Name ch-ch-ch-changes

[The Thrill]

1920: Decatur Staleys

1921: Chicago Staleys

1922-present: Chicago Bears

(Source: Chris's archives...duh!)

Know thine enemy...

(EDIT: Oh, yeah...Decatur's not a Chicago suburb. Nevermind.)

[rockchalk]

1920: Decatur Staleys

1921: Chicago Staleys

1922-present: Chicago Bears

(Source: Chris's archives...duh!)

Know thine enemy...

I think the Chicago Staleys thing was part of a deal in letting Halas move the team to Chicago and keeping his backing from the Staley company

[Mac the Knife]

They market themselves as the oldest one-city one-name team in US pro sports.

A distinction they don't even enjoy in their own state. The current Phillies franchise came to be in 1890 if I'm not mistaken, by which time the Pittsburgh Pirates (nee Alleghenys) had been playing under that name for three years.

[BBTV]

They market themselves as the oldest one-city one-name team in US pro sports.

A distinction they don't even enjoy in their own state. The current Phillies franchise came to be in 1890 if I'm not mistaken, by which time the Pittsburgh Pirates (nee Alleghenys) had been playing under that name for three years.

You are mistaken. 1883.

[Gothamite]

Like VD said, the Phillies never officially changed to Blue Jays. Their colors changed, I think they even wore a blue jays patch, but never actually changed their name. They market themselves as the oldest one-city one-name team in US pro sports.

MLB recognises this name change in their official encyclopedias... they switched back to Phillies because nobody called them the Blue Jays, just like the original Washington Nationals.

That doesn't make sense, since they never took "Phillies" off their jerseys even when they also used "Blue Jays."

1944 Mitchell and Ness jersey

I think their claim to "oldest nickname/city combination" is solid.

As for the Packers, they were never officially the "Blues." Lambeau wanted to rename them but there has been no evidence presented that they ever officially used the name.

It was used for decades as a newspaper nickname, like "Bronx Bombers" (from the color of their jerseys), not an offical team nickname.

[VitaminD]

1920: Decatur Staleys

1921: Chicago Staleys

1922-present: Chicago Bears

Doesn't fit DrBear's criteria anyway.

If the Bears rename themselves the Chicago Staleys at any point in the future, they become a valid entry. Looking for teams that were named something, changed the TEAM NAME, changed it back, all while not leaving their city.

[VitaminD]

They market themselves as the oldest one-city one-name team in US pro sports.

A distinction they don't even enjoy in their own state. The current Phillies franchise came to be in 1890 if I'm not mistaken, by which time the Pittsburgh Pirates (nee Alleghenys) had been playing under that name for three years.

You are mistaken. 1883.

Maybe when Worcester, Mass. gets that expansion franchise MLB wants to give them, they can call the team the Brown Stockings, and replace what they lost in 1883...

[Ferdinand Cesarano]

Maybe the best potential future example of this would be the International League's Syracuse team, which seems to be about to revert to "Chiefs" from "Sky Chiefs".

But, I don't think the baseball examples from early in the the 20th Century really apply. In baseball, "nicknames" as we know them were not formalized until well into the century. Even though we can now see a listing that says, for instance, "1911 Brooklyn Dodgers", the "Dodgers" portion of that moniker just didn't occupy the same status as it does today. Teams' nicknames were certainly used and known to varying degrees, but they were in many cases well shy of "official". (It sort of resembled the state of English football even today, where, for instance Manchester United are commonly known as the "Red Devils", even though that isn't their official name.) Furthermore, sources were just as likely to call a team "Nationals" or "Americans", depending on its league, as they were to call it by its "nickname".

Unofficial/colloquial nicknames could pop up for a variety of reasons. It could be a local term that applied to the city's residents, as the eventually-permanent "Dodgers" was, or there could be any number of other quirky reasons. In the cases of some of the other Brooklyn nicknames, "Bridegrooms" sprang up when several players got married at about the same time, "Robins" was from the name of their longtime manager Wilbert Robinson.

