You're From Where and You Root for Whom? 6/25/17

Hey baseball fans!

Relocation happens to teams all the time and sometimes, the fans from the original cities still root for the team that now plays in a different city. Need some examples? Well, here you go.

DC residents wearing Twins' and Rangers' gear? 
Technically, Walter Johnson played for the Twins organization, even though he never set foot on a Minneapolis mound. The Minnesota Twins were originally the Washington Senators and played in our nation's capital until 1961, when they moved way up north to Minnesota and became the Twins. Senators fans didn't have to worry for long, as a new incarnation of the Senators joined the MLB in 1961. They were only there until 1971 and then moved to Texas to become the Rangers.

New Yorkers wearing "Kershaw" and "Bumgarner" jerseys?
Dodgers and Giants fans don't all come from California. Most of the older fans of those teams lived in New York City. Thats's right: before Los Angeles and San Francisco, it was Brooklyn and New York, respectively, for the Dodgers and Giants. Some of the greatest players to ever play on those teams like Jackie Robinson or Christy Mathewson never played out west, instead wowing fans in the concrete jungle where dreams are made of.

An Orioles fan living across the street from a Brewers/Cardinals fan?
The Orioles are an original AL team, coming into baseball in 1901 as the first Milwaukee Brewers, but quickly moved to St. Louis in 1902 and were known as the Browns until the franchise moved to Baltimore prior to the 1954 season. The Browns had little success, only winning one AL pennant in St. Louis in 1944 and, lost the World Series to, you guessed it, the Cardinals.

A's fans eating cheese steaks and Kansas City barbecue?
The Oakland A's weren't always playing their games in the Bay Area, but actually started out in Philadelphia in 1901 as the A's. They then moved to Kansas City for the 1955 season until 1967, only coming to Oakland in 1968.

Braves fans watch their team with beans and/or cheese?
The Boston Braves played in Boston until 1952; they played in Milwaukee until 1965; and they've been in Atlanta ever since. Actually, the Braves have the unique distinction of being the only major American sports team to win exactly one championship in three different cities and won those World Series in 1914, 1957, and 1995.

Nats fans speak French?
The Washington Nationals were originally from Montreal and were known as the Expos until the 2005 season, when they moved to DC. Expos fans miss their team so much that, to fill the void, there have been talks of future MLB expansion to Montreal.

Watching Brewers games on the Space Needle?
The Brewers were actually founded as the Seattle Pilots in 1969, but only stayed there for one year.

Ask your grandparents if the team they root for now was the same team they rooted for when they were kids. You might be surprised at their answers. Thanks for reading this post and I hope you enjoyed it. Check back soon for more of "all the buzz on what wuzz."