Definitive Team Names

[Wrathchild]

When you see a conflict in the name of a team, such as can be seen in the early 20th century, what do you guys use as a final source? The reason I ask is because I see difference between what PS uses from the Lahman database versus what a site like baseball-almanac.com has. Which one is right?

[CrashDavis]

Which team and year is it?

[Wrathchild]

1901 and 1902 for Cleveland, Boston (AL), and Chicago (AL), off the top of my head. It seems that Cleveland, for example, shows up as the Bronchos, the Naps, or the Blues, depending on where you look. At this point I've been going with baseball-almanac.com, even if if it disagrees with the Lahman and PS, since some of it just seems a matter of preference.

[CrashDavis]

I'm a Baseball-Reference.com man myself.

Boston Red Sox (1908 - 2008) - 6 World Championships, 10 Pennants, and 17 Playoff Appearances
Boston Americans (1901 - 1907) - 1 World Championship, 2 Pennants, and 1 Playoff Appearance

*Chicago White Sox (1901 - 2008) - 3 World Championships, 6 Pennants, and 8 Playoff Appearances

Cleveland Indians (1915 - 2008) - 2 World Championships, 5 Pennants, and 10 Playoff Appearances
Cleveland Naps (1903 - 1914)
Cleveland Bronchos (1902)
Cleveland Blues (1901)



*The White Sox were originally known as the White Stockings, but quickly changed the name as the local newspapers had shortened it for headline-writing purposes.

[Frozen Stiffer]

I'm not familiar with the teams of that era, but if you're looking for votes and opinions, I'm with Crash- I've always used baseball-reference.com to determine a variety of stats and details. Usually, when replaying a historical year, I use it to determine who primarily played each position, who were the likely starting pitchers, who were typical bench-players, etc.

[Wrathchild]

I'll add that spot to my reference tools. If you haven't seen baseball-almanac, it's a pretty cool site. But here's what they have for those same teams:

Boston Red Sox
1908 - present
   Boston Americans
   1901 - 1907

Chicago White Sox
1904 - present
   Chicago White Stockings
   1901 - 1903

Cleveland Indians
1915 - present
   Cleveland Naps
   1905 - 1914
   Cleveland Blues
   1901 - 1904

So it's a little different. And I could've sworn I saw that one of my players historically played for the Boston Somersets in 1901 or 1902, but I can't find any reference to that now.

[Frozen Stiffer]

Wrath,
 
The Somersets may have existed, but have had nothing to do with the eventual Red Sox. They may have been another team in the same city, like the Mets/Yankees or Angels/Dodgers.