (another topic, another day). But mostly it remains exactly the same… as a father and his kids play hooky to catch a ballgame, just like 40 years ago!

All this because I know more about nothing…