Player-Managers

[FrankWakefield]

Ok... I thought the Brooklyn NL team was called the Robins for a season or two, after Wilbert Robinson, but maybe that was after his playing days.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

Ok... I thought the Brooklyn NL team was called the Robins for a season or two, after Wilbert Robinson, but maybe that was after his playing days.

Wilbert Robinson was a player-manager for a single year in 1902, but that was with the Baltimore Orioles. Good try though.

[BobC]

I was doing a little more digging and found I had made a mistake. There aren't two major league teams that shared their popular name with their player-managers after all, there are actually four. You still got the easy one with Lajoie and the Cleveland Naps. The other three may not be as easy.

I'll go back and edit the original question also.

[GeoPoto]

I don't know how you are determining each team's "popular name" from early baseball -- the Washington team was known as Americans (because they were in the AL), Nationals (because an earlier, defunct Washington team had been in the NL), and SeNATorS (allowing Nats to work as shorthand for both) but did not have an "official" name/logo (The Senators) until the 1950s. While they were managed by Clark Griffith (1912-1920), baseball writers would often refer to the team as the Griff's or the Griff-men in their newspaper accounts of the games. I think this was probably done by writers in most cities, and quickly picked up by fans, with the Naps being the most famous example.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by GeoPoto

I don't know how you are determining each team's "popular name" from early baseball -- the Washington team was known as Americans (because they were in the AL), Nationals (because an earlier, defunct Washington team had been in the NL), and SeNATorS (allowing Nats to work as shorthand for both) but did not have an "official" name/logo (The Senators) until the 1950s. While they were managed by Clark Griffith (1912-1920), baseball writers would often refer to the team as the Griff's or the Griff-men in their newspaper accounts of the games. I think this was probably done by writers in most cities, and quickly picked up by fans, with the Naps being the most famous example.

If you do an online search for any of the four teams that answer my question you'll get directed to Wikipedia posts about the teams and their history at pretty much the top of the first page. See what you get when you do a search for Griff's, Griff-men, Washington Griff's, or Washington Griff-men. Though many early teams did not have officially designated names, their popular names/nicknames were well known and embraced and accepted by fans and media of the day, which continues till today when they are still primarily recognized by such names in historical records and documents, and by modern reference and research groups.

I did not go looking for some obscure names or anecdotal team references (such as the Griff's or Griff-men) in am attempt to create an impossible to answer question. And as for acceptance of the team names, such as the Naps, that name actually appears on baseball cards. I don't think I've ever seen a baseball card or advertising issue show or refer to the Griff's or the Griff-men, have you? The names of the teams I'm asking about are all their common, recognized names in history, whether legally designated by those same names or not. I trust this satisfactorily answers your question.

[GeoPoto]

I wasn't asking a question. I was offering what I thought was a long-shot chance for a correct answer. I'm not surprised Griffs is wrong, but it's the only guess I have. I also completely agree that Griffs in Washington, never reached a usage level remotely approaching that of the Naps in Cleveland.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by GeoPoto

I wasn't asking a question. I was offering what I thought was a long-shot chance for a correct answer. I'm not surprised Griffs is wrong, but it's the only guess I have. I also completely agree that Griffs in Washington, never reached a usage level remotely approaching that of the Naps in Cleveland.

Okay, I was worried you thought I was trying to be a smart-a$$ and come up with some really weird question that no one could ever find an answer to. These are all legit, recognized major league team names though. But aside from the Naps, definitely not an easy question someone would likely ever know the complete answer to off the top of their head.

No one ever really talks about the topic of player-managers in the majors, and all the interesting facts and figures that go along with them.

[Kidnapped18]

The Cracker Jack Collection

[Kidnapped18]

#106 Joe Birmingham Player-Manager Cleveland Naps 1912-1914