<P> Examples of how the many popularized names of the team were used interchangeably are available from newspaper articles from the period before 1932 . A New York Times article describing a game the Dodgers played in 1916 starts out by referring to how "Jimmy Callahan, pilot of the Pirates, did his best to wreck the hopes the Dodgers have of gaining the National League pennant", but then goes on to comment, "the only thing that saved the Superbas from being toppled from first place was that the Phillies lost one of the two games played ." Most baseball statistics sites and baseball historians generally now refer to the pennant - winning 1916 Brooklyn team as the Robins . A 1918 New York Times article used the nickname Robins in its title "Buccaneers Take Last From Robins", but the subtitle of the article reads "Subdue The Superbas By 11 To 4, Making Series An Even Break". </P> <P> Another example of the interchangeability of different nicknames is found on the program issued at Ebbets Field for the 1920 World Series, which identifies the matchup in the series as "Dodgers vs. Indians", despite the fact that the Robins nickname had been in consistent usage at this point for around six years . </P> <P> The historic and heated rivalry between the Dodgers and the Giants is more than a century old . It began when the Dodgers and Giants faced each other in the 1889 World Series, the ancestor of the Subway Series, and both played in separate cities (the Dodgers in Brooklyn and the Giants in New York City Manhattan). When both franchises moved to California after the 1957 season, the rivalry was easily transplanted, as the cities of Los Angeles and San Francisco have long been rivals in economics, culture, and politics . </P> <P> Manager Wilbert Robinson, another former Oriole, popularly known as "Uncle Robbie", restored the Brooklyn team to respectability . His "Brooklyn Robins" reached the 1916 and 1920 World Series, losing both, but contending perennially for several seasons . Charles Ebbets and Ed McKeever died within a week of each other in 1925, and Robbie was named president while still field manager . Upon assuming the title of president, however, Robinson's ability to focus on the field declined, and the teams of the late 1920s were often fondly referred to as the "Daffiness Boys" for their distracted, error - ridden style of play . Outfielder Babe Herman was the leader both in hitting and in zaniness . The signature Dodger play from this era occurred when three players--Dazzy Vance, Chick Fewster, and Herman--ended up at third base at the same time . (The play is often remembered as Herman "tripling into a triple play", though only two of the three players were declared out and Herman was credited with a double rather than a triple .) Herman later complained that no one remembered that he drove in the winning run on the play . The incident led to the popular joke: </P>

Where were the dodgers before they went to la