Cubs: Team names before they were called the “Cubs”

Chicago Cubs: It took until the early 1900s for the team to start being called the Cubs. Before that, the franchise had several nicknames.

The history of the Chicago Cubs franchise goes back even before the National League was formed in 1876. In 1871 the team became part of the old National Association of Professional Baseball, which lasted until 1875. Back then, the team was known by a different name, the White Stockings. No, we are not talking about today’s American League Chicago White Sox.

While they were publicly known and advertised as the White Stockings because of the uniforms they wore, the real “official” name for the franchise was Chicago National League Ballclub. In the first season of National League play in 1876, the Chicago White Stockings under Hall of Famer Al Spalding finished in first place with a 52-14 record. Over the next decade, the team would tie the 1885 World Series and lose it in six the following year, both against the St Louis Browns (known as the Cardinals today).

The name would stick until the late 1880s/1890s. Would they then change to the Cubs? Nope. Chicago’s National League Club would take on several other nicknames before being known as the Cubs. Here is a look at those other names.

Chicago Cubs: A younger roster got a new nickname in 1890

The team was going through what some could call an old fashion “rebuild” in the late 1880s when older players left and young ones came in. Cap Anson was still around, becoming player/manager of the squad and a stockholder of the team. As a veteran player and manager with a bunch of young players, the team became known as “Anson’s Colts” or Chicago Colts.

The Chicago Colts in 1890 were still playing home games at the first West Side Park, which was located on W. Congress and S. Loomis Street. In 1892 they were playing games at South Side Park before moving to the West Side Grounds on Lincoln and Polk Street in 1893. The Colts wore laced up collard shirts with the name “Chicago” over the breast area with high socks and dark shoes.

Over 1890-1897 the Colts did not see much success, only finishing as high as second place twice and middle of the pack or towards the bottom through most of that span. Other notable names on the team during this era included future Hall of Famer Clark Griffith, who would win the ERA title in 1898.

Chicago Cubs: From 1898-1903 the team had a ton of different nicknames

Of all the different names people had for Chicago’s National League Ballclub in the late 1890s-early 1900s, the one which was most recognized as the “Orphans.” This name was given to them after the team let go of Cap Anson in 1898s. In their first year as the Orphans, the team finished in fourth place while seeing young 21-year old rookie Frank Chance make his MLB debut.

While Orphans was their most popular nickname after Anson left, there were other names given by the press and fans for the team. Some called the team the “Rainmakers” due to them going through a stretch of games that were constantly being rained out. Ironic since rain would play a significant role for them 118-some years later.

According to Steve Johnson’s book, Chicago Cubs Yesterday & Today, the team held their 1899 spring training at a New Mexico ranch, which resulted in them getting calling them the “Rough Riders” or “Cowboys.” In 1900-1903 the press wanted to call them other names. Some tried calling them the “Zephyrs” because of their speed; others called them the “Trojans” to pay homage to Johnny Evers‘ place of origin, and some called them the “Panamas” in because the players wore Panama hats during the 1903 preseason. (Johnson, S. (2008). Chicago Cubs yesterday & today. Minneapolis, MN: Voyageur Press.)

That is a lot of nicknames for just a short period. While they had all these nicknames, they were still widely recognized as the Orphans going into the 1900s. The primary name on baseball-reference for the team is Orphans from 1898-1902.