How Every MLB Team Got Its Name: The Origin Story Behind All 30

Baseball names are older and stranger than the other leagues'. Some of them were never picked at all. Newspaper writers named the Yankees, the Cubs, the Giants, the Tigers and the Dodgers, and the clubs just went along with it. The Pirates kept an insult. The Red Sox and White Sox took names their crosstown rivals had thrown away. And the Cardinals, Reds, Red Sox and White Sox are all named after the color of their socks or their trim, which makes baseball the one league where the uniform came first and the name came second.

So we went back to the start for all 30 MLB teams, using each club's own history, the Society for American Baseball Research's newspaper research and the Hall of Fame. Where the famous story and the record disagree, we say so.

This is part two of our team-name history series, after How Every NFL Team Got Its Name. The NBA and NHL are next.

Quick Facts: MLB Team Names

• Oldest continuous nickname: the Giants, since 1885. The Phillies are the oldest one-name, one-city franchise, since 1883.
• Newest name: the Guardians, official in late 2021 and first worn in 2022.
• Named by newspaper writers: Yankees, Cubs, Giants, Tigers, Dodgers, Pirates and Cardinals. Headline writers also shortened the White Sox.
• Named in a fan contest: Blue Jays, Mariners and Royals. The Marlins, Diamondbacks and Mets took fan suggestions, then the owner picked.
• Named after a color or socks: Reds, Red Sox, White Sox and Cardinals.
• Moved cities and kept the name: Dodgers, Giants, Braves and Athletics.
• Moved and took a new name: Orioles (once the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Browns), Twins and Rangers (both once the Senators), Brewers (Seattle Pilots) and Nationals (Montreal Expos).
• Named after an insult: the Pirates. The Athletics' elephant came from one too.
• Tried to change and gave up: the Phillies, who pushed "Blue Jays" from 1944 to 1949, and the Reds, who were the "Redlegs" from 1953 to 1958.

AL East

Baltimore Orioles

The Orioles used to be the Milwaukee Brewers. The franchise started as the 1901 Milwaukee Brewers, moved to St. Louis in 1902 and played 52 seasons as the Browns, then moved to Baltimore in 1954 and took the city's favorite baseball name. Baltimore had already had Orioles clubs in the 1880s and 1890s. The bird's name is about color, not geography: early naturalist Mark Catesby recorded Marylanders calling it "the Baltimore-Bird" because the male's orange and black matched the colors of Lord Baltimore's coat of arms. That is why the Orioles wear orange and black. It has been Maryland's state bird since 1947. Baltimore Orioles uniform schedule 2026

Orioles marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

The Baltimore oriole, from John James Audubon's Birds of America, 1827. National Gallery of Art. Public domain.

Photo: Chris Waugaman / CC BY-SA 4.0

The Red Sox are named after socks another team threw away. For their first seven seasons Boston's American League club had no official nickname, and most people called them the Americans. In 1907 Boston's National League club, the team that became today's Braves, dropped its traditional red stockings. That December, owner John I. Taylor ordered new uniforms with bright red stockings and named his team the Red Sox. The name took hold in 1908. Red stockings were a Boston baseball tradition going back to the 1871 Boston Red Stockings, who are also the ancestors of today's Braves. Boston Red Sox uniform schedule 2026

Red Sox marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

The 1912 Boston Red Sox. Bain News Service, Library of Congress. Public domain.

Photo: D. Benjamin Miller / CC0

Newspaper headline writers named the Yankees. The team started in 1903 as the Highlanders, because it played at Hilltop Park, one of the highest points in Manhattan, and club president Joseph Gordon shared a name with Gordon's Highlanders, a famous British regiment. "Highlanders" was too long to fit in a headline. The first known "Yankees" in print was an April 7, 1904 headline in the New York Evening Journal. Both names ran side by side for years until 1913, when the club moved to the Polo Grounds and "Yankees" won out. No one ever formally announced it. New York Yankees uniform schedule 2026

Yankees marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

Hilltop Park, home of the Highlanders, about 1912. Bain News Service, Library of Congress. Public domain.

