Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers

[RUKen]

Originally Posted by doug.goodman

Retrosheet (where Baseball Reference and many others get much of their data) has the Brooklyn & Los Angeles teams listed using the following names :

1884-1887 : Trolley Dodgers
1888-1898 : Bridegrooms
1899-1913 : Superbas
1914-1931 : Robins
1932-2024 : Dodgers

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/L/FR_LAN.htm

I believe that the team was not called the Trolley Dodgers until the 1890s, when they were also sometimes called the Bridegrooms or Grooms. When Ned Hanlon became the manager in 1899, the newspapers called them "Hanlon's Superbas", but it was never an official name for the team. "Superbas" as a nickname outlasted Ned as their manager by many years. Some papers continued to call them by that name even after Wilbert Robinson became the manager.

[JollyElm]

I gotta ask, how in high heck is "Superbas" supposed to be pronounced???

a. Sooper-baahs (sheep sound at end)
b. Superb-uhhs
c. Other

[jingram058]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

I gotta ask, how in high heck is "Superbas" supposed to be pronounced???

a. Sooper-baahs (sheep sound at end)
b. Superb-uhhs
c. Other

Could be "sooper-bass", like Billy the talking bass.

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by jingram058

Could be "sooper-bass", like Billy the talking bass.

Or Soup-errr-B.A.'s?

[RUKen]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

I gotta ask, how in high heck is "Superbas" supposed to be pronounced???

a. Sooper-baahs (sheep sound at end)
b. Superb-uhhs
c. Other

soo-PER-buz

Superba was the name of an aerial acrobatic show in the 1890's starring the five Hanlon brothers. They were no relation to Ned Hanlon the ballplayer/manager. When Ned managed the Baltimore team for much of the decade they were always known as the Orioles, but when many of the players transferred to Brooklyn (along with Ned the manager) before the 1899 season, the transformed team was called Hanlon's Superbas in the newspapers, and the name stuck for over a decade. The team was also alternatively called the Dodgers at this time.

[Casey2296]

Originally Posted by RUKen

soo-PER-buz

Superba was the name of an aerial acrobatic show in the 1890's starring the five Hanlon brothers. They were no relation to Ned Hanlon the ballplayer/manager. When Ned managed the Baltimore team for much of the decade they were always known as the Orioles, but when many of the players transferred to Brooklyn (along with Ned the manager) before the 1899 season, the transformed team was called Hanlon's Superbas in the newspapers, and the name stuck for over a decade. The team was also alternatively called the Dodgers at this time.

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