- 1902: Milwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri and became the St. Louis Browns.
- 1903: Baltimore Orioles moved to New York and became the Highlanders. The team was
renamed the Yankees in 1913.
- 1953: Boston Braves
moved to Milwaukee. This was the first
relocation in 50 years. During those 50 years, there had also been no
expansions or contractions—Major League Baseball had consisted of the same
16 teams, 8 in each league, playing in the same 10 cities without
interruption for half a century.
- 1954: St. Louis Browns moved
to Baltimore and became the Orioles.
- 1955: Philadelphia
Athletics moved to Kansas City,
Missouri.
- 1958: Brooklyn Dodgers
moved to Los Angeles; New York
Giants moved to San Francisco. These were the first major
league teams on the West Coast; the teams moved simultaneously to
facilitate travel for other National League (NL) teams.
- 1961: Washington Senators
(original) moved to the Twin Cities area and
became the Minnesota Twins. Not
wishing to alienate Washington, D.C. and its
powerful baseball fans, the American League (AL) granted the city a new
expansion franchise, also called the Senators.
- 1966: Milwaukee Braves moved
to Atlanta, Georgia.
- 1968: Kansas City
Athletics moved to Oakland, California. Because Charles O. Finley broke a recently signed lease
and public bonds were already issued for the building of what is now known
as Kauffman Stadium, Major League Baseball was in danger of anti-trust legislation from Missouri Senator Stuart Symington. As a result, the AL granted
Kansas City a new expansion franchise
in 1969.
- 1970: Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee and became
the Brewers. The AL would grant
Seattle a new expansion franchise in 1977.
- 1972: Second Washington
Senators moved to Arlington, Texas and became the Texas Rangers.
- 2005: Montreal Expos moved to Washington, D.C. and became the Washington Nationals. The Expos had split time between Montreal and San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2003 and 2004. This was the first relocation in 33 years.
Showing posts with label Athletics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Athletics. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Major League Baseball Relocation of the 1950s - 1960s
Major League Baseball
Friday, May 27, 2011
KC Baseball Historical Society Opens Baseball Exhibit 2011
The Kansas City Baseball Historical Society has a wide range of memorabilia including uniforms, equipment, photos and a large array of baseball collectibles. Items from the Royals, Athletics, Blues, and Monarchs will be on display at the Town Pavilion at 1111 Main Street in downtown Kansas City Missouri.
Admission is free and open to the public. This Exhibit will run to September so come and take a look.
More details at: http://www.kansascitybaseballhistoricalsociety.com/
Admission is free and open to the public. This Exhibit will run to September so come and take a look.
More details at: http://www.kansascitybaseballhistoricalsociety.com/
Monday, November 17, 2008
Kansas City Goes Major League in '54 Following Browns in '53
The announcement in November 1954 that Arnold Johnson had bought the Philadelphia Athletics was “really big news” in Kansas City. Accompanying the announcement of the purchase came the added tidbit that Johnson planned to relocate the team to Kansas City. This was a decision that carried great import beyond the obvious sense that Kansas City had finally “arrived” with its belated entry into Big League professional sports.
The makeup of Major League Baseball began to change in 1952 when the Boston Braves indicated they would move their franchise to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The following year the American League St. Louis Browns announced removal to Baltimore where they would be known as the Baltimore Orioles. In 1954, it was Kansas City’s turn. Pride exuded from Main Street to Bannister Road, newly annexed into the city itself.
----------------------------------
Once the move of the A’s to Kansas City was announced, city officials purchased Ruppert Stadium, added the upper deck to expand seating to 33,000, and made arrangements for everything but parking. This photo now graces the information kiosk at the site of the old stadium at 22nd & Brooklyn. (Click on photo to enlarge)
----------------------------------
For close to 60 years, Kansas City had been home to a minor league franchise in what evolved into the American Association. The Kansas City Blues were white Kansas City’s pride and joy. When the owner of the New York Yankees purchased the franchise in 1939, renovated Muehlebach Field into “Ruppert Stadium” [modestly named for himself], and sent the New York team’s best farm players this way, it seemed we had reached the pinnacle.