Photo: All-Pro Reels / CC BY-SA 2.0

The first choice was the "Sting Rays," but a winter-league team in Hawaii already owned that name. Owner Vince Naimoli's group went with the Devil Rays when the franchise was awarded in March 1995. The name drew complaints right away, and the club held a call-in vote that month between "Devil Rays" and "Manta Rays." Devil Rays stayed. After the 2007 season, new owner Stuart Sternberg dropped the "Devil," and "Rays" now means a burst of Florida sunshine as well as the fish. The 2008 Rays went from last place to the American League pennant. They still wear the old Devil Rays look as a throwback, including in this year's ALCS. Tampa Bay Rays uniform schedule 2026

Rays marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo: Bryan Green / CC BY-SA 2.0

The Blue Jays were named in a fan contest, and 154 people picked the winning name. Toronto's 1976 expansion club drew more than 30,000 entries with over 4,000 different names. A panel of 14 judges sent 10 finalists to the board, which chose "Blue Jays" in August 1976. "Toronto Blues" was a popular entry, but the University of Toronto already used it. Because the winning name came from 154 different fans, the club held a draw, and Etobicoke periodontist Dr. William Mills won season tickets and a week at spring training. Mills said brewery owner Labatt's involvement made blue the obvious color. Toronto Blue Jays uniform schedule 2026

Blue Jays marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo: Erik Drost / CC BY 2.0

Chicago White Sox

The White Sox took their name from the Cubs. "White Stockings" was the old name of Chicago's National League club. In 1900 Charles Comiskey moved his St. Paul Saints to Chicago's South Side and helped himself to it. His team was not allowed to put "Chicago" on its jerseys, but nothing said it could not borrow a nickname. White Sox historian Richard Lindberg called it "an ingenious marketing ploy." Newspaper editors shortened it to "White Sox" to fit headlines, and by 1903 that was the only version in use. Chicago White Sox uniform schedule 2026

White Sox marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo: D. Benjamin Miller / CC0

The Guardians are named after eight stone statues on a bridge. The Guardians of Traffic are 43-foot Art Deco figures on the pylons of Cleveland's Hope Memorial Bridge, which opened in 1932 as the Lorain-Carnegie Bridge, within sight of the ballpark. Its later name honors the family of Bob Hope, whose father was one of the stonemasons on the job. The team announced the change on July 23, 2021, after narrowing a list of nearly 1,200 names, surveying 40,000 fans and doing 140 hours of interviews. It became official that November, ending the name the team had used since 1915. Before that, Cleveland's American League clubs were the Bronchos and the Naps. Cleveland Guardians uniform schedule 2026

Guardians marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo: Erik Drost / CC BY 2.0

Photo: Erik Drost / CC BY 4.0

The first known "Tigers" in print was the Detroit Free Press of April 16, 1895, which called the minor-league club "Capt. Strouthers' Tigers" after its 23-year-old manager, Con Strouthers. The leading theory connects the name to the Detroit Light Guard, a local military unit known as the "Tigers" since the Civil War. George Stallings, who managed the team in 1896, later claimed the name came from the team's striped socks, but the Free Press headline came a year before he arrived. The name became official when Detroit joined the new American League in 1901. Detroit Tigers uniform schedule 2026

Tigers marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

The 1907 American League champion Tigers. Heimer, Boston Public Library. Public domain.

Photo: D. Benjamin Miller / CC0

The Royals were never named after kings. They are named after a livestock show. In 1968 the expansion club held a fan contest, and the winning entry, from Sanford Porte of Overland Park, Kansas, pointed to Missouri's livestock industry, Kansas City's huge cattle market and "the nationally known American Royal parade and pageant." The American Royal began in 1899 as a livestock show in Kansas City's stockyards and still runs today. Rejected entries included "Cowpokes" and "Mules." The name is often tied to the Negro Leagues' Kansas City Monarchs, but MLB.com calls that a misconception. Kansas City Royals uniform schedule 2026

Royals marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo: Johnmaxmena2 / CC BY 4.0

