The Minor League Teams That Became Majors

When MLB got started, over a 120 years ago, there were only 16 teams, 8 per league. New ones were of course added, bringing the total to 30 today. Some of those clubs – both old and new – also moved operations to new cities.

None of this, though, happened in a vacuum. Each new major league team – whether brand new or  displaced  – came to a city with an existing baseball history.

Here are the minor league teams that those MLB teams replaced. I’m ranking them in order of increasing longevity.

Phoenix Firebirds (11 years)

Phoenix has fielded a baseball team for 131 years. Today, that includes the Arizona Diamondbacks, as well as a number of Arizona Fall League teams.

Before all that, though, there were several teams that called Phoenix home. The longest-lived was the Senators, who played very on and off from 1915 to 1953.

The most consistent team, though, were the Firebirds. They were part of the AAA Pacific Coast League from 1986 to 1996.

It’s a great name, as a phoenix is, quite literally, a fire bird, a mythological creature that arises from the ashes. And if you’re wondering what all that has to do with the city itself, the original settler suggested it based on the future city’s site on the ruins of a Native American settlement.

The team won 2 PCL titles, and featured such stars as Willie McCovey, Barry Bonds & Matt Williams. They played at Scottsdale Stadium, which now hosts the San Francisco Giants for spring training.

When the D-Backs came to town, the Firebirds moved to nearby Tucson, becoming the Sidewinders. The team they displaced, the Toros, moved to Fresno, becoming the Grizzlies.

The original name has been reused for local rugby, hockey & basketball teams.

Miami Marlins (20 years)

Here’s our first team that simply adopted the name of the local minor-league team. Hats off to them for that.

Of course, the major-league team originally claimed the whole state of Florida, as the Florida Marlins. They reverted, though, to the Miami Marlins in 2012.

The minor-league Miami Marlins were active, on and off, from 1956 through 1988. They played at both  the A and AAA levels.

The latter is the older team, active from 1956 to 1960. Alumni include Satchel Paige and Whitey Herzog. The former were active from ‘82 through ’88 and ’62 to ‘70. They were also the Miami Miracle for 3 years (and owned partly by Jimmy Buffet and Bill Murray).

Miami has also fielded teams called the Sun Sox (7 years) Wahoos (2) & Tourists (2).

Tampa Tarpons (28 years)

Yes, I know the Trop is in St. Pete. The MLB team, though, is called the Tampa Bay Rays, so I figure either city is game.

Both cities have some definite minor league history. On the west side of the bay, the Saints called St Pete home for 26 years. On the other side, the Tarpons notched 28 years in Tampa.

During those years, from 1957 through 1987, the Tarpons represented both class D and A. In class D, they won championships 3 times.

The Tarpons were a Cincinnati team, being active when a number of members of the Big Red Machine were just coming up. So, alumni include such big names as Pete Rose, Johnny Bench, Dave Concepcion, Lee May & Ken Griffey Sr.

Another famous alum is Randy Poffo. Never heard of him? Well, he did make a much bigger name for himself in another sport – as wrestler Randy “Macho Man” Savage.

The Rays have done a good job honoring the old Tarpons, wearing their uniforms in a couple of games. (They did the same for the Saints on at least one occasion as well.) The Tampa Tarpons name was also resurrected, by the Yankees, for their Single A team, in 2018.

Interestingly, the Tarpons were known as the Smokers for 20 years, reflecting the area’s long history of cigar making. Probably not a name that would go over very well today.

I think I might know this guy

Seattle Rainiers (29 years)

It’s a somewhat odd name. Yes, I know Mt Rainier’s nearby. But still …

They were originally called the Indians, an apt but rather boring choice. The name change came in 1938, when they were purchased by the owner of the Rainier Brewing Company. Ah, that explains it.

The team disappeared in 1968, when the city got an MLB franchise (remember the woeful Pilots?). A class A team of the same name filled in the gap between 1972 and 1976, when the Mariners returned Seattle to the bigs.

