Why is a Baseball
team named after a color?
Growing up
in Cincinnati I have always been a Reds fan. I have been to too many games to
count. I have owned at least three Reds shirts at any point in time in my life.
And I have asked, “Why is our Baseball team named after a color”? I was always
told that it was shortened name from the Redlegs and that named had come after
the Red Stockings. But why is there a baseball team named after socks? What is
so scary about a sock? I know there are teams that are currently named after
socks and I also know that the teams’ spell socks wrong, which really bothers
me and I always want that team to lose out of spite. So is there a true reason
as to why the Cincinnati Reds is the Reds?
Let us
start from the beginning. Cincinnati is known for having the first professional
baseball team named the Cincinnati Red Stockings. The only reason the team was
called the Red Stockings is because they wore red stockings. During that time period
every team they played was named after the color of their stockings. No originality or
thought really went into the names of baseball teams. It was all very factual.
That team wears blue stockings so they shall be the blue stockings. No one has to really
think much about it. It is what it is. The Red Stockings were very successful
in their years together. But they lost one game and no one wanted to go watch
them anymore. The team disbanded after that season even though that had only
lost six games. When professional baseball became more popular Cincinnati
wanted to have a team again. When they made their new team they were also
called the Red Stockings as a tribute to the first baseball team. When the
Cincinnati Red Stockings became more popular their name was shortened to the
Reds.
Until to
scare of communism came. The whole duration of the fear of communism was called
the red scare. To avoid being associated with the spread of communism the named
was changed to the Redlegs. But this name was no better. Instead of being
involved in communism now they were involved with slavery. A Redleg is a term
to describe people who had been taken against their will to one of the
Caribbean islands to be sold as slaves to other countries. This name is no
better and I would say worse than being compared to communism. There are many
different theories as to what the term Redlegs truly meant but this is the
background that is the most proved. And I could also presume that the people
who argue that the Redlegs does not refer to slavery are the die-hard fans who
were around when the Reds were called the Redlegs. Thankfully it only stuck for
four years then they went back to be the Reds.
Maybe this
is me being unsatisfied with the creativity that went into the naming of our
baseball team, but why couldn’t we have been something else when the baseball
team came back? After the first Red Stockings disbanded we totally had the
chance to change things. But we didn’t because creativity was not a strong
point in Cincinnati back in the day. Just think about the buildings downtown.
For example the P&G “twin towers” downtown seem a lot like the twin towers
that used to stand in New York City. Or the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge
connecting Ohio to Kentucky looks a lot like the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC as well.
Could be a coincidence but thinking back on Cincinnati’s history we weren’t the
most creative people there ever were. But don’t worry; we have definitely
flourished in our creativity in the last few years. Just look at DAAP, the
Contemporary Arts Center, Union Terminal, the Cincinnati Arts Center, the 21c,
Sculpture park, just to name a few. No matter the history of Cincinnati I will always be happy to call it my home.
Works Cited
Hiskey, Daven.
The Cincinnati Reds were once renamed the "Redlegs" due to the
red scare. 6 2 2012. 27 10 2015 <todayifoundout.com>.
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