Today in 1944, the end of a contest in which baseball’s Philadelphia Phillies decided to take on a nickname.
I’m not sure why a team whose name is actually a version of their home city’s nickname needed a nickname, though I guess the New York Yankees are sometimes called the Bronx Bombers and some people in Milwaukee refer to the Brewers as the Crew, so forget I said anything.
The Phillies’ had gone through an ownership change in late 1943, and after the new year those new owners said they would take suggestions for a nickname to supplement the official team name.
The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin reported that in three weeks, the team got over 600 nickname suggestions from more than 5,000 people (meaning some ideas came in more than once).
There were definitely themes in those suggestions: a lot of fans suggested names that referred to Philadelphia’s history, like the Liberty Bells or Bell Ringers, the Federals, the Constitutionals, the Patriots or the Minute Men
The head of something called the Liberty Clown Association suggested the nickname Rainbows, and then proposed that each Phillie play in a different color uniform.
One guy suggested the Strugglers, which may have been a reference to the Phillies being 41 games out of first place at the end of the previous season.
Or it could have been more personal: the guy who sent in Strugglers said he wouldn’t be able to see the team play in 1944, since he was in prison, but he expected to be free again for 1945.
And there were plenty of animal names, from the commonly used ones like Eagles and Falcons and Bears to Unicorns, Quails and Ruffed Grouse.
The Philadelphia “Ruffed Grouse” Phillies?!?
The winning name came from this last category.
Seven people suggested the Blue Jays, and they all got season tickets.
The team added a little blue jay to the sleeves of its players’ uniforms and to some of its merchandise, but that only lasted for a couple seasons.
The contest was kind of the high point for the nickname, and eventually the Phillies went back to being just the Phillies.
But baseball fans know that in a couple decades, the a blue jay would return to major league uniforms when Toronto got its own franchise.
As far as I can tell no one ever suggested that they take on a secondary nickname of “Phillies.”
Today in 1980, “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor won the Grammy award for Best Disco Recording.
This was the first time the Grammys had ever given out a disco award.
And since the disco backlash was in full effect by then, it was also the last time the Grammys gave out that award.
My only question: when she got the award, was Gloria Gaynor afraid, then petrified?
How the Phillies also briefly became ‘Blue Jays’ (MLB.com)
“I Will Survive” wins the first—and last—Grammy ever awarded for Best Disco Recording (History.com)
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