The history of baseball is full of team names that no longer exist. Just this year, for example, the Cleveland Guardians have taken the place of the team known as the Cleveland Indians. This brings up the question, however: what is each city’s BEST former baseball identity? And are they better than the current one?

I’m going to look and find out, starting with the American League.

A few rules:

• These are professional team identities only. No amateur teams.
• For cities with multiple teams, I’ll go with either a team that is located in the same general area or which has historical connection.
• Team names that have migrated (such as Giants or Athletics) can’t be reused.

Let’s begin after the jump: