Expansion of Major League Baseball
, the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, has undergone several rounds of expansion beginning in, eventually reaching 30 teams with its most recent expansion taking place in. MLB has discussed preparations for another round of expansion. Several investment groups are vying for an MLB franchise.
Background
For a 50-year period from 1903 to 1952, MLB's 16-team structure, split into the American League and National Leagues, remained intact. No franchises were relocated during this period, and five markets—Boston, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, and St. Louis—had two or more teams. According to authors Andy McCue and Eric Thompson, "The less financially successful clubs in two-team cities were finding it increasingly difficult to compete" by the early 1950s. In addition, population changes in the United States were leading to many citizens moving away from the Northeast, where many MLB teams were based, to southern and western locations.From 1953 to 1955, three franchises relocated, all of which had been in markets with two or more teams. In addition, prior to the 1958 season, the two New York City teams in the NL, the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants, moved westward; the Dodgers relocated to Los Angeles, while San Francisco became the new home of the Giants.
MLB's perceived threat of proposed Continental League
After the relocation of the Dodgers and Giants, a third major league of baseball, the Continental League, was proposed by lawyer William Shea in November 1958. Shortly after in December, MLB created an Expansion Committee. On July 27, 1959, the new league was formally announced, with teams in Denver, Houston, Minneapolis–St. Paul, New York City, and Toronto, with three other cities later picked by January 1960, Atlanta, Dallas–Fort Worth, and Buffalo, set to start on April 18, 1961. In addition to the pressure of the proposed Continental League, MLB was facing pressure from the U.S. Congress, which indicated that efforts to prevent future expansion would arouse interest in weakening the sport's exemption from antitrust laws. Congress voted on a bill aimed at repealing the exemption, but it failed.However, MLB moved to expand after a rival league became a possibility. MLB formed an expansion committee, which voted in favor of adding four new teams, two in each league, by 1961–62. MLB sought cities that had received interest from the Continental League as a means to stop its formal start. Among them were Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, D.C, which were all granted franchises by late 1960. As a concession by Shea, part of his negotiations with MLB to expand to incorporate at least eight new teams, the Continental League formally disbanded on August 2, 1960.
1961 AL expansion
Los Angeles Angels
Actor Gene Autry led a group that paid $2.1 million for the right to place an MLB team in Los Angeles. Autry, who owned radio stations, had been seeking to acquire a contract to broadcast baseball games when he traveled to MLB's Winter Meetings. After the Meetings, on December 6, 1960, his group received franchise rights. The Los Angeles team was initially scheduled to begin play in 1962, but a relocation plan elsewhere in the AL resulted in the start date being moved up to 1961. The club was named the Los Angeles Angels, after a Pacific Coast League team that had previously played in the city. To secure the name rights, Autry paid a $350,000 fee to Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley, who had purchased the minor league Angels before relocating the Dodgers to Los Angeles.Washington Senators
Leading figures in Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minnesota, had sought an expansion franchise. In October 1960, the AL permitted the Washington Senators to move in time for the 1961 season and gave Washington, D.C., an expansion team. The former Senators changed their name to the Minnesota Twins, and the new expansion team took the Senators name. The decision was partially in response to pressure from Congress, which had wanted a replacement for the former Senators. As with the Angels' ownership group, the new Senators' owners paid a $2.1 million fee for the right to an MLB franchise. In 1972, the new Washington Senators team relocated to the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex as the Texas Rangers.1962 NL expansion
The NL announced an expansion as the 1960 World Series was in progress, with new teams in Houston and New York City. William Shea had been a supporter of the Continental League concept, and had attracted several investors. A potential Houston team also had numerous partners, many of whom had oil interests. The AL initially showed interest in adding a Houston team, but the investors wanted an NL franchise. MLB granted the two cities franchises on October 17, 1960.Houston Colt .45s
The Houston Sports Association was formed in 1957 and bought a minor league baseball team four years later. The group was given a controlling interest in Houston's expansion team, which was named the Houston Colt.45s. It played at Colt Stadium. It would only be a few years later in that the team would become the Houston Astros. In, the Astros transferred to the American League.New York Mets
Following the announcement of the Dodgers and Giants leaving New York City, the city formed the Mayor's Committee, headed by lawyer William Shea. Though New York City sought a replacement NL franchise, MLB displayed little intention of adding a New York team, despite the formation of the Expansion Committee. With Shea's Continental League project and pressure from Congress, MLB eventually gave in and rewarded New York with a National League franchise, effectively killing the Continental League project. On May 8, 1961, the club announced the name of the team would be the New York Mets, named after a shortened version of the 1880s team, the New York Metropolitans.The city was unable to secure funding for a proposed Flushing Meadows stadium in time for play in 1962, so the Mets played at the Polo Grounds, the previous home of the New York Giants. George Weiss was the president of the team, and seven-time World Series championship-winning manager Casey Stengel was hired to lead the Mets on the field. Thanks to Shea's efforts to bring National League baseball back to New York, Shea Stadium, the stadium the Mets would play in from 1964 to 2008, was named in his honor.
