Old Judge Question... Philadelphia / Athletics

[RUKen]

Originally Posted by cozmokramer

I’m curious about the team labeling for Philly on Old Judge cards.

Why is it that Philadelphia Quakers are listed as “Philadelphia” but the Philadelphia Athletics actually say “Athletics”.

Why... or should I ask How... was it decided to use the city name for one and the team name for the other?

Each team was a business that had a name that usually included the identity of the city they played in; e.g. Philadelphia Base Ball Club. "Quakers" was just a nickname bestowed by fans and the press; it was not a part of the official team name. "Phillies" began as a nickname and became official decades later. A few teams had a name that did not include the city; e.g. Athletic Base Ball Club (Philadelphia) and Eclipse Base Ball Club (Louisville). The press would always use the official name. The Eclipse team had changed its name to Louisville Base Ball Club by the time that Old Judge cards were produced, so only the Athletics were identified by what looks to us as the team nickname. Edited to add: The players of the Metropolitan Base Ball Club in 1887 were also identified by their team "nickname", rather than as members of a New York team.

The American League Athletics were also identified as "Athletic" in early 20th century box scores and newspaper articles (while other teams were identified by city name), but at some point they also became known as Philadelphia.