Phillies: The "What Is a Phillie?" Answer

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If you ever wondered about the local franchise's nickname and its origin, this article provides more than just an explanation of the moniker for the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Wild West:  

Memory can distort the reality of the past, and youthful perception can mistake partially understood success for longevity.

According to Michael Karpyn's entry in the Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia, cricket flourished here in the 1830s and Philly became its epicenter. What was their moniker? The Philadelphians. In fact, Philadelphia and New York had more than 6,000 cricket players in 1860.

According to a preview of "Baseball Team Names: A Worldwide Dictionary, 1869-2011" by Richard Worth, the first organized teams began in the 1840s, when social clubs became sports teams. But while the first Phillies in 1866 were amateurs, the first professional Phillies were in the National Association in 1873. However, many monikers existed – some for only a few weeks – because reporters, managers and fans gave nicknames to their teams. And there were three major leagues: the National, American and the Eastern Associations.

In those days, players wore knickerbockers: short pants that gathered at the knee. Yes, they were knickers but not the underwear type. And they wore long stockings up to their knees. In fact, another nickname for the Philadelphia squad was the White Stockings in 1873.

To understand baseball nicknames, you have to realize they came from many sources: geography, local animals, a skipper's name or nickname, local disasters and an Easterner's fascination with the Wild West. In other words, cowboys and Indians equated to rough, burly, rowdy men or primitive savages. In 1873, however, while other alliterated names appeared, the Phillies-style moniker used a number of letters from their city's name: Phil is in Philadelphia and Phillies.

Unfortunately, one glaring exception for a nickname was in New York City in 1884: The scribes' moniker for a working man's club in the American Association was a pejorative. What was this negative connotation? The Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers.

Was the First At-Bat of 2017 by Hernandez a Good Omen? Photo by Frank Victores – USA TODAY Sports.

For the first National League season in 1876, wealthy men invested heavily, formed eight organizations, and charged admission like others since 1862. These owners hired players, purchased equipment and uniforms, and secured ballparks. Locally, the Philadelphia franchise was the Athletics – not Connie Mack's squad – but they folded after only one summer. Therefore, when it comes to club monikers, the ones listed in franchise history were the most popular of many unofficial names. Additionally, the National League in 1882 issued a decree for every organization to have a team color because the stocking nicknames were crowd-pleasers.

In 1883, the Worcester Ruby Legs ended their three-year stint, and an eighth franchise was available. The Philadelphia National League Base Ball Club was their official name, but remember writers were using monikers long before the forming of the Senior Circuit. In fact, other leagues like the Players League (1890) and the Union Association (1884 only) were additional competitors, but the deep-pocketed NL eventually outlasted them all. And the 1880s also saw host city nicknames come into vogue.

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Thinking about the sportswriters of that era, you can imagine the alternatives in a three-way conversation regarding the Philadelphias. Basically, the pluralized version of the host city was the starting point: the Pittsburghs, the Bostons, the Detroits, etc. But one creative reporter opted for spicier nomenclature and insisted on the Quakers for the locals, while the other two liked the Phillies. And even though both appeared in the newspaper, Phillies was the preferred moniker when most scribes penned their reviews.

In 1890, writers who called them the Quakers had another Philadelphia club in the newly minted Players League. Of course, the first scribe – who named them the Quakers – decided to go by the stocking color and called the PL club the Blue Quakers and the NL organization the Red Quakers. But Phillie wasn't just a shortened name they published, a Phillie was a resident of Philly. And reporters also abbreviated the out-of-town clubs from stockings to legs, blues or sox to spice up their copy: descriptions, references and game reports.

Even though the Phillies' uniform only had the P for Philadelphia until 1933, two things happened before the 1905 campaign. A new owner held a contest to rename the Washington Senators for a fresh start due to a losing reputation. And the fans voted for the Nationals, which was an earlier moniker, and that first nickname on a uniform jersey was on theirs for five years. That stated, the scribes continued calling them the Senators because writers also used Nationals and Americans as monikers for other teams. Ergo, confusing.

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During the 1930s, organizations made their nicknames official, which for the Phils was 1933 with the moniker appearing for the first time across their uniform. In other words, this was the beginning of marketing merchandise.

In the late fall of 1943, Robert Carpenter became the new proprietor of the Philadelphia Phillies, which had a losing history and a gambling scandal by the ousted previous owner. Therefore, Carpenter held a renaming contest and the fans selected the Blue Jays, but management only added a patch of a blue jay to the left shoulder on the uniform. And the reason for a name change was the same as the Senators' idea, which was to establish a fresh start, but it never caught on.

One big difference was the Phillies nickname remained on the jersey perhaps because of the 1905 effort in Washington. And whether the 1944 team lost 92 games, finished last, and suffered their 12th consecutive losing season, what were they to their fans? My Phillies!

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