The “What Is a Phillie?” Answer

Thinking about the sportswriters of that era, you can imagine the alternatives in a three-way conversation regarding the Philadelphias. Basically, the pluralized version of the host city was the starting point: the Pittsburghs, the Bostons, the Detroits, etc.

But one creative reporter opted for spicier nomenclature and insisted on the Quakers for the locals, while the other two liked the Phillies. And even though both appeared in the newspaper, Phillies was the preferred moniker when most scribes penned their reviews.

In 1890, writers who called them the Quakers had another Philadelphia club in the newly minted Players League. Of course, the first scribe – who named them the Quakers – decided to go by the stocking color and called the PL club the Blue Quakers and the NL organization the Red Quakers.

But Phillie wasn’t just a shortened name they published, a Phillie was a resident of Philly. And reporters also abbreviated the out-of-town clubs from stockings to legs, blues or sox to spice up their copy: descriptions, references and game reports.

Even though the Phillies’ uniform only had the P for Philadelphia until 1933, two things happened before the 1905 campaign. A new owner held a contest to rename the Washington Senators for a fresh start due to a losing reputation.

And the fans voted for the Nationals, which was an earlier moniker, and that first nickname on a uniform jersey was on theirs for five years. That stated, the scribes continued calling them the Senators because writers also used Nationals and Americans as monikers for other teams. Ergo, confusing.