Of course, there was another tenant at Muehlebach Field that continued to pay rent to play in Ruppert Stadium. The Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro National League usually performed more successfully on the field although their attendance numbers often fell short of those attracted by the white Blues team. Interestingly, the Monarchs games featured integrated seating in the Stadium while the Blues required seating to be segregated by race.
During the years of the Blues and Monarchs co-occupancy of Muehlebach Field and then Ruppert Stadium, a number of current and future stars played for the teams. In their later Yankee-connected years, Mickey Mantle, Hank Bauer and Whitey Ford spent parts of their careers toiling at 22nd & Brooklyn for the Blues. The Monarchs featured the likes of Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson and, of course, Buck O’Neil.
One player actually played for both the Monarchs and the Blues in the early 1950s—Elston Howard. A gifted catcher, Howard eventually became the backup, and then successor, to Yogi Berra in the Yankees lineup, but he made his debut playing for the Monarchs. Later, he signed with the Yankees who, in turn assigned him to the Blues to gain more experience before joining the major league team. He went on to a solid career in the Yankees organization.
The makeup of Major League Baseball began to change in 1952 when the Boston Braves indicated they would move their franchise to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The following year the American League St. Louis Browns announced removal to Baltimore where they would be known as the Baltimore Orioles. In 1954, it was Kansas City’s turn. Pride exuded from Main Street to Bannister Road, newly annexed into the city itself.----------------------------------
Once the move of the A’s to Kansas City was announced, city officials purchased Ruppert Stadium, added the upper deck to expand seating to 33,000, and made arrangements for everything but parking. This photo now graces the information kiosk at the site of the old stadium at 22nd & Brooklyn. (Click on photo to enlarge)
----------------------------------
For close to 60 years, Kansas City had been home to a minor league franchise in what evolved into the American Association. The Kansas City Blues were white Kansas City’s pride and joy. When the owner of the New York Yankees purchased the franchise in 1939, renovated Muehlebach Field into “Ruppert Stadium” [modestly named for himself], and sent the New York team’s best farm players this way, it seemed we had reached the pinnacle.
Of course, there was another tenant at Muehlebach Field that continued to pay rent to play in Ruppert Stadium. The Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro National League usually performed more successfully on the field although their attendance numbers often fell short of those attracted by the white Blues team. Interestingly, the Monarchs games featured integrated seating in the Stadium while the Blues required seating to be segregated by race.
During the years of the Blues and Monarchs co-occupancy of Muehlebach Field and then Ruppert Stadium, a number of current and future stars played for the teams. In their later Yankee-connected years, Mickey Mantle, Hank Bauer and Whitey Ford spent parts of their careers toiling at 22nd & Brooklyn for the Blues. The Monarchs featured the likes of Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson and, of course, Buck O’Neil.
One player actually played for both the Monarchs and the Blues in the early 1950s—Elston Howard. A gifted catcher, Howard eventually became the backup, and then successor, to Yogi Berra in the Yankees lineup, but he made his debut playing for the Monarchs. Later, he signed with the Yankees who, in turn assigned him to the Blues to gain more experience before joining the major league team. He went on to a solid career in the Yankees organization.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Teams No Longer Existing in Their Original Cities
Of the 16 clubs that existed unchanged for fifty years (1902-52), the following legendary names no longer exist as living, breathing entities in their original cities:
American League
Philadelphia Athletics
St. Louis Browns
Washington Senators **
If the new 3rd incarnation of a Washington club in 2005 really wants the name "Senators", they will have to buy it from the Texas Rangers, who own the rights from their brief term in Washington as the 2nd coming of that club.
National League
Boston Braves
Brooklyn Dodgers
New York Giants
American League
Philadelphia Athletics
St. Louis Browns
Washington Senators **
If the new 3rd incarnation of a Washington club in 2005 really wants the name "Senators", they will have to buy it from the Texas Rangers, who own the rights from their brief term in Washington as the 2nd coming of that club.
National League
Boston Braves
Brooklyn Dodgers
New York Giants
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)