Which MLB team was originally known as the Boston Americans?

The MLB team originally known as the Boston Americans became the Boston Red Sox. The franchise was established in 1901 when the American League placed a new club in Boston to compete with the city's established National League team.

From 1901 through 1907, the club was commonly called the Boston Americans, the Americans, or simply Boston. The name referred to the team's membership in the American League rather than to a formal nickname consistently printed on its uniforms. Early newspapers also used temporary names such as the Pilgrims, Beaneaters, and Somersets, but none was as definitive as later histories sometimes suggest.

Owner John I. Taylor announced a change to the Boston Red Sox name in December 1907, and the club adopted red-based uniforms for the 1908 season. The nickname echoed the earlier Boston Red Stockings tradition and the Chicago White Sox's use of “Sox,” a shortened form of “Stockings.”

A common mix-up is confusing the Boston Americans with the Boston Braves. The Braves were Boston's National League franchise, while the Americans were the American League club that eventually became the Red Sox.