T206 Leagues / Teams / Team Nicknames

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Posted By: Craig W

Out of curiosity, I decided to try to figure out all the teams represented in the T206 set, the nicknames of the teams, and which leagues they were in. Found some old posts, but none really pulled it all together (and there were a few errors in those posts). For those who are also curious, here's what I came up with:

NATIONAL LEAGUE
Boston Doves
Brooklyn Superbas
Chicago Cubs
Cincinnati Reds
New York Giants
Philadelphia Phillies
Pittsburgh Pirates
Saint Louis Cardinals

AMERICAN LEAGUE
Boston Red Sox
Chicago White Sox
Cleveland Naps
Detroit Tigers
New York Highlanders
Philadelphia Athletics
Saint Louis Browns
Washington Nationals (Unofficially, but more popular: Senators)

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION
Columbus Senators
Indianapolis Indians
Kansas City Blues
Louisville Colonels
Milwaukee Brewers
Minneapolis Millers
Saint Paul Apostles or Saints (evidence for each)
Toledo Mud Hens

EASTERN LEAGUE
Baltimore Orioles
Buffalo Bisons
Jersey City Skeeters
Montreal Royals
Newark Indians
Providence Grays
Rochester Bronchos
Toronto Maple Leafs

SOUTH ATLANTIC LEAGUE
Augusta Tourists
Charleston Sea Gulls
Columbia Gamecocks
Columbus Foxes
Jacksonville Jays
Macon Peaches
Savannah Indians

SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION
Atlanta Crackers
Birmingham Barons
Little Rock Travelers
Memphis Chicks
Mobile Bears
Montgomery Climbers
Nashville Vols
New Orleans Pelicans

TEXAS LEAGUE
Dallas Giants
Houston Buffaloes
San Antonio Bronchos
Shreveport Pirates
Waco Navigators

VIRGINIA LEAGUE
Danville Red Sox
Lynchburg Shoemakers
Norfolk Tars
Portsmouth Truckers
Richmond Colts
Roanoke Tigers

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Posted By: Steve Murray

Very nice. I suggest that this post be added to the Network54 Archive Center.

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Posted By: MVSNYC

very cool, thanks for posting these...

the Southern League teams had cool names

Columbia Gamecocks?...interesting name.

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Posted By: leon

Are they all dressed up in spurs and chaps?

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Posted By: James Feagin

Please refresh my foggy memory. Who from Montreal had cards in the T206 set? I can't recall anyone.

James

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Posted By: Steve Murray

Casey for one.

Edit: And dat be it.

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Posted By: barry arnold

Many thanks.
Great contribution.

all the best,
barry

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Posted By: S Gross

GREAT list ........... !!!!!!!!!!!!!!


As a "SAL" man, myself, just some "additional info:"

In 1911, Columbia was known as the "Commies" (why, I have no idea).
In 1911, Jacksonville was known as the "Tarpons."

Oh, and my favorite: The SAL Orphans ......

Hopefully, there is a Charlestonian out there who can verify (or expand) on the Charleston situation. My understanding is Charleston folded at the end of '09, and the league ran the team as the SAL Orphans in '10. In '11, when Charleston re-entered the league, the Orphans still remained (to make it an 8 team league).


Fun stuff

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Posted By: Bob Pomilla

Leon:

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Posted By: Jason L

fascinating to see that some of the clubs have such long minor league traditions that continue to this day, such as the Toledo Mud Hens, Memphis Chicks, and Milwaukee Brewers...

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Posted By: Addie_Joss

Saint Paul Apostles

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Posted By: Todd Schultz

The St. Paul team was known as the Saints. The Apostles was a short-lived moniker for the team from the 1884 era.

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Posted By: Bob

Was Cleveland the Naps in 1909 or still the Spiders? When did Boston AL change from the Pilgrims to the Red Sox?

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Posted By: Craig W

@ Todd

Best I can figure out, they were actually known as the Apostles from 1884 - 1914. Their first year was 1884 when they played in the Union League. They became one of the original American Association teams in 1902. It wasn't until 1915 that they became the Saints - I guess the Pope must've promoted them

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Paul_Apostles
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Association_%2820th_century%29
http://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/St._Paul_Saints

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Posted By: Todd Schultz

according to "Batter-Up, A Century of Minnesota Baseball, by Ross Berenstein, the St. Paul team was the North Star Club in 1867, the "Red Caps" in the 1880's, the Apostles in the short-lived Union Assoication of 1884, and the independendent "Saints" in the early 1890's. The author notes "after the season, Comiskey bought the 1894 Western League Champion Sioux City Cornhuskers, and moved it to St. Paul--where he renamed it the Saints. They would still also be referred to the Apostles during this era as well". So draw your own conclusions I guess. I believe they are widely regarded by Minnesotan basbeall historians as the Saints though.

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Posted By: Craig W

@ Bob

The Cleveland Spiders existed from 1887 to 1899, so they were never really in what we call the "American Major League", which is 1901 - present.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleveland_Spiders>

As for the Boston Pilgrims, well, were they ever really known as the Pilgrims? It appears that Boston was officially the Americans from 1901 - 1907, and became the Red Sox in 1908. Maybe Pilgrims was an unofficial nickname, kinda like the Bronx Bombers or the Pittsburgh Bucs. See the second link below for further reading.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boston_red_sox>
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/articles/boston_pilgrims_story.shtml>

Edit: I guess it's possible that if there are any Boston A.L. players in the 150 series (I'll need to check Scot Reader's pdf), and if ATC began preparing those cards as early as 1907 (Ted Z might have this knowledge), then Boston Americans could be an acceptable team nickname. Appears there's a bit more research for me undertake Three things I love are history, trivia, and surfing the net ... Now that's research!!!

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Posted By: Craig W

Thanks Todd, fantastic reference! I've edited the list to say there's evidence for both. Too bad nobody bothered to burn the info on CD back in the 1880's-1900's ... they shoulda known it could lead to major heartache 100+ years later! LOL!

Best Regards
Craig

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Posted By: Todd Schultz

Craig, it does seem that the team Comiskey bought in 1894 eventually became the White Sox, so Commiskey's St Paul team is not the one that played when T206 came out. The new St Paul team then started up in 1902 in the AA. It's possible the locals were mad at the move of the old team and they rebelled by calling the new team something else, or maybe Commy considered the name his property. It's worth looking into I believe, and you may be right about the Apostles. From what I've read about the players, though, I think we can rule out them being called the Altar Boys.

Regards,
Todd

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Posted By: Rick McQuillan

Craig, thank you for posting this. A while back I purchases an interesting Milwaukee Brewers baseball schedule from the Milwaukee Sentinel. I haven't had time to research this item, but I thought that it might be from the T206 era. The opposing teams that are listed on this schedule are all from the American Association teams that you listed.

Thanks again! Rick

[Oscar_Stanage]

in the list above, for the purpose of T206 categorization, is it correct that:

American & National = Major League
American Association & Eastern League = Minor League
South Atlantic/Southern/Texas/Virginia = Southern League


Thank you!