1870s TEAM NICKNAMES RANDOMIZER
The names in this list were drawn primarily from sources related to baseball prior to the formation of the National League in 1876. Included are 162 names of actual ball clubs from that era. Although some names were more common than others (e.g. Mutual, Union, Athletic), there has been no attempt to adjust the frequencies.
The file can either be used as a substitute for the game's "team_nick_names" file (making the appropriate changes to the file name), or else the names can be copied-and-pasted into the randomizer program, as outlined above.
All nicknames are in the singular form (e.g. "Athletic" rather than "Athletics"). Teams, however, were frequently referred to by pluralizing the club name. Thus the teams fielded by the Athletic Club of Philadelphia, for instance, were commonly known as the "Athletics." Two modern teams have nicknames that can be traced to this practice: the Oakland Athletics and the Philadelphia Phillies (teams from the Philadelphia Club were known as the "Philadelphias," which was then shortened to "Phillies").
There are three "wild card" entries for names based on city names, geographical features, and personal names that would not otherwise be appropriate in a randomized list:
- City name or nickname: by far the most common type of club name was simply the name of the club's home city. So, for example, a club in Newark would be named the Newark Athletic (or Sporting or Base Ball or Social) Club and its teams would be called the "Newarks." Instead of adopting the city's name, a club might use the city's nickname. Examples include the Flour City club of Rochester, NY, the Quaker City club of Philadelphia, and the Cream City club of Milwaukee. There were so many "Forest City" clubs that I included that name as a regular entry in the list.
- Geographical features: another common type of name for clubs, this was typically the name of a river or other local landmark. Examples include the Potomac Club of Washington, DC, the Susquehanna Club of Wilkes-Barre, and the Fallkill Club of Poughkeepsie.
- Personal names: this could be the name of a prominent local citizen, a club benefactor, or a historical figure. Examples include the Mansfield Club of Middletown, CT, the Eckford Club of Brooklyn, and the Henry Clay club of Philadelphia.
1870 random team names.txt