From our old friends at Pop Chart Labs…
A comprehensive taxonomy of 482 professional baseball team names, spanning over 150 years and covering teams from the bigs to the minor and independent leagues, as well as the Negro Leagues, the Nippon Professional Baseball league, and more. Styled like an old school baseball card, this is the definitive guide to the nation’s pastime.
Pick one up at their site.
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As we don our colors, we might recall that this was a sad date in 1972: The San Francisco Giants traded Willie Mays to the New York Mets (for pitcher Charlie Williams and $50,000 cash). Mays had played with Giants– first in New York, then San Francisco– since 1951. As a Giant he won two MVP awards, played 24 times in the All-Star Game (a record he shares with Stan Musial), and won 12 Golden Gloves (also a record). Mays ended his career with 660 home runs, third at the time of his retirement, and currently fourth all-time.
in 1972, the Giants franchise was losing money. Owner Horace Stoneham couldn’t guarantee Mays an income after retirement, while the Mets–anxious to capitalize on Mays’ continued popularity in new York– could offer Mays a position as a coach upon his retirement… so a friendly trade was arranged.
They invented the All-Star Game for Willie Mays.
- Ted Williams
