19th-century National League teams

The following is a list of United States Major League Baseball teams that played in the National League during the 19th century. None of these teams, other than Athletic and Mutual, had actual names during this period; sportswriters however often applied creative monickers which are still, mistakenly, used today as "team names" following a convention established in 1951.

Surviving teams

Major league

• Boston: "Red Stockings, "Red Caps," "Beaneaters" 1876–1900 – now Atlanta Braves
• Brooklyn: "Grays," "Bridegrooms," "Grooms," "Superbas," "Robins," "Trolley Dodgers" 1890–1900 – transferred from the American Association; now Los Angeles Dodgers
• Chicago "White Stockings": 1876–1900 – now known as the Cubs
• Cincinnati: "Red Stockings" or "Reds" 1890–1900 – transferred from the American Association
• New York: occasionally "Gothams," more often "Giants" 1883–1900 – later the New York Giants and now San Francisco Giants
• Philadelphia 1883–1900 – very occasionally tagged "Quakers" 1883–1890, most often "Philadelphias" in the style of the day, shortened to "Phillies."
• Pittsburgh: 1887–1900 founded as Allegheny (a Pittsburgh suburb) and referred to in typical manner as "Alleghenys" 1883-1890, dubbed "Pirates" from 1891 – transferred from the American Association
• St. Louis "Brown Stockings or "Browns," later "Red Stockings" or "Reds" 1892–1900 – transferred from the American Association; now known as the Cardinals.

Minor league

• Buffalo Bisons 1879–1885 – moved to the minors in 1886 and played in Buffalo until 1970 before several moves. Suspended operations in 1973. A current minor league team bearing the "Buffalo Bisons" name, dating to 1979, claims this team as part of their official history.

Defunct teams

• Baltimore Orioles 1892-1899 - transferred from the American Association
• Cincinnati Red Stockings 1876–1879
• Cleveland Blues 1879–1884
• Cincinnati Stars 1880
• Cleveland Spiders 1889–1899 – transferred from the American Association; the 1899 Cleveland Spiders hold the record for the worst winning percentage in the history of Major League Baseball
• Detroit Wolverines 1881–1888
• Hartford Dark Blues 1876–1877 – transferred from National Association; based in Brooklyn in 1877
• Indianapolis Blues 1878
• St. Louis Maroons/Black Diamonds/Indianapolis Hoosiers 1885–1889 – transferred from the Union Association in 1885; moved to Indianapolis where often called Hoosiers in 1887
• Kansas City Cowboys 1886
• Louisville Grays 1876–1877
• Louisville Colonels 1892–1899 – transferred from the American Association
• Milwaukee Grays (or Cream Citys) 1878
• Mutual of New York 1876 – transferred from National Association
• Athletic of Philadelphia 1876 – transferred from National Association
• Providence Grays 1878–1885
• St. Louis Brown Stockings 1876–1877 – transferred from National Association
• Syracuse Stars 1879
• Troy Trojans 1879–1882
• Washington Nationals (1886–1889)
• Washington Senators (1891–1899)
• Worcester Ruby Legs 1880–1882

Timeline

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at:1876 color:lineColor #Formation of NL

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bar:MNY             # Mutual of New York 
bar:AOP             # Athletic of Philadelphia
bar:CHC             # Chicago White Stockings / Colts / Orphans / Cubs
bar:ATL             # Boston Red Stockings / Beaneaters / Doves / Rustlers / Braves / Bees / Milwaukee Braves / Atlanta Braves
bar:HAR             # Hartford Dark Blues / Brooklyn Hartfords
bar:SLBS            # St. Louis Brown Stockings / Browns
bar:CINR            # Cincinnati Red Stockings /Reds
bar:LOU             # Louisville Grays
bar:IND             # Indianapolis Blues
bar:MILG            # Milwaukee Grays
bar:PRO             # Providence Grays
bar:BUF             # Buffalo Bisons
bar:CLEB            # Cleveland Blues
bar:SYR             # Syracuse Stars
bar:TRY             # Troy Trojans
bar:WRC             # Worcester Worcesters
bar:DETW            # Detroit Wolverines
bar:SF              # New York Giants / San Francisco Giants
bar:PHI             # Philadelphia Phillies
bar:SLM             # St. Louis Maroons / Black Diamonds / Indianapolis Hoosiers
bar:KCC             # Kansas City Cowboys
bar:WSHN            # Washington Nationals 
bar:PIT             # Pittsburgh Pirates
bar:CLES            # Cleveland Spiders
bar:CIN             # Cincinnati Reds
bar:LAD             # Brooklyn Dodgers / Los Angeles Dodgers
bar:BALO            # Baltimore Orioles (AA)
bar:LOUC            # Louisville Cardinals
bar:STL             # St. Louis Browns / Cardinals
bar:WSHS            # Washington Senators

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1. --- Charter NL Franchises in 1876

bar:MNY  from:1857 till:1871 color:nl1          text:"(NABBP)"
bar:MNY  from:1871 till:1876 color:nl1          text:"(NA)"
bar:MNY  from:1876 till:1877 color:green        text:"Mutual of New York"                                $Right
bar:AOP  from:1860 till:1871 color:nl1          text:"(NABBP)"
bar:AOP  from:1871 till:1876 color:nl1          text:"(NA)"
bar:AOP  from:1876 till:1877 color:blue         text:"Athletic of Philadelphia"                        $Right
bar:ATL  from:1871 till:1876 color:nl1          text:"(NA)"
bar:ATL  from:1876 till:end color:red           text:"Boston (Braves)"                                 textcolor:white
bar:CHC  from:1870 till:1871 color:nl1          text:"(NABBP)"                                         $Left
bar:CHC  from:1871 till:1872 color:nl1 
bar:CHC  from:1874 till:1876 color:nl1          text:"(NA)"
bar:CHC  from:1876 till:end color:darkblue        text:"Chicago (Cubs)"   textcolor:white       
bar:CINR from:1876 till:1881 color:red          text:"Cincinnati"                        $Right
bar:HAR  from:1874 till:1876 color:nl1          text:"(NA)"
bar:HAR  from:1876 till:1877 color:darkblue     text:"Hartford"                             $UpRight
bar:HAR  from:1877 till:1878 color:skyblue         text:"Brooklyn"                              $DownRight 
bar:LOU  from:1876 till:1878 color:gray         text:"Louisville"                                $Right
bar:SLBS from:1875 till:1876 color:nl1          text:"(NA)"                                            $Left
bar:SLBS from:1876 till:1878 color:brown      text:"St. Louis"                 textcolor:white    $Right

1. --- 1878

bar:IND  from:1878 till:1879 color:blue         text:"Indianapolis"                              $Right
bar:MILG from:1878 till:1879 color:gray         text:"Milwaukee"                                 $Right
bar:PRO  from:1878 till:1885 color:skyblue      text:"Providence"

1. --- 1879

bar:BUF  from:1879 till:1886 color:gray2        text:"Buffalo"
bar:CLEB from:1879 till:1885 color:navy         text:"Cleveland"            textcolor:white
bar:SYR  from:1879 till:1880 color:yellow       text:"Star of Syracuse"                                  $Right
bar:TRY  from:1879 till:1883 color:green        text:"Troy"         textcolor:yellow                           

1. --- 1880

bar:WRC  from:1880 till:1883 color:brown        text:"Worcester"                          $Right

1. --- 1881

bar:DETW from:1881 till:1889 color:vegasgold    text:"Detroit"

1. --- 1883

bar:SF   from:1883 till:end color:orange       text:"New York (Giants)"
bar:PHI  from:1883 till:end  color:red2         text:"Philadelphia (Phillies)"      textcolor:white

1. --- 1884

bar:SLM  from:1884 till:1885 color:nl1          text:"(UA)"                                            $Left
bar:SLM  from:1885 till:1886 color:darkred      text:"St. Louis"            textcolor:white   $UpRight                          
bar:SLM  from:1886 till:1887 color:black      text:
bar:SLM from:1887 till:1890 color:darkblue         text:"Indianapolis"                          $Right

1. --- 1886

bar:KCC  from:1886 till:1887 color:oceanblue    text:"Kansas City"                             $Right
bar:WSHN from:1886 till:1890 color:darkblue     text:"Washington"       textcolor:white      

1. --- 1887

bar:PIT  from:1882 till:1887 color:nl1          text:"(AA)"
bar:PIT  from:1887 till:end color:yelloworange text:"Pittsburgh (Pirates)"             

1. --- 1889

bar:CLES from:1887 till:1889 color:nl1          text:"(AA)"
bar:CLES from:1889 till:1900 color:black        text:"Cleveland"           textcolor:white     

1. --- 1890

bar:CIN  from:1882 till:1890 color:nl1          text:"(AA)"
bar:CIN  from:1890 till:end  color:red          text:"Cincinnati (Reds)"             textcolor:white
bar:LAD  from:1884 till:1885 color:nl1
bar:LAD  from:1885 till:1888 color:nl1          text:"(AA)"
bar:LAD  from:1888 till:1890 color:nl1
bar:LAD  from:1890 till:end color:darkblue          text:"Brooklyn (Dodgers)"             textcolor:white    

1. --- AA Merger

bar:BALO from:1882 till:1892 color:nl1          text:"(AA)"
bar:BALO from:1892 till:1900 color:yellow       text:"Baltimore"
bar:LOUC from:1882 till:1892 color:nl1          text:"(AA)"
bar:LOUC from:1892 till:1900 color:gray         text:"Louisville"         textcolor:white
bar:STL  from:1882 till:1892 color:nl1          text:"(AA)"
bar:STL  from:1892 till:end  color:red2         text:"St. Louis (Cardinals)" textcolor:white
bar:WSHS from:1891 till:1892 color:nl1          text:"(AA)"                       $Left
bar:WSHS from:1892 till:1900 color:darkblue     text:"Washington"         textcolor:white     

</timeline>

Franchises by Year

• 1876
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Cincinnati
  • Hartford
  • Louisville
  • Mutual
  • Athletic
  • St. Louis
• Between 1876 and 1877 seasons
  • Drop: Mutual and Athletic
• 1877
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Cincinnati
  • Hartford (played most games in Brooklyn)
  • Louisville
  • St. Louis
• Between 1877 and 1878 seasons
  • Drop: Hartford, Louisville and St. Louis
  • Add: Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Providence
• 1878
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Cincinnati
  • Indianapolis
  • Milwaukee
  • Providence
• Between 1878 and 1879 seasons
  • Drop: Indianapolis and Milwaukee
  • Add: Buffalo, Cleveland, Syracuse and Troy
• 1879
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Cincinnati
  • Providence
  • Buffalo
  • Cleveland
  • Syracuse
  • Troy
• Between 1879 and 1880 seasons
  • Drop: Syracuse
  • Add: Worcester
• 1880
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Cincinnati
  • Providence
  • Buffalo
  • Cleveland
  • Troy
  • Worcester
• Between 1880 and 1881 seasons
  • Drop: Cincinnati
  • Add: Detroit
• 1881
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Providence
  • Buffalo
  • Cleveland
  • Troy
  • Worcester
  • Detroit
• Between 1881 and 1882 seasons
  • Drop:none
  • Add: none
• 1882
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Providence
  • Buffalo
  • Cleveland
  • Troy
  • Worcester
  • Detroit
• Between 1882 and 1883 seasons
  • Drop: Troy and Worcester
  • Add: New York and Philadelphia
• 1883
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Providence
  • Buffalo
  • Cleveland
  • Detroit
  • New York
  • Philadelphia
• Between 1883 and 1884 seasons
  • Drop: none
  • Add: none
• 1884
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Providence
  • Buffalo
  • Cleveland
  • Detroit
  • New York
  • Philadelphia
• Between 1884 and 1885 seasons
  • Drop: Cleveland
  • Add: St. Louis from the Union Association
• 1885
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Providence
  • Buffalo
  • Detroit
  • New York
  • Philadelphia
  • St. Louis
• Between 1885 and 1886 seasons
  • Drop: Buffalo and Providence
  • Add: Kansas City and Washington
• 1886
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Detroit
  • New York
  • Philadelphia
  • St. Louis
  • Kansas City
  • Washington
• Between 1886 and 1887 seasons
  • Drop: Kansas City
  • Add: Pittsburgh (from the American Association)
  • Move: St. Louis to Indianapolis
• 1887
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Detroit
  • New York
  • Philadelphia
  • Washington
  • Indianapolis
  • Pittsburgh
• Between 1887 and 1888 seasons
  • Drop: none
• 1888
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • Detroit
  • New York
  • Philadelphia
  • Washington
  • Indianapolis
  • Pittsburgh
• Between 1888 and 1889 seasons
  • Drop: Detroit
  • Add: Cleveland from the American Association
• 1889
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • New York
  • Philadelphia
  • Washington
  • Indianapolis
  • Pittsburgh
  • Cleveland
• Between 1889 and 1890 seasons
  • Drop: Indianapolis and Washington
  • Add: Brooklyn and Cincinnati (both from the American Association)
• 1890
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • New York
  • Philadelphia
  • Pittsburgh
  • Cleveland
  • Brooklyn
  • Cincinnati
• Between 1890 and 1891 seasons
  • Drop: none
  • Add: none
• 1891
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • New York
  • Philadelphia
  • Pittsburgh
  • Cleveland
  • Brooklyn
  • Cincinnati
• Between 1891 and 1892 seasons
  • Drop: none
  • Add: Baltimore, Louisville, St. Louis and Washington (all from the American Association)
• 1892–1899
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • New York
  • Philadelphia
  • Pittsburgh
  • Cleveland
  • Brooklyn
  • Cincinnati
  • Baltimore
  • Louisville
  • St. Louis
  • Washington

This lineup of teams remained the same from 1892 to the end of the 1899 season. After the 1899 season Baltimore, Cleveland, Louisville and Washington were dropped from the National League.

• 1900
  • Boston
  • Chicago
  • New York
  • Philadelphia
  • Pittsburgh
  • Brooklyn
  • Cincinnati
  • St. Louis

This lineup remained the same until Boston relocated to Milwaukee in 1953.

See also

• List of National League pennant winners
• History of baseball team nicknames

References

• Template:Cite book