Famous Rainier alumni include Jim Bouton, Lew Burdette, Jim Longborg, Maury Wills & Andy Messersmith, all when the team were at the AAA level. Throughout the years, Seattle also fielded teams at AA, A, B, C, D & F.

The Marlins have honored the Rainiers’ legacy by wearing Rainier throwback unis and by renaming their AAA affiliate from the Tacoma Tigers to the Tacoma Rainiers.

San Diego Padres (32 years)

Here’s another team that kept their name when they moved up to the bigs. From 1936 to 1968, the Padres appeared in the Pacific Coast League, at both the AA and AAA levels.

Alumni include hometown hero Ted Williams, Lee May, and Hall of Famers Bobby Doerr and Minnie Minoso. The team was associated with a number of different major league franchises.

The team played one year in Jack Murphy Stadium, where the major-league Padres would play for many. The major league team has worn the PCL unis on a couple of occasions.

Local star Johnny Ritchey was famous for breaking the color line in the PCL

Ft Worth Panthers (42 years)

The Rangers play in Arlington, about halfway between Dallas and Ft Worth. Arlington has no real baseball history before the Rangers, but Ft Worth and Dallas definitely do.

Interestingly, though there’s been minor-league baseball in Ft Worth for 78 years, the local team has only had two names that whole time. The Panthers played from 1888 to 1931, with the Cats (really just a nickname for Panthers) taking over from 1932 to 1959.

Dallas has a much more varied history, with the local team being the Steers for 18 years, the Eagles for 10, the Spurs for 7, the Rebels for 6 & the Rangers for 5. Those last two actually had Dallas-Ft Worth in their name, though the stadium was still in Dallas.

Back to the Panthers … I’ll bet you didn’t know that Ft Worth is known as the Panther City. The story is rather interesting.

In the 1870s, when there was considerable rivalry between the two cities, a Dallas paper ran an article about a panther sited sleeping in downtown Ft Worth. There was also a dig about how sleepy the burg must be to have that happen.

The citizens of Ft Worth, though, ran with it. First, the local newspaper publisher bought two panther cubs as mascots. Since then, the cat was added to municipal livery, commercial establishments were named after it, statues of panthers have appeared downtown, and other sports teams have adopted the name as well.

The team was particularly successful in the early 1920s, and is often cited as one of the best minor-league teams in history. They won league championships every year from 1920 to 1926, failing to win 100 games in only one of those years. They also drew 140,000 to 160,000 every year – pretty impressive for a city of 100,000 people.

The team also had a long history of playing major-league teams on their way from spring training to their MLB homes. So, local fans got to see stars such as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Rogers Hornsby & Lou Gehrig.

San Francisco Seals (54 years)

Before the New York Giants came to town in 1958, the San Francisco Seals ruled the roost, for more than half a century.

Because, however, minor-league ball in SF goes all the way back to 1878, there are a bunch of other names as well. None of them had any staying power, though, and include such oddballs as the Knickerbockers, Metropolitans, Haverleys & Oriental.

The Seals were one of the initial members of the Pacific Coast League, primarily an AA franchise, and mostly associated with NY teams. Because the weather was so nice in the PCL (and because they were so cut off the from the rest of the country, at least in the early days), they played year round. As a result, the Seals set a record for most games in a season, with a whopping 230!

Local boy Joe DiMaggio is probably the Seals’ most famous alum. Others include the other two DiMaggio brothers, Dom and Vince; Hall of Famers Earl Averill, Lefty Gomez & Paul Waner; and many others.

The Seals live on in the Giants’ current mascot, Lou Seal, as well as a statue outside their current park, and in the name of a collegiate wood bat league team.

Fan fave Lefty O’Doul

Oakland Oaks (56 years)

The Oaks were another original member of the PCL. They were in business from 1903 to 1955.

After they moved to Vancouver in ‘55, Oakland was without a baseball team until 1968, when the A’s came to town. Sounds like they’re going to be in that same situation again pretty soon.