The Twins are the original Washington Senators. When owner Calvin Griffith moved the club in 1960, he wanted to call it the "Twin Cities Twins" so he would not have to pick between rivals Minneapolis and St. Paul. He even stepped off the plane in a "TC" cap. The American League wanted a bigger place name, so Griffith settled on "Minnesota," which made the Twins the first MLB team named after a whole state instead of a city. The name was announced on November 26, 1960. The "TC" never left the cap. Minnesota Twins uniform schedule 2026

Twins marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo: Chris Waugaman / CC BY-SA 4.0

Houston Astros

Houston joined the National League in 1962 as the Colt .45s. The Colt firearms company wanted a share of the team's revenue, so owner Judge Roy Hofheinz went looking for a new name to go with his new stadium, the Astrodome, the world's first domed ballpark. He narrowed it to "Astros" or "Stars" and asked his friend, astronaut Alan Shepard, who picked Astros. Hofheinz announced it on December 1, 1964. Houston was already home to NASA's Manned Spacecraft Center, where Mission Control ran the Gemini flights, so the city was "Space City" before the team ever took the field. Houston Astros uniform schedule 2026

Astros marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

Mission Control in Houston, December 1965, a year after the Astros got their name. NASA. Public domain.

Photo: Jeffrey Hayes / CC BY 2.0

"Los Angeles" is Spanish for "the angels," so the team name is the city's name in English. The MLB club took it from the Pacific Coast League's Los Angeles Angels, who played from 1903 to 1957. Cowboy singer Gene Autry went to baseball's 1960 Winter Meetings to bid on the new team's radio rights and came home owning the team. MLB.com reports he paid Walter O'Malley, who owned the old minor-league name, $350,000 for it. The Angels have kept the nickname through four place names: Los Angeles, California, Anaheim and Los Angeles of Anaheim, before going back to plain Los Angeles in 2016. Los Angeles Angels uniform schedule 2026

Angels marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo: Mogami Kariya / CC BY-SA 2.0

The A's turned an insult into a logo. The name goes back to the Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia in the 1860s, and Connie Mack's American League club took it in 1901. The next year, Giants manager John McGraw mocked the team as a "white elephant," and Mack adopted the elephant as its symbol. It is still on the sleeve today. The name has survived every move: Kansas City in 1955, Oakland in 1968 and West Sacramento in 2025. In late 2024 the club dropped "Oakland" and became simply the Athletics while it plays at Sutter Health Park ahead of a planned move to Las Vegas. Athletics uniform schedule 2026

Athletics marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

The white elephant in a 1911 Philadelphia Inquirer cartoon by Charles Bell. Public domain.

Photo: Keith Allison / CC BY-SA 2.0

The man who named the Mariners never claimed his prize. Seattle's owners, a group that included actor Danny Kaye, held a name-the-team contest in 1976 that drew about 15,000 entries and more than 600 different names. Plenty of people suggested "Mariners." The club picked Roger Szmodis of Bellevue, Washington, because it liked his explanation best: "the natural association between the sea and Seattle and her people." His prize was a pair of 1977 season tickets and a road trip. He never claimed them, and according to the club's own history, it never found him. Seattle Mariners uniform schedule 2026

Mariners marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo: Udeezy / CC BY-SA 4.0

The Rangers began as the second Washington Senators, a 1961 expansion team created after the first Senators left to become the Twins. Owner Bob Short could not make it work in Washington, and on September 20, 1971, American League owners approved his move to Arlington, between Dallas and Fort Worth. Short called the team "Texas" so he would not pick one city over the other, and took the nickname from the Texas Rangers, the state's legendary lawmen, whose history goes back to the 1820s. The team first played as the Rangers in 1972. Texas Rangers uniform schedule 2026

Rangers marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

Texas Ranger Captain Bill McDonald, from a 1909 book. Internet Archive Book Images. Public domain.

