Wikipedia has the name of the Philadelphia baseball team the Phillies dateing back to the 1880's.....?

Question

Was Philadelphia's team called the Philapelphia Athletics for a time or is wikipedia correct in saying they have always been named the Phillies.

Answer 1

Wikipedia is wrong. A better, far more reliable source is Baseball-Reference.com.

Here are their most commonly used team names: Philadelphia Phillies (1890 - 1942,1945 - 2007) - 1 World Championship, 5 Pennants, and 9 Playoff Appearances
Philadelphia Blue Jays (1943, 1944)
Philadelphia Quakers (1883 - 1889)

The Philadelphia Athletics were a separate team. The A's played in Philadelphia in the American League from 1901-54; they were in Kansas City from 1955-1967 before moving to their current home in Oakland in 1968.

Answer 2

This is actually from the Phillies website under team history:

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 talks about the Philly A's. You will find this under the 1900's.
Hopes of the team's first pennant, however, were soon dashed when the American League was formed in 1901. Within two years, the new league had signed not only the Phillies' three star players but a handful of others, most of them going to the rival Philadelphia Athletics. In a cruel touch of irony, the first five American League batting champions would all be former Phillies with Lajoie winning three titles and Delahanty and Flick each one.

Looks like there were 2 teams in Philly at one point, so that might be were people are getting the A's name from. In 1955, the A's moved to Kansas City and then in 68 moved to Oakland.

So I guess to answer your question, wikipedia was correct in saying that the 1880's Phillies have always been the Phillies. The Philadelphia team that was started in 1901 was never the Phillies, but seems like it was always the A's.

Answer 3

The Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City and then to Oakland.

The Philadelphia Phillies have had that name since 1883 making it one of the oldest teams in the league. They were the Quakers in 1882 and briefly refered to as the Blue Jays in the 40s even though no name change took place.

They will be the 1st pro team to hit 10,000 losses this year by the way :(

Current record: 8793-9985
2nd place: Atlanta Braves with 9665

Answer 4

There were THREE big-league teams in Philadelphia:

* The original Philadelphia Athletics, consisting of players from various athletic clubs in Philadelphia, played in the National Association from 1871-1875.

* The Philadelphia Quakers joined the National League in 1883. After seven seasons as the Quakers, they became the Phillies for the 1890 season. For some reason (maybe five straight 100-loss seasons, including 109 defeats in 1942?), they changed their uniforms to predominantly blue and were dubbed the Blue Jays by the Philly press for 1943-44. They lost under 100 games both years, then went back to their red scheme -- and their official Phillies name -- for '45, and proceeded to lose 108 games. Of course, they're still the Phillies, and since the departure of the Montreal Expos to Washington (where the Nats now play most of their interleague games against the nearby Baltimore Orioles), the Phils' main interleague opponents have been -- you guessed it -- the Blue Jays.

* The second, and better-known, Philadelphia Athletics team was founded with the formation of the American League in 1901, and part-owner/manager Connie Mack named them in tribute to the original Athletics club. By the early '50s, Philadelphia couldn't support two teams, and while the Phils became good enough to win a pennant in 1950, the A's were horrible -- and losing fans to the other team playing in Connie Mack Stadium. So the team was sold to Arnold Johnson at the end of 1954 and moved to Kansas City. Johnson's reign saw the Kansas City A's dubbed as the Yankees' farm club, as they gave up several great young prospects to the pinstriped machine in the Bronx (most notably Roger Maris in 1959 for an aging Hank Bauer, a decrepit Don Larsen and the pre-Mets Marv Throneberry) and remained in or near the American League cellar. Insurance/real estate magnate Charles O. Finley bought the club in 1960. Two years later, with attendance dwindling, he tried to move the team to Dallas, but was voted down by the other owners. His meddlesome ways (firing many managers) and showman gimmicks (a zoo beyond the outfield, the mascot mule Charley O, electronic rabbits bringing balls to the umpires, grounds crew dressed in spacesuits) didn't raise attendance. And despite the arrival of several budding young stars in the mid-to-late '60s (Bert Campaneris, Catfish Hunter, Blue Moon Odom and Reggie Jackson), the crowds stayed away, and he was allowed to move the franchise to Oakland after the 1967 season. Of course, the Oakland A's, with that nucleus of players, won three straight World Series (1972-74), some say in spite of the hated Finley.

Answer 5

The Athletics were the Athletics. The Phillies were always the Phillies. 1880's huh? They still haven't gotten better in all that time?!? Maybe they should have moved to Oakland.

Answer 6

Jimmy Foxx played for the Philadelphia As during the 1930s. Connie Mack was the owner and manager of the Philadelphia As during the 1920 and 30s. This time, Wikipedia is wrong. They are usually right, but not 100 percent. Just another little mistake.

Answer 7

Phillies

Answer 8

wikipedia is correct

the philly a's moved to oakland and then the phillies were a new franchise that set up in philly

technically philly has had 2 separate franchises

Answer 9

Wikipedia is wrong and is an unreliable source. They started out as on of the original teams in the majors in the late 1800's. Then they moved west twice and changed their names. The Athletics had one of the greatest players of all time in Nap Lajop, the first triple crown winner of the 20th century in 1903

Answer 10

The Philidelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City before moving to Oakland and becoming the Oakland Athletics.