The Oaks, who were an independent team, have a number of distinguished alumni – Hall of Famers Ernie Lombardi, Billy Herman & Joe Gordon; Cookie Lavagetto; Billy Martin … They also had a number of well-known managers – Casey Stengel, Chuck Dressen, Mel Ott, Augie Galan …

Interestingly, it was the Oaks who broke baseball’s color line, way back in 1916, with a pitcher named Jimmy Claxton. I’m not sure we should really give them credit though. One, they thought Claxton was Native American. Two, they booted him from the team when they discovered he was half Black.

The name has been resurrected by hockey and basketball teams, and the A’s resurrected the unis a couple of times. The latter’s probably not something that’s going to be repeated that now that the A’s are moving to Las Vegas.

They were also known familiarly as the Acorns

Los Angeles Angels (56 years)

This is where it gets confusing ...

Now, the original minor-league team in LA was the Los Angeles Angels. Another inaugural member of the PCL, they were around from 1901 to 1957. They were displaced, however, when the Brooklyn Dodgers went west in 1958, with the then Angels heading north to become the Spokane Indians. 

Just a few years later (in 1961), the original name was resurrected as the AL expansion Los Angeles Angels took the field. That, too, only lasted a few years, however, with a name change to the California Angels in 1965.

From 2008 to 2015, the team reverted to the Los Angeles Angels, but threw the weird “of Anaheim” on the end of it. Finally, in 2016, the team settled again on plain ol’ Los Angeles Angels.

Got it? There will be a test at the end.

The minor league Angels were the arguably the best team in the PCL, notching no less than 14 championships. Famous alumni include Tommy LaSorda, Sam Crawford, Gene Mauch, and Bobo Newsom.

They definitely had some weird uniforms over the years

Milwaukee Brewers (62 years)

The major-league Milwaukee Brewers started in 1970, when the woeful Seattle Pilots gave it up after a year and moved east. Previously, the city had hosted the major-league Milwaukee Braves, from 1953 to 1965.

Prior to all that, though, the minor-league Brewers were pretty much the only show in town, dating all the way back to 1884. Famous alum include managers Casey Stengel & Connie Mack; players Rube Waddell, Rudy York & Hugh Duffy; and owner Bill Veeck.

Houston Buffaloes (65 years)

Houston fielded a minor-league team from 1888 to 1961. For all but a handful of years, that team was called the Buffaloes (or Buffalos, or Buffs).

The interwebs are telling me that the name came from Buffalo Bayou, Houston’s equivalent of a river. It does play an important part in the history of the city, and is basically the Houston end of the Houston Shipping Channel (which turned Houston into a real port).

Interestingly, the Buffaloes were the first minor-league team to become associated with a major-league one, in 1921. That relationship, with the St Louis Cardinals, would last until 1959. Card greats like Dizzy & Paul Dean and Joe Medwick would all pass through on their way to the bigs. Stars who were in Houston before then include Hall of Famers Chick Hafey, Jim Bottomley & Tris Speaker.

When Houston became major league in 1962, the Buffaloes moved to Oklahoma City (becoming the 89ers). The new MLB team (originally called the Colt 45s) did hire some of the old Buffs, including GM, manager, announcers & a handful of players.

A fan models a hat from the 50s & a jersey from the 30s

Toronto Maple Leafs (66 years)

Having the same name for multiple sports used to be a real thing. Typically, it was baseball and football – i.e., the New York Giants & St Louis Cardinals (but also the Detroit Tigers, Boston Braves, Cleveland Indians & New York Yankees).

Seeing as this is Canada, though, it makes a ton of sense to go with baseball and hockey. Surprisingly, though, it was the baseball team that came first.

The baseball Leafs were in place from 1902 to 1967. The hockey Leafs, on the other hand, only got started in 1917. Interestingly, the baseball team also previously sported the name of another hockey team, the Canucks, for 9 years.

Did you follow all that? It will be on the final exam.