Photo: Ian D'Andrea / CC BY-SA 2.0

Atlanta Braves

The Braves are named after a New York political machine. In December 1911 the Boston club was bought by James Gaffney, a figure in Tammany Hall, the Democratic organization that ran New York politics. Tammany members were known as "braves," and SABR's research credits Gaffney's partner, John Montgomery Ward, with suggesting the name. Before that the club had been the Red Stockings, the Doves (after owners John and George Dovey) and, for one season, the Rustlers (after owner William Russell). Fans voted to rename them the Bees in 1936, and Braves came back in 1941. The team moved to Milwaukee in 1953 and Atlanta in 1966. Atlanta Braves uniform schedule 2026

Braves marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

The 1914 Boston Braves, two years after the name. W. W. Somers. Public domain.

Photo: D. Benjamin Miller / CC0

Fans voted for the Manatees. In the expansion team's name contest, "Miami Manatees" won with almost 17,500 votes. Owner Wayne Huizenga ignored it. He wanted the "Florida Flamingos" until a designer from Major League Baseball's licensing arm talked him out of it. Huizenga had caught dozens of marlin, and his son said that is why he picked the "strong fish." The name also revived a minor-league club that played in Miami in the 1950s. The team was the Florida Marlins from 1993 to 2011 and became the Miami Marlins in 2012 with its new ballpark. Miami Marlins uniform schedule 2026

Photo: D. Benjamin Miller / CC0

"Mets" is short for the club's corporate name, the Metropolitan Baseball Club, and it nods to the New York Metropolitans of the 1880s. Owner Joan Payson announced it on May 8, 1961, after fans had nominated hundreds of names. She judged them on a list of criteria that included brevity for tabloid headlines. Other finalists included the Rebels, Skyliners, Burros, Continentals and Avengers, plus the Jets and the Islanders, two names other New York teams took later. Payson's personal favorite was the Meadowlarks. New York Mets uniform schedule 2026

Mets marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo: D. Benjamin Miller / CC0

"Phillies" is just short for "Philadelphias." Original owner Al Reach said the name "tells you who we are and where we are from," and it has been in use since the club's first season in 1883. The team calls itself the oldest continuous one-name, one-city franchise in pro sports. It did try to change once. Before the 1944 season the club ran a fan contest, and Mrs. John L. Crooks won a $100 war bond for suggesting "Blue Jays." The club pushed the name for six years, but nobody stopped saying Phillies, and it gave up in January 1950. Philadelphia Phillies uniform schedule 2026

Photo: D. Benjamin Miller / CC0

When the Montreal Expos, named for the 1967 World's Fair, moved to Washington, "Senators" was ruled out because D.C. has no voting representation in the U.S. Senate. Team president Tony Tavares announced "Nationals" on November 22, 2004, at Union Station. The name is older than it sounds. It goes back to the Washington Nationals club of 1859, and SABR's newspaper research found that the old American League team in Washington was officially the Nationals from 1905 to 1956, even though almost everyone called it the Senators. Washington Nationals uniform schedule 2026

Nationals marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo: David from Washington, DC / CC BY 2.0

Chicago Cubs

A newspaper named the Cubs for being young. After many players jumped to the new American League, Chicago's National League club was left with a young roster, and "cub" meant young and inexperienced. On March 27, 1902, the Chicago Daily News wrote about "the new Cubs," and the paper liked how the short name fit in headlines. Earlier nicknames included the White Stockings, Colts and Orphans. Player-manager Frank Chance pushed to make "Cubs" official, and by 1908 a bear cub was on the uniform. Chicago Cubs uniform schedule 2026

Cubs marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

The 1906 Cubs. George R. Lawrence Co. Public domain.

Photo: Keiteay / CC BY 4.0

The name traces to the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, named for their high red socks, who went 57-0 in their first season. Today's club began in the early 1880s and became the Reds. In 1953, with fear of communism at its peak, the team changed its name to the Redlegs, and in 1956 it even took "Reds" off its home jerseys. The real name came back in 1959. Cincinnati Reds uniform schedule 2026

Reds marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

The 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings. Public domain.

