 Sportswriters started using the name "Trolley Dodgers" to refer to the Brooklyn team early in the 1895 season.The name was shortened to, on occasion, the "Brooklyn Dodgers" as early as 1898.Sportswriters in the early 20th century began referring to the Dodgers as the "Bums", in reference to the team's fans and possibly because of the "street character" nature of Jack Dawkins, the "Artful Dodger" in Charles Dickens' "Oliver Twist".