HGRA Team Names
Major League Baseball’s licensing rules prevent us from using Major League team names. Fine, who needs them?!?! Here is the rich and varied history of HGRA’s team names:
- Buckeyes: Cleveland Buckeyes, 1945 Negro League champs.
- Seals: San Francisco Seals, 1903 - 1957 of the Pacific Coast League. The DiMaggio brothers all played there.
- Bees: Burlington Bees, affiliate of the KC Royals. Paul Molitor and Hall of Famer Billy Williams (Chicago Cubs) played for them.
- Greys: Homestead Greys, Negro League Champs from the Pittsburgh area.
- Bandits: Quad City Bandits, Midwest League, Davenport Iowa. Twins Class A team.
- Redhawks: Oklahoma Redhawks, AAA for Texas in the Pacific Coast League.
- Mustangs: Billings (MO) Mustangs of the Independent Pioneer League.
- Spiders: Cleveland Spiders - National League Franchise until 1899, when the owners purchased the St. Louis team and transferred most assets to it.
- Muskies: Madison Muskies of the Midwest League.
- Diamonds: A gentler version of the Albany-Colonie Diamond Dogs of the Northern League.
- Knights: Roy Hobbs’ team from “The Natural.”
- Swatters: Sweetwater Swatters, a 1920’s West Texas League team.
- Jammers: Jamestown (NY) Jammers, of the New York-Penn League (Atlanta Class A).
- Comets: Kenosha Comets of the 1940’s “All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.”
- Beavers: Portland Beavers of the Pacific Coast League.
- Wings: Rochester (NY) Red Wings of the International League, an Oriole affiliate.
- Monarchs: Kansas City Monarchs, the most dominant team in the Negro Leagues.
- Kings: Kalamazoo Kings of the Frontier League.
- Mudcats: Carolina Mudcats, the Southern League AA affiliate of the Colorado Rockies.
- Dragons: Chunichi Dragons of the Japanese Central League.
