The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1883 as the Brooklyn Grays. In 1884, it became a member of the American Association as the Brooklyn Atlantics before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn, New York, until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, where it continues its history as the Los Angeles Dodgers. That same year, the Dodgers' longtime rival, the New York Giants, moved to San Francisco and became the San Francisco Giants.
The "Dodgers" team name is a shortened form of one of their former names, the Brooklyn Trolley Dodgers. "Trolley dodgers" is a nickname for Brooklyn residents who had to avoid being hit by the city's fast-moving trolleys while crossing their lines.