Photo: Erik Drost / CC BY 2.0

The name honors Milwaukee's beer industry. Pabst, Miller, Schlitz and Blatz all started there, and Milwaukee teams had used the name since the 1880s, including the 1901 American League Brewers, who became today's Orioles, and a minor-league Brewers club that played until 1952. After the Braves left for Atlanta, Bud Selig named his company the Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club before he even had a team. In the spring of 1970 a bankruptcy judge cleared the sale of the one-year-old Seattle Pilots to Selig's group, and days later the Brewers played their first home game. Next week they play in the World Series for the first time since 1982. Milwaukee Brewers uniform schedule 2026

Brewers marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

The Best brewery, later Pabst, in Milwaukee in the 1880s. H. H. Bennett. Public domain.

Photo: Erik Drost / CC BY 2.0

The Pirates are named after an insult. In 1890 the Pittsburgh club, then called the Alleghenys, went 23-113 after its stars left for the short-lived Players' League. When that league folded, second baseman Lou Bierbauer did not re-sign with the Philadelphia Athletics, and Pittsburgh signed him for 1891. Philadelphia's side called the move "piratical," rival papers started calling Pittsburgh the Pirates, and the club kept the insult. The name stuck in the 1890s, was on the uniforms by 1912, and has never changed since. Pittsburgh Pirates uniform schedule 2026

Pirates marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

The 1909 champions on a pirate ship postcard. C. Rollins. Public domain.

Photo: Yeroc3103 / CC BY 4.0

The Cardinals are named after a color, not the bird. In 1899 new owners Frank and Stanley Robison swapped the old brown uniforms for ones trimmed in cardinal red. The story goes that a St. Louis Republic columnist, Willie McHale, overheard a woman fan call them "a lovely shade of cardinal," and started calling the team the Cardinals. By 1900 the name was official. The birds did not show up until 1921, when the famous birds-on-the-bat logo arrived. Before that, the franchise was the Browns, for its brown stockings, and briefly the Perfectos in 1899. St. Louis Cardinals uniform schedule 2026

Cardinals marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

The 1899 St. Louis Perfectos, the year the cardinal red trim arrived. Public domain.

Photo: Jeffrey Hayes / CC BY 2.0

Arizona Diamondbacks

The staff voted for Scorpions. Owner Jerry Colangelo wanted "Arizona" in the name so the team would represent the whole state, and fan suggestions were cut to five finalists: Coyotes, Diamondbacks, Phoenix, Rattlers and Scorpions. A design firm mocked up all five, and a secret staff ballot went "like 12-1" for Scorpions because the logo looked so sharp, team president Rich Dozer recalled. Colangelo had the final vote. He said scorpions gave him "the willies," and he picked Diamondbacks, a desert rattlesnake whose name also plays on the baseball diamond. Arizona Diamondbacks uniform schedule 2026

Diamondbacks marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo: Hayden Schiff / CC BY 2.0

Denver fans wanted the Denver Bears, after the city's longtime minor-league team, and polls in both daily papers showed it. The owners picked "Colorado Rockies" instead, to market the team across the whole Rocky Mountain region. "Our goal is to build a franchise as strong and enduring as the Rocky Mountains themselves," said CEO John Antonucci. The name was secondhand. Denver's NHL team had been the Colorado Rockies from 1976 to 1982 before it moved away and became the New Jersey Devils. The baseball Rockies were awarded in 1991 and began play in 1993. Colorado Rockies uniform schedule 2026

Photo: David from Washington, DC / CC BY 2.0

The Dodgers are named after Brooklyn's trolleys. In the early 1890s Brooklyn's streetcars switched from horses to electricity and got much faster and more dangerous, and people from Brooklyn became known as "trolley dodgers." By April 1895 the Brooklyn Times reported the ballclub was "now known as the trolley dodgers." It was one of many nicknames for the team, along with the Bridegrooms, after six players married around 1888, the Superbas and the Robins, after manager Wilbert Robinson. "Dodgers" became official in 1932, went on the uniform in 1933 and moved to Los Angeles in 1958. Los Angeles Dodgers uniform schedule 2026

Dodgers marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

The 1889 Brooklyn club, then the Bridegrooms. Gardner and Co. Public domain.

