Dog Tax Dodgers

. . . have to do with baseball. The Brooklyn Dodgers reportedly were Abe Lincoln's favorite ball club. Also referred to during the Civil War as the Grays, the Robins, and the Grooms--or Bridegrooms, due to many of the players getting married to gain exemptions from out-of-town battles--the eventual Dodgers were the perennial National League champions until the 1890's, when the transition from horse-drawn to electric street cars caused problems for the most alcoholic team in baseball. Things came to a head on July 4, 1900, when shortstop Pea Wee Cups stepped out of Obit's field for a beer between games of a doubleheader, and was vivisected by the L Train. As a memorial gesture, the team adopted "Trolley Dodgers" as its new nickname, which eventually got shortened to just "Dodgers." DOG TAX DODGERS made this squad somewhat of a laughing stock, causing them to flee to California shortly after its release.