as an unofficial variant. Oakland A's The Oakland Athletics, who began in Philadelphia and resided in Kansas City for a few years, settled on the west coast in 1968. The nickname "Athletics" is among the oldest in baseball, dating to the early 1860s. Philadelphia Aside from the enduring teams called the "Athletics" and the "Phillies", other professional teams in Philadelphia over the years included the Philadelphia White Stockings (also sometimes called the "Pearls" or even the "Phillies"), who played in the National Association in the early 1870s in direct competition with the A's; and the Keystone club of the one-year Union Association experiment in 1884. Philadelphia Athletics First official use: 1901 In the peak of the amateur era of baseball in the 1860s, the strongest team in the Quaker State was the Athletic Base Ball Club of Philadelphia, or just "Athletic" for short. Prior to the early 1900s, this club was typically always listed in standings as "Athletic" rather than "Philadelphia". When called the "Athletics" it was the pluralized style of the day, just as the National League entry would have been called the "Philadelphias". As early as 1866, the Athletics uniform shirts featured the stylized letter "A" that is still used by the team's nominal descendants today. The team had turned professional by the late 1860s, and continued playing through the first year of the National League in 1876, before disbanding. The team name "Athletic" was revived by the American Association, and again by the charter Philadelphia entry in the American League in 1901. The AL team was originally listed in the standings in the traditional way, "Athletic", but soon evolved into the "Philadelphia Athletics". Another enduring symbol of the team soon emerged: "In 1902, John McGraw, then manager of the New York Giants, and bitter enemy of American League president Ban Johnson, gave out an interview belittling the entry of the American League in Philadelphia, and sarcastically referred to Ben Shibe and Connie Mack's club as a 'white elephant'. A Philadelphia newspaperman labeled the Athletics the White Elephants, and they went on to win the first of many flags." (TSNBBG) The 1905 World Series pitted the Giants against the A's, and before the first game the A's captain presented a small white elephant toy to McGraw, photos capturing one of the few times McGraw was caught grinning. That "first of many flags" characterization, first written about 1940, was