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September 21, 2008

Major League Baseball: the American League East- Map and Chart.

Filed under: Baseball: 2008 MLB div's — admin @ 5:04 pm

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Major League Baseball’s American League East features the sport’s two biggest rivals, and probably the two most-supported baseball clubs in North America… the New York Yankees, and the Boston Red Sox.  These two clubs, plus the present-day Baltimore Orioles, are franchises which were founding members of the American League, in 1901. 

The New York Yankees started out as the second Baltimore Orioles, but after just two seasons, the club moved to northern Manhattan’s Hilltop Park, in 1903, and became the New York Highlanders.  The club first wore their pinstripe uniforms in 1912, and in 1913 the New York Yankees name was officially adopted.  The club played at the old Polo Grounds ballpark from 1913 to 1922,  as  renters,  since this was the home park of the National League’s New York Giants.  In 1923, the steadily improving club moved just across the Harlem River, to the Bronx, and into their gigantic new home, Yankee Stadium.  By the end of the 1920s, the club was well on its way to becoming the most successful sporting team in America.  In the 1950s alone, the Yankees won 8 AL Pennants, and 6 World Series titles.   The Yankees have won the most World Series titles: 26 (but no title since 2000).  The Yankees say goodbye to Yankee Stadium tonight {see this from mlb.com/Yankees’ site}, and next spring the club will move into the new Yankee Stadium (2009) {see this, from Wikipedia}.

The Boston Red Sox are one of 4 AL clubs which has never changed its city location (along with the Chicago White Sox,  the Cleveland Indians,  and the Detroit Tigers).   The Boston Red Sox moniker was officially adopted in 1908.   In 1912, the ball club moved into their new home, Fenway Park.  The Red Sox have played there ever since (it is the oldest ball park still in use by a Major League team).  The Red Sox went through an 85 year title drought, finally winning their 5th World Series title in 2004.  They won their 6th championship in 2007.  

The Baltimore Orioles which exist today are the third Major League incarnation of that name.  The first was the National League’s Baltimore Orioles (I), who existed from 1892 to 1899.  This club won three NL pennants, and were a legendary team that featured 7 future Hall Of Famers {see this, from Wikipedia}.  As noted, the second Baltimore Orioles (II) moved to New York in 1903, and eventually became the New York Yankees.  There was a minor-league Baltimore Orioles which formed in 1903, right after the American League Orioles (II) moved to NYC.  This club initially played in the Eastern League (which, since 1911 has been called the International League); they played in Baltimore from 1903 to 1911, and 1914 to 1953. {see this}.  In 1954, when the hapless St. Louis Browns (a club that one could call “major-league” in name only) moved east to Baltimore, the minor league Orioles made way, and moved to Richmond, Virginia.  This club later moved north to Ohio, and are the present-day Toledo Mud Hens (still of the International League).   The present day Baltimore Orioles (III) have remained on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay since 1954, winning 3 World Series titles, the last in 1983.

There are two other ball clubs in the AL East.  The Toronto Blue Jays were established in 1977, and are the sole Canadian ball club in the major leagues. [Although there was another MLB club from Canada,  the Montreal Expos,  who played in the National League from 1969 to 2004.  This ball club moved to the US capital to become the Washington Nationals in 2005].  The Blue Jays won two World Series titles, in 1992, and 1993.  The Tampa Bay Rays were established in 1998, as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays; the club dropped the Devil from their name this year…a wise decision for a ball club that sits on the edge of the Deep South’s Bible Belt.  Saturday, the Rays clinched a spot in the playoffs for the first time ever {see this, from mlb.com/Rays’ site}.

AL East Division Auxiliary Chart…Click on the image below to see the full chart.

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{Click here for ball club histories and photos, from the Sports E-Cyclopedia site.}

Thanks to the National Baseball Hall Of Fame’s “Dressed to the Nines” site, which features baseball uniforms templates drawn by Marc Okkonen {Click here}.

Thanks to Chris Creamer’s Sports Logos Page {Click here}.

Thanks to Logo Shak {Click here}.

Thanks to the Cooperstown Collection Vintage Baseball Caps by American Needle {Click here}.

Thanks to Wikipedia {Click here, for their section on Major League Baseball}.

September 8, 2008

Major League Baseball: the National League East- Map and Chart.

Filed under: Baseball: 2008 MLB div's — admin @ 5:02 pm

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Major League Baseball’s National League East Division is made up of two franchises who date back to the nineteenth century (the Atlanta Braves, originally from Boston;  and the Philadelphia Phillies);  two ball clubs which were expansion franchises from the 1960s (the New York Mets;  and the Washington Nationals, originally from Montreal, Canada);  and a club that was an expansion franchise from the 1990s (the Florida Marlins).

{Click here for ball club histories and photos (The Sports E-Cyclpedia site).}

NL East Division Auxillary Chart: Click on image below.

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Thanks to the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s “Dressed to the Nines” site, which features baseball uniforms templates drawn by Marc Okkonen {Click here}.

Thanks to Chris Creamer’s Sports Logo Page {Click here}.   Thanks to Logo Shak {Click here}.  

July 3, 2008

Major League Baseball: the American League Central- Map and Chart.

Filed under: Baseball: 2008 MLB div's — admin @ 6:02 pm

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Major League Baseball’s AL Central Division is made up of 4 charter members of the American League, three of which have remained in the same city since 1901; plus an expansion team from the late 1960′s. 

The Chicago White Stockings, the Cleveland Blues, the Detroit Tigers and the Washington Senators were all founding members of the American League.   Chicago changed their name to the White Sox in 1904;  Cleveland became the Indians in 1915.  The first Washington Senators became the Minnesota Twins, when the Senators moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1961 (although the city of Washington D.C. was concurrently granted an expansion team, the second Washington Senators, that began play also in 1961 [and later moved to Arlington, Texas, in 1972, as the Rangers].   The Kansas City Royals were an expansion team from 1969 (one of four that year;  the other three were the Seattle Pilots, the San Diego Padres, and the Montreal Expos).

