1977 Major League Baseball expansion

Last updated

The 1977 Major League Baseball expansion resulted in the establishment of expansion franchises in Seattle and Toronto in the American League of Major League Baseball. The Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays began play in the 1977 Major League Baseball season, becoming the 25th and 26th teams in Major League Baseball.

Contents

Seattle and Toronto were included in a list of potential expansion cities in a survey conducted by the American League in 1960. [1] The others were Atlanta, Buffalo, Dallas–Fort Worth, Denver, Oakland, and San Diego (all of which received MLB franchises eventually through expansion or relocation except Buffalo, which has an AAA team, however). [1]

Usa edcp relief location map.png