Sometimes sportwriters are to "blame" for nicknames. The names "Giants" and "Cardinals" originated from newsapaper accounts of quotes praising the teams' players and the uniforms, respectively; the "Yank(ee)s" nickname came from headline-writers' discontent at the length of the team's then-prevailing nickname "Highlanders".

(As an aside, it is interesting to note that this pattern wasn't universal: in contrast to the "Highlanders"/"Yankees" situation, the headline-ready name "Bucs" has co-existed with -- and not displaced -- the longer name "Pirates".)

Nowadays, well into the modern "official nickname" era, it seems doubtful that we will ever see a team in a major league change its name and then change back. There would have to be a pretty big fan revolt, even bigger than the one that scuttled the 49ers' helmet or the Islanders' fishsticks uniforms. But, I am not counting on it. In a sane world, the risible "Wizards" name would have met this fate. Conclusion: this is not a sane world.

[BBTV]

They market themselves as the oldest one-city one-name team in US pro sports.

A distinction they don't even enjoy in their own state. The current Phillies franchise came to be in 1890 if I'm not mistaken, by which time the Pittsburgh Pirates (nee Alleghenys) had been playing under that name for three years.

You are mistaken. 1883.

Maybe when Worcester, Mass. gets that expansion franchise MLB wants to give them, they can call the team the Brown Stockings, and replace what they lost in 1883...

The original Phillies began when the Worcester Ruby Legs were disbanded and the franchise was moved by the National League to Philadelphia. Al Reach, who in 1866 had become the first professional baseball player and was later a successful sporting goods dealer, became the Phillies first owner along with attorney John Rogers. Reach named the team the Phillies, a take-off on the team's geographic roots, "Philly."

[VitaminD]

The original Phillies began when the Worcester Ruby Legs were disbanded and the franchise was moved by the National League to Philadelphia. Al Reach, who in 1866 had become the first professional baseball player and was later a successful sporting goods dealer, became the Phillies first owner along with attorney John Rogers. Reach named the team the Phillies, a take-off on the team's geographic roots, "Philly."

This is the kind of thing ceasrano was talking about...

An alternate version of the birth of the Phillies...

[from baseball-almanac.com]

The franchise [Worcester Ruby Legs], which was also called the Worcester Brown Stockings, was admitted into the National League as a replacement for the Syracuse Stars and removed the from league in 1882 to make room for the modern day Philadelphia Phillies.

[no97]

Maybe the best potential future example of this would be the International League's Syracuse team, which seems to be about to revert to "Chiefs" from "Sky Chiefs".

But, I don't think the baseball examples from early in the the 20th Century really apply. In baseball, "nicknames" as we know them were not formalized until well into the century. Even though we can now see a listing that says, for instance, "1911 Brooklyn Dodgers", the "Dodgers" portion of that moniker just didn't occupy the same status as it does today. Teams' nicknames were certainly used and known to varying degrees, but they were in many cases well shy of "official". (It sort of resembled the state of English football even today, where, for instance Manchester United are commonly known as the "Red Devils", even though that isn't their official name.) Furthermore, sources were just as likely to call a team "Nationals" or "Americans", depending on its league, as they were to call it by its "nickname".

Unofficial/colloquial nicknames could pop up for a variety of reasons. It could be a local term that applied to the city's residents, as the eventually-permanent "Dodgers" was, or there could be any number of other quirky reasons. In the cases of some of the other Brooklyn nicknames, "Bridegrooms" sprang up when several players got married at about the same time, "Robins" was from the name of their longtime manager Wilbert Robinson.

Sometimes sportwriters are to "blame" for nicknames. The names "Giants" and "Cardinals" originated from newsapaper accounts of quotes praising the teams' players and the uniforms, respectively; the "Yank(ee)s" nickname came from headline-writers' discontent at the length of the team's then-prevailing nickname "Highlanders".

