20 bizarre baseball team names you won’t believe were real

The Chicago Cubs have quite a unique history. Not only are they the oldest club in Major League Baseball, but they went through multiple team names before landing on the Cubs. They used the White Stockings and the Colts, and for a few years at the turn of the century, the team was called the Chicago Orphans after their manager left. 

The Atlanta Braves used to exist in Boston, and they had a decidedly whacky team name: the Boston Beaneaters. It was a nod to the prevalence of baked beans in Boston, but it’s still a wild moniker for a professional sports team. 

Cleveland has had some trouble settling on a name. Before becoming the Guardians, the city’s MLB team was known as the Indians, and before that, they were called the Cleveland Naps. It made plenty of sense at the time as it was in reference to their manager, Napoleon “Nap” Lajoie, but it makes very little sense without context. 

No one should’ve been surprised by Cleveland calling themselves the Naps. They once had a minor league team called the Infants. Perhaps they were named for their team’s infancy? Whatever the reason, they only lasted one season. 

Long before the Dodgers were the pride of Los Angeles, the team was based in Brooklyn. And while in Brooklyn, they had some interesting team names. In the late 1800s, the team went by the Bridegrooms, then the Grooms, and then the Bridegrooms again because so many of their teammates got married in one season. 

For as strange as the MLB team names were in the past, the minor league team names have been even stranger. Take the Hijackers, for example, who played for one season in 1921 (and had a terrible record). Their official team name was Graham Hijackers/Mineral Wells Resorters. Rolls right off the tongue. 

Suffolk, Virginia’s minor league baseball team, was called the Goobers for a few years in the 1940s. They played at Peanut Park and went by the Nuts for a couple of years. 

Something strange was going on in Virginia back in the early days of professional baseball. In the 1930s, Bassett had a minor league team named the Furnituremakers. They were pretty successful, but their team name did not incite fear in their opponents. 

The Kalamazoo Celery Pickers were a minor league baseball team for decades. They played for nearly 40 using the team name Celery Pickers on and off. In the off years, they went by the Kazoos and the White Sox, but apparently, the Celery Pickers was just too good to stay away from. 

There have been multiple — multiple — professional sports teams that have gone by the name Shipbuilders. A minor league baseball team out of Newport News, Virginia (of course) and one out of Manitowoc, Wisconsin, both used the appellation at one time. 

To be fair, actual coal barons probably were very intimidating men. Once upon a time, Uniontown, Pennsylvania, used the moniker for its minor league baseball team. The team also went by the Cokers (???) for one season. Much to think about after learning that information. 

Long ago, Oswego, New York, had its own minor league baseball team, and the city had an interesting time settling on a name. The team was called both the Starchboxes and the Sweegs, and neither was good. 

The Worcester Worcesters posed a greater question: Why give a team a unique name at all? Certainly, adding another syllable to the end of your town’s name will work. 

The Oakland Dudes were once a minor league baseball team, but they were called the Dudes because the word referred to a visitor from the city. So, at least there was a reason for their strange team name. 

Troy, New York’s minor league baseball team had a few different names. For one season, they simply went by Troy Baseball Club, then oscillated between the Troy Trojans (great team name) and the Troy Washerwomen (odd at best and misogynistic at worst). 

While the New Haven Nutmegs might seem strange to you, the Connecticut city liked the name so much they used it twice. For decades, it was a minor league baseball team, but years after the team went defunct, the name was revived for a short-lived professional ice hockey team. 

Before the Los Angeles Angels existed, an entirely different baseball team called the Los Angeles Angels existed. And for a couple of seasons in the early 1900s, the team also went by the Los Angeles Looloos. 

The minor league baseball team in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, in the early 1900s was called the Millionaires. The name was a reference to the mansions in the city called Millionaires’ Row. The name would be more apt for professional teams of today. 

Webb City, Missouri, had a minor league baseball team for a period, and they went by multiple team names, including the Stars and the Goldbugs. They also called themselves the Webfeet for a few seasons. While having webbed feet can certainly help in swimming (just ask Michael Phelps), it’s hard to imagine it’s a good thing for baseball players. 

Leavenworth, Kansas, called its minor league baseball team the Convicts for a season. It was, indeed, in response to the penitentiary that opened in Leavenworth in the early 1900s. The team name didn’t stick, though (hard to imagine why!), and neither did the team. After their 1907 season as the Convicts, the team went defunct until 1946, when they reemerged as part of the Boston Braves (formerly the Boston Beaneaters and eventually the Atlanta Braves).