There’s quite a list of Hall of Famers who played for the Leafs:

• Sparky Anderson
• Ed Barrow
• Dan Brouthers
• Leon Day
• Hugh Duffy
• Charlie Gehringer
• Burleigh Grimes
• Carl Hubbell
• Willie Keeler
• Joe Kelley
• Ralph Kiner
• Nap Lajoie
• Tony Lazzeri
• Heinie Manush
• Dick Williams

Another fan model

Atlanta Crackers (65 years)

Here’s a name that might not go over so well today. A cracker is basically a poor White Southerner. Synonyms include terms like “white trash,” “redneck” & “peckerwood.”

Interestingly, Atlanta’s Negro League club was called the “Black Crackers.” Today, the Cracker name has been resurrected as a collegiate league team.

As for the original minor-league team, with the exception of a few years here and there, the team name was intact from 1895 to 1965. As an AA team, they were known as the “Yankees of the minors,” winning 17 championships in the competitive Southern Association.

They actually only spent a handful of years at AAA, moving to Richmond when the Braves came to town. The Crackers played their last season in what would become the major-league Fulton County Stadium.

Over the years, the Crackers introduced two novel concepts to baseball – the rain check and ladies’ day.

Famous alums include Billy Goodman, Chuck Tanner, Luke Appling, Eddie Matthew, Tim McCarver and announcers Skip Carey & Ernie Harwell.

Kansas City Blues (66 years)

Except for 1968, Kansas City has had a major league team since 1955. And that was the A’s from 1955 to 1967, and the Royals from 1969 on.

Before that, though, the Blues called KC home, from 1888 to 1954. They were a founding member of the American Association in 1902. In fact, the 1900 team moved to Washington, DC, becoming the major-league Nationals. A brand-new Blues club took their place.

The team was particularly good in the 30s and 40s, winning 5 championships. When the A’s came to town in 1955, the Blues became the Bears (and moved to Denver).

Hall of Fame alumni include:

• Jake Beckley
• Phil Rizzuto
• Burleigh Grimes
• Tris Speaker
• Casey Stengel
• Mickey Mantle

Denver Bears (70 years)

Speaking of Bears … These guys were the toast of the town for 70 years, from 1913 to 1983. To continue that ursine theme, they were the Grizzlies for another 16 before that.

Starting at A level, the Bears eventually went to AAA in the American Association. At that level, they played some of their games in Mile High Stadium, home of the Broncos. H of F members include Joe Tinker, Bobby Richardson, Whitey Herzog & Tim Raines.

By the way, the nickname came, not from the grizzlies in the nearby Rocky Mountains, but from Teddy Roosevelt’s saving the life of a bear cub while hunting (it’s also what gave rise to the popularity of the teddy bear toy).

Pretty unique look

Baltimore Oriole (72 years)

There’s only been one name associated with baseball in Baltimore, and that’s the Orioles. Whether minors (1882-1953) or majors (1954 to date, but also 1901 & 1902), everything comes up Birds.

During the 1920s, the O’s were something of an almost-major-league team. They won seven straight International League championships and also once won 27 straight regular-season games.

They also regularly sold players to the bigs. Alumni include Hall of Famers Chief Bender, Hughie Jennings, Home Run Baker, Lefty Grove and hometown hero Babe Ruth. Fittingly, they would spend their last 4 years in what would become the major-league-level Memorial Stadium.

Rogers Hornsby in a very St Louis Cardinals looking jersey

Minneapolis Millers (74 years)

Here’s another city that’s really never had another nickname. The Millers were the only game in town from 1884 until 1960 (when the Washington Senators moved west.)

It is, though, something of an unusual name. But when you realize that Minneapolis is the home of Pillsbury and General Mills, and was once known as Mill City, it make total sense.

The team was particularly known for individual accomplishments, including 7 no hitters and 21 home-run kings. Their list of Hall of Fame alum is probably the longest one out there:

• Roger Bresnahan
• Orlando Cepeda
• Jimmy Collins
• Ray Dandridge
• Red Faber
• George Kelly
• Billy Herman
• Monte Irvin
• Willie Mays
• Bill McKechnie
• Rube Waddell
• Zack Wheat
• Hoyt Wilhelm
• Ted Williams
• Carl Yastrzemski

Twins’ turn-back-the-clock unis