A Story of Brown Stockings, White Stockings, Red Stockings, Boston Redcaps, Boston Doves, Boston Braves, and Altlanta Braves

In Major League Baseball back in the day,

there were far too many stockings!

by bill Russo 

As a native of Massachusetts,

(Pronounced: "Mass achoo -God Bless You- sets") 

it seems like only yesterday to me, but it was actually about 150 years ago when our beloved Boston Red Stockings joined the new National League in 1876 and had to change their handle for a while to the 'Boston Red Caps'. 

You see there were a lot of "Stockings" back in the day. Not only were there the Brown Stockings of St. Louis, but also the White Stockings of Chicago - not to mention the Red Stockings of Cincinnati.

How could a league have two teams with identical names you ask?

The names weren't exactly identical; there were two clubs named The Red Stockings but one was from Boston and the other was from Cincinnati - hence the Boston Red Stockings and the Cincinnati Red Stockings! To save confusion, the Boston Socks became the Red Caps.

This silly situation wasn't all that uncommon.  In the Canadian Football league for decades there were only six teams and two of them were named the Rough Riders!

Back to baseball.  The Boston Red Stockings were the kings of the American Association (had been for five years!) but didn't do too well at first in the new National League. They finished fourth: beaten by the White Stockings, the Hartford Dark Blues, and the Brown Stockings. The top batter was Jim O'Rourke who slugged 327 with two home runs. The club used a 3 man pitching rotation for the 70 game season with the ace Jack Manning notching 17 ups and only three downs.

In case you're keeping score, the Red Stockings had many name changes with the most famous being The Boston Braves. The Boston Braves became the best team in the world from about 1877 up until 1900.  The Boston Braves won the National League Championship many times right up until the start of the American League in 1901.

Though the Boston Braves were the hub's senior team, New England fell in love with the new kids on the block, the Boston Red Sox with Cy Young and company.  Within a few years Babe Ruth joined the crowd and the Boston Red Sox became the dominant team in the game, winning world titles in 1903, 1912, 1915 and 1918. (After 1918 they would go 86 years without another World Series Champion ship until they started their next run -- winning in 2004, 2007, 2013, and 2018)

Meanwhile the Boston Braves during the same period won only three world series.  The first was in 1914 when the Boston Miracle Braves became only team ever to come from last place in late July to win the Pennant and the World Series.  

The next championship for the Boston Braves didn't happen until 1957.  Their third and last world series win was in 1995.  I should mention that the Boston Braves have been using an alias for a while.  Starting in the mid 1950s they changed their name to the Milwaukee Braves.  Shortly after that they went into hiding as the Atlanta Braves.  

Today the Boston Braves still play in the national league but they  don't have very many home games in Braves Field.  Boston University uses the stadium most of the time.  But stalwart Bostonians know that the Boston Braves are only on loan to the South and will be coming home soon.  New Englanders say it's only a question of time before the Braves come back to the Athens of America.

Meanwhile, on America's Main Street (Route 95) about a thousand miles South of Boston,  people in Georgia are saying, "sure the Braves will go back North - when Atlanta Freezes over!"