OOTP Developments Forums - View Single Post - The Big Bang: A Larger Baseball Universe Starting From Nothing in 1857

tm1681 · 12-27-2024, 06:12 AM

Since I've been getting a bit more views and some feedback on this, I'll talk about the team names and where I got them from.

Some are real, and some are made up - a healthy mix of both. I got a bunch of the real team names from this link at Major League Baseball's Memory Lab website, but sadly I think they've taken down the entire Memory Lab project after 10-15 years. I also did some reading at https://protoball.org/, which exclusively talks about baseball before 1870.

I'll just go over the clubs in alphabetical order:

Alleghany - was a real club
American - can't remember if made up or real club
Atlantic - real, and a modern edition of the team plays Vintage Baseball
Bedford - was a real club
Binghamton - made up
Cantabrigians - made up, inspired by the Cambridge Cantabs minor league team
Continental - was a real club and they played at Wheat Hill, the venue I have them playing at in my game
Eagle - was a real club, but not based in Elmira, NY
Eckford of Greenpoint - was a real club, modern version plays in a Vintage Baseball League
Empire - real club
Excelsior - real, and the real-life club of Jim Creighton during the very brief career he had before his death at age 21
Flour City - was a real club
Gotham(s) - real club, played at both Red House and the St. George Cricket Grounds so I combined them in-game; later iteration was the original name of the NY/SF Giants
Granite - real club
Green Mountain - made up
Harlem - real club
Hilltop of Yonkers - made up
Kings County - made up
Knickerbocker - very real, there are also pages dedicated to them at the Baseball HoF website and the BB Reference Bullpen site.
Lake Erie - made up
Massachusetts Bay - made up
Merrimack Mills - made up
Metropolitan - real, but was actually an early American Association team in the 1880s; name was inspiration for the New York Mets
Minuteman - made up
Mutual - real, and took part in the inaugural season of the National League; modern version plays in a Vintage Baseball league
Nassau County - fiction-ish; there were numerous "Nassau B.B.C." teams in the 1850s
Newark - real club
Niagara - made up, but there were a number of teams from Chicago to New York named "Niagara" in the 1850s
Oceanic - real, but based somewhere in CT other than Hartford
Olympic - this version made up, but there were about a dozen different "Olympic Base Ball Club" teams across the USA back then
Orange - made up; figured it would be nice to have a New York team with Dutch heritage
Pioneer - loads of 1850s clubs named Pioneer; figured one in Mass. would fit
Port Jersey - made up
Portland - real club
Quaker State - made up
Quinnipiac - real, but spelled in the 1800s fashion
Reading Athletic - plenty of teams in Reading then; this one inspired by the fact that Reading had one of the 1st athletic clubs in PA open up in the 1850s
Scranton - made up, but an 1860's team called "Club of Scranton" did exist
Shamrock - made up, but turns out there was a real Shamrock club
Sons of the Ocean - believe it or not, REAL
Sportsman's - Honestly can't remember since that one page I used has been taken down
St. John's - made up
Susquehanna - real club
Syracuse - not a surprise, but real and they did actually play at the Salina Street Grounds
Trenton United - I want to say that club showed up on the MLB page that no longer exists, but I honestly can't remember
Union of Morrisania - real; another article here
Utica - first made up, but no surprise that such a team really existed
Victory - scores of clubs named Victory at the time

So, there ya go. I posted logos way back on Page 1. I didn't base very many of those on their real-life counterparts, except maybe a few of the New York & Brooklyn teams because those would have been the teams well-known enough to get pictures taken of them where you could see the stylized letter that represented the team, and some sources have descriptions of the color schemes of the more famous teams from back then.

12-27-2024, 06:12 AM	#433
tm1681 All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Salt Lake City, UT Posts: 1,425	Since I've been getting a bit more views and some feedback on this, I'll talk about the team names and where I got them from. Some are real, and some are made up - a healthy mix of both. I got a bunch of the real team names from this link at Major League Baseball's Memory Lab website, but sadly I think they've taken down the entire Memory Lab project after 10-15 years. I also did some reading at https://protoball.org/, which exclusively talks about baseball before 1870. I'll just go over the clubs in alphabetical order: Alleghany - was a real club American - can't remember if made up or real club Atlantic - real, and a modern edition of the team plays Vintage Baseball Bedford - was a real club Binghamton - made up Cantabrigians - made up, inspired by the Cambridge Cantabs minor league team Continental - was a real club and they played at Wheat Hill, the venue I have them playing at in my game Eagle - was a real club, but not based in Elmira, NY Eckford of Greenpoint - was a real club, modern version plays in a Vintage Baseball League Empire - real club Excelsior - real, and the real-life club of Jim Creighton during the very brief career he had before his death at age 21 Flour City - was a real club Gotham(s) - real club, played at both Red House and the St. George Cricket Grounds so I combined them in-game; later iteration was the original name of the NY/SF Giants Granite - real club Green Mountain - made up Harlem - real club Hilltop of Yonkers - made up Kings County - made up Knickerbocker - very real, there are also pages dedicated to them at the Baseball HoF website and the BB Reference Bullpen site. Lake Erie - made up Massachusetts Bay - made up Merrimack Mills - made up Metropolitan - real, but was actually an early American Association team in the 1880s; name was inspiration for the New York Mets Minuteman - made up Mutual - real, and took part in the inaugural season of the National League; modern version plays in a Vintage Baseball league Nassau County - fiction-ish; there were numerous "Nassau B.B.C." teams in the 1850s Newark - real club Niagara - made up, but there were a number of teams from Chicago to New York named "Niagara" in the 1850s Oceanic - real, but based somewhere in CT other than Hartford Olympic - this version made up, but there were about a dozen different "Olympic Base Ball Club" teams across the USA back then Orange - made up; figured it would be nice to have a New York team with Dutch heritage Pioneer - loads of 1850s clubs named Pioneer; figured one in Mass. would fit Port Jersey - made up Portland - real club Quaker State - made up Quinnipiac - real, but spelled in the 1800s fashion Reading Athletic - plenty of teams in Reading then; this one inspired by the fact that Reading had one of the 1st athletic clubs in PA open up in the 1850s Scranton - made up, but an 1860's team called "Club of Scranton" did exist Shamrock - made up, but turns out there was a real Shamrock club Sons of the Ocean - believe it or not, REAL Sportsman's - Honestly can't remember since that one page I used has been taken down St. John's - made up Susquehanna - real club Syracuse - not a surprise, but real and they did actually play at the Salina Street Grounds Trenton United - I want to say that club showed up on the MLB page that no longer exists, but I honestly can't remember Union of Morrisania - real; another article here Utica - first made up, but no surprise that such a team really existed Victory - scores of clubs named Victory at the time So, there ya go. I posted logos way back on Page 1. I didn't base very many of those on their real-life counterparts, except maybe a few of the New York & Brooklyn teams because those would have been the teams well-known enough to get pictures taken of them where you could see the stylized letter that represented the team, and some sources have descriptions of the color schemes of the more famous teams from back then. __________________ Logo & uniform work here Thread about my fictional universe that begins in 1857 here Last edited by tm1681; 12-27-2024 at 06:21 AM.