(As an aside, it is interesting to note that this pattern wasn't universal: in contrast to the "Highlanders"/"Yankees" situation, the headline-ready name "Bucs" has co-existed with -- and not displaced -- the longer name "Pirates".)

Nowadays, well into the modern "official nickname" era, it seems doubtful that we will ever see a team in a major league change its name and then change back. There would have to be a pretty big fan revolt, even bigger than the one that scuttled the 49ers' helmet or the Islanders' fishsticks uniforms. But, I am not counting on it. In a sane world, the risible "Wizards" name would have met this fate. Conclusion: this is not a sane world.

This is an excellent point. The Cubs started out as the White Stockings from 1876-'89, as a reference to their choice of hosiery, then were referred to as the Colts from 1890-'97, then the Orphans from 1898-1901, largely by the newspapers, because Cap Anson had left the team, thus orphaning the rest of the young club. The 1902 squad was full of youth, and to some newspapermen of the time, resembled young cub bears, ready to explore the world of professional baseball. The name stuck. In fact, many official team photos from the early part of the century just list the team as "Chicago Base Ball Club of 19xx National League.? The earliest I could find was from 1906 or '07. This says "Club of 1906," and also, "Champions for 1907."

The Cubs first reference the nickname "Cubs" on their uniform in 1908 (in image form):

And in name in 1909:

Moose

[Jaybird]

when the minnesota north stars announced they were moving to dallas, many publications (including an old encyclopedia i have laying around somewhere) called the team the Dallas Lone Stars.... however, bob gainey, coach and GM at the time, said he hated that name, because it was an oxymoron.

how can something be both "lone" and plural (stars)?

so they dropped the lone, and the north stars became the dallas stars.

not sure if that counts, since they never played a game under the name "lone stars"

Thanks for the info. I was thinking it was because of a possible trademark infringment with Lone Star Beer.

[DrBear]

I'll take the Phillies-Blue Jays one under advisement, as the lawyers say. Obviously, nicknames are much more "official" now; I do find it interesting that they never changed the uniforms.

I was going for nicknames, by the way, and not changes in cities (the most appropriate one there, hated tho it is, would be Los Angeles-California-Anaheim-Los Angeles Angels.)

Oh, and as to "Bay State Patriots," that was the first name announced when the team said it was moving to Foxboro. If you've been to Foxboro (during the first two decades of Foxboro Stadium) you'll know there's a nearby harness racing track ? Bay State Raceway. I think the name was Sullivan's tribute to the folks who bailed out his team, stadium-wise. But with the ties to a gambling operation, Pete Rozelle had a hissy, and New England was used. Which sounds better anyway. Of course, being "Bay State" could have set the Pats up for a move to San Francisco, Tampa, Green Bay, Detroit, Baltimore, Virginia, Delaware.....

[RickV]

Little known fact. The Dallas Cowboys were originally christened the "Dallas Rangers" when the NFL first granted Dallas a franchise. This was the official name until the owners discovered there was a minor league baseball team by the same name, and the name was officially changed to "Cowboys".

[Krona]

from what i read on the nfl site, the dallas team wasnt the rangers, but the steers

[NJTank]

NIcknames used to mean nothing. AT one time a tema could chaneg every year for example teh Dodgers were once the Bridegrooms because several of their players recently had gotten married.

They were also called the Superbas for a reason I dont recall.

They were also known as the Robins under manager Wilbert Roinsons in the 20's.

The BRaves breifely became the Bees in the 30s

The Cardinals were once the Brown STocking and became teh Cardinals after switching to red and it was for teh color not the bird.

The Indians were once the Naps for their best play Napolean Lajoie.

The Original Nationals were more known as the Senators by their fans, and it eventually became thier offical name.

Then there was the Highlanders who were called the Yankees in the press and it became their nickname and the most famous in sports.