Photo: David from Washington, DC / CC BY 2.0

The name is older than the MLB team. In 1936 the Pacific Coast League's Hollywood Stars moved to San Diego, and a local committee chose "Padres" to honor the first California mission, which Father Junípero Serra founded in San Diego in 1769. "Padre" is Spanish for father or priest. A teenage Ted Williams signed with those minor-league Padres in 1936 for $150 a month. The expansion club kept the name when it joined the National League in 1969, and the Swinging Friar mascot carries on the same theme. San Diego Padres uniform schedule 2026

Padres marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

Photo: Ryan Casey Aguinaldo / CC BY-SA 4.0

The famous origin story is probably a myth. Legend says New York manager Jim Mutrie named the team after a comeback win in 1885, shouting "My big fellows, my giants!" SABR's research points to a newspaper instead: an unsigned April 14, 1885 game story in the New York World called the team the Giants, and within weeks everyone did. Researchers have found no account from the time of Mutrie coining it, and he made the claim more than 30 years later. Before that, the club was usually called the Gothams. "Giants" is the longest continuous nickname in the majors, and it moved to San Francisco in 1958. San Francisco Giants uniform schedule 2026

Giants marks over the years. Logos via Wikimedia Commons.

The 1888 New York Giants. George H. Hastings. Public domain.

Photo: David from Washington, DC / CC BY 2.0

Why are the Dodgers called the Dodgers?

It is short for "trolley dodgers," a nickname for Brooklyn residents who had to dodge the city's fast electric streetcars in the 1890s. Newspapers attached it to the Brooklyn ballclub by 1895. The team made "Dodgers" official in 1932 and brought it to Los Angeles in 1958.

Why are the Yankees called the Yankees?

Newspaper headline writers created it. The team started in 1903 as the Highlanders, a name too long for headlines, and the New York Evening Journal printed "Yankees" in a headline on April 7, 1904. "Yankees" fully replaced "Highlanders" by 1913.

How did the Cleveland Guardians get their name?

It comes from the Guardians of Traffic, eight Art Deco figures on Cleveland's Hope Memorial Bridge near the ballpark. The team picked it from nearly 1,200 options after surveying 40,000 fans and announced it July 23, 2021.

Why are the Pittsburgh Pirates called the Pirates?

It started as an insult. In 1891 Pittsburgh signed second baseman Lou Bierbauer, whom the Philadelphia Athletics expected back, and Philadelphia's side called the move "piratical." The club kept the name.

Why are the Cubs called the Cubs?

The Chicago Daily News started calling the young team the Cubs in 1902, because its roster was full of inexperienced players after many veterans jumped to the new American League.

Are the St. Louis Cardinals named after the bird?

No. They are named after the color. In 1899 the team added cardinal red trim, a columnist reportedly heard a fan call it "a lovely shade of cardinal," and the name stuck by 1900. The birds-on-the-bat logo came in 1921.

Why did the Astros change their name from the Colt .45s?

The Colt firearms company wanted a share of the team's revenue, and owner Roy Hofheinz wanted a space-age name for the new Astrodome. He announced "Astros" on December 1, 1964.

Why are the Kansas City Royals called the Royals?

The name honors the American Royal, a livestock show and parade held in Kansas City since 1899, not royalty. A fan's entry in the club's 1968 naming contest made the case.

Which MLB team names came from fan contests?

The Blue Jays, Mariners and Royals were named through fan contests. The Marlins, Diamondbacks and Mets took fan suggestions, but the owner made the final call, and in Miami's case the fans' favorite, the Manatees, lost.

The Bottom Line

Baseball's names mostly were not designed. They were handed down from socks, newspapers, rival leagues and political clubs, and then kept for more than a century. That is why so many MLB uniforms still look the way they do: the Red Sox and White Sox still wear the stockings in their names, the Cardinals still wear the red, and the A's still wear an elephant that started as a joke. Next week the Brewers, named for Milwaukee's beer, play in their first World Series since 1982.

More MLB Coverage

• 2026 World Series uniforms and patch: what the Brewers and their AL opponent will wear
• How every NFL team got its name
• MLB uniform tracker 2026: every jersey, every game

Team-name histories via each club's official history on MLB.com, the Society for American Baseball Research, the National Baseball Hall of Fame and local newspapers and universities. Logos via Wikimedia Commons. Photos credited under each image. Full source list kept with this story.