{Click here, for team histories and photos (Sports E-cyclopedia site).}

AL Central Auxillary Chart, with each ball club’s uniforms evolution: Click on the image below, to see the full chart…

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 Thanks to the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s “Dressed to the Nines” site, which features uniform templates drawn by Marc Okkonen.

Thanks to http://www.sportscolours.org , which features Chris Creamer’s Logo Page.

June 22, 2008

Major League Baseball: the National League Central- Map and Chart.

Filed under: Baseball: 2008 MLB div's — admin @ 9:07 am

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The National League Central Division is made up of four long-time NL franchises (the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the St. Louis Cardinals), plus two franchises that were formed in the 1960′s (the Houston Astros, and the Milwaukee Brewers (who were originally the Seattle Pilots)).

The Chicago, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and St. Louis ball clubs all date back to the nineteenth century.  The Chicago Cubs are the only charter member of the National League (established 1876) that has remained in the same city, continuously.

**Click on the image below, for the NL Central Auxillary Chart, which shows selected uniforms and logos from each ball club’s past. Click below…

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**{For team histories, and photos, click here (Sports E-cyclopedia  site.}

Thanks to the SSUR site (http://www.sportscolours.org/).  Thanks to the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s “Dressed to the Nines” site (click here}, which features team uniform templates by Marc Okkonen.

May 18, 2008

Major League Baseball: the American League West- Map and Chart.

Filed under: Baseball: 2008 MLB div's — admin @ 7:16 am

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Major League Baseball’s American League West is the only division with just 4 teams in it (four of the other five MLB divisions have 5 teams, and the National League Central has 6 teams).

The division comprises the Los Angeles Angels {click here, for photos and club history};  the Oakland Athletics {click here, for photos and club history};  the Seattle Mariners {click here, for photos and club history};  and the Texas Rangers {click here, for photos and club history}.                                    [These links are to the Sports E-cyclopedia site.]

The Oakland A’s franchise began in 1901, as the Philadelphia Athletics, a founding member of the American League {click here, for photos and club history}.  The Athletics franchise moved to Kansas City, Missouri in 1955 {click here, for photos and club history};  and Oakland, California, in 1968.

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**Click below, for the MLB-AL West Auxiliary Chart, which shows a selection each ball club’s uniforms and logos through the years.

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Thanks to the SSUR site:  (http://www.sportscolors.org/).  Thanks to:  Chris Creamer’s Logo site;  the Logo Shak site;  the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Dressed to the Nines site.  Thanks to Mark Okkonen, for the historical baseball uniform templates (in the Dressed to the Nines uniform database).   

May 4, 2008

Major League Baseball: the National League West- Map and Chart.

Filed under: Baseball: 2008 MLB div's — admin @ 9:07 am

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This post begins a new series…Major League Baseball Divisions.   Each post will feature a map showing the ball clubs of one of 6 MLB Divisions.  Featured here is the National League West Division.   It includes the two ball clubs that moved from New York City to California, in 1957 (the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants).  The pair became the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants.  They abandoned New York City, and their fans, because California was just too lucrative to pass up.  If the two clubs had weathered a few more years of indifferent political power brokers, they would have gotten new stadiums on the tax payers dime.  But the lure of free, soon-to-be valuable land in the Golden State, was irresistible.  It tore the heart out of Brooklyn, and it took 3 decades for the Borough to recover.  I know there were over-arching socio-ecomomic conditions that made continued tenancy in Brooklyn, and northern Manhattan, a real problem,  but it just killed the fans.  There is no way you can tell me it was justified to rip two huge, successful, well-supported clubs out of the capital of Baseball, New York City.  O’Malley and Stoneham (the Dodgers and Giants owners) sold out, and turned their backs on the fans who made the clubs huge in the first place {see this, and look at the 5th paragraph}.  And the salve provided by National League, of a new team, 5 years later, in the form of the New York Mets, was hardly adequete…just go to Shea Stadium, home of the Mets, and try to relax and watch a ball game, while jet airplanes are roaring above, every 3 minutes (what a hole, Shea Stadium is).  But I digress.

Also in this division are the San Diego Padres (est. 1969);  the Colorado Rockies (est. 1993);  and the Arizona Diamondbacks (est. 1998).

In addition to a list of each ball club’s origins, and titles, I show each club’s cap logo, and the script logos on their primary home and away uniforms.  The map functions mainly as a locator. 

The main graphic display is on the Auxillary Chart (see below),  which shows each ball club’s uniforms, and logos, through the years (with choice alternate logos also shown, depending on space).  **Click on the segment below.**

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On the Auxillary Charts,  I will have mini-essays,  at points where I decided that just a description of the uniform or logo didn’t do the image, and the time period,  justice.  Basically, all the old storied franchises will get a little write-up on the Charts.  On this Chart, that means the Brooklyn Dodgers  {click her, for photos & team history}, and the New York (Baseball) Giants  (click here, for photo & team history).  [ these two links are to the sports e-cyclopedia site ].

The plan is to post one of these every two weeks.

Thanks to the SSUR site (http://www.sportscolors.org).

Thanks to Chris Creamer’s Logo Site.   Thanks to the Logo Shak site.   Thanks to the National Baseball Hall Of Fame’s “Dressed To The Nines” site.   Thanks to the Logoserver site.   Thanks to Marc Okkonen,  for his incredible book, “Baseball Uniforms of the 20th Century”, 1991, by Sterling Publishing Co, NY.

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