1969 expansion
AL expansion
Kansas City Royals
Following the departure of the Kansas City Athletics to Oakland following the end of the, US Senator Stuart Symington threatened to challenge Major League Baseball's antitrust exemption with federal legislation, and to also challenge the reserve clause. Kansas City mayor Ilus Davis threatened a lawsuit to block the move. Tom Yawkey arranged a meeting of the owners during a convention, during which the league agreed to accelerate the expansion process and assured that Kansas City would be granted a new franchise to begin play no later than the. This would require another franchise to be established at the same time to ensure the league had an even number of teams for a balanced schedule. Ewing Kauffman won rights to the franchise and paid a $5.5 million expansion fee for the Kansas City Royals, which played games at Municipal Stadium until the end of the 1972 season, after which the team moved to Royals Stadium, now known as Kauffman Stadium.Seattle Pilots
Because of failed attempts to attract existing teams, Seattle instead tried to lobby for an expansion franchise at the 1967 owners' meetings in Chicago. The delegation also had support from two US Senators, Henry M. Jackson and Warren Magnuson, the latter of whom was the chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, a committee which has "jurisdiction over the major league's business activities". Coupled with Symington's threats related to the move of the Kansas City Athletics, the political influence swayed the American League owners. However, they were reluctant to expand in 1969 without a Seattle stadium bond issue. The Seattle delegation assured the owners that Sick's Stadium could be renovated in five months to fulfill the minimum requirements until a new stadium was built; with this, the owners agreed to a 1969 expansion, and approved teams in Kansas City and Seattle.In December 1967 at the Winter Meetings in Mexico City, the franchise was officially awarded to Pacific Northwest Sports, led by Dewey Soriano, which received $5.5 million in funding from William R. Daley, who thus had 47% ownership of the venture. Other owners included Max and Dewey Soriano. The award was contingent on renovation of Sick's Stadium to increase its seating capacity from 11,000 to 30,000 by the start of the 1969 season. The Sorianos persuaded notable athletes to advocate for the $40 million King County stadium bond issue, including baseball players Mickey Mantle, Carl Yastrzemski, and Joe DiMaggio, and football player Y. A. Tittle; the bond issue was approved by 62.3% of the electorate. The Seattle Pilots would eventually be declared bankrupt in 1970 and the team was sold to Bud Selig, who moved the team to Milwaukee after only one season in Seattle and renamed it as the present-day Milwaukee Brewers. The team would eventually transfer to the National League in as a result of expansion that season.
NL expansion
Montreal Expos
or Gerry Snyder spoke to Ford C. Frick sometime after the 1962 Major League Baseball expansion, during which he was told Montreal would not receive an expansion franchise unless it had a stadium in which to contest matches. At the Winter Meetings in Mexico City on December 2, 1967, Snyder presented a proposal to Major League Baseball owners to establish a franchise in the city. Several influential owners pledged their support for a Montreal franchise in that meeting, including Walter O'Malley, Roy Hofheinz, and John Galbreath. Certain that Hofheinz would object to a Dallas–Fort Worth bid and that the San Diego bid was near certain to be successful, Snyder deemed a bid from Buffalo to be the strongest bid against which to compete.On May 27, 1968, the National League officially awarded a franchise to Montreal to commence play in the 1969 season. National League president Warren Giles had encouraged the owners during the meeting, stating "If we're going to expand, let's really spread it out". The Montreal Expos became the first franchise to be awarded to a city outside the United States. When the news reached the U.S. Congress, members collectively condemned the decision.
Because of the slow pace of progress in meeting commitments, Jean-Louis Lévesque withdrew his financial support in the franchise on July 31, 1968. Snyder quickly found another investor, Charles Bronfman, and the team met the deadline of 15 August for the initial $1.1 million installment, before which Jarry Park was selected as the team's stadium for the short term. Renovations to the park were made by adding uncovered bleacher seats along the right and left field lines, and an electronic scoreboard installed beyond right field. The team had some issues committing to a new stadium, as required by the franchise award, and it was said that the team had agreed to build a dome at the Autostade and use it as their stadium if a new stadium was not built by 1970. It had originally intended to lease the stadium and expand its seating capacity from 26,000 to 37,000, but then chose Jarry Park instead.
The ownership group paid $12.5 million for the team. John McHale was hired as the team's first president, and Jim Fanning its first general manager. Many names had been considered for the team, including Royals which had a strong association with the city, but the name had already been adopted by the new Kansas City franchise. After rejecting various options, including "Voyageurs" and "Nationals", the name Expos was chosen in honour of Expo 67 and because it was the same in both of the city's official languages. McHale stated that the name would "help Montreal be identified properly as the city that gave the world Expo 67".
The Montreal Expos would eventually relocate to Washington, D.C. for the as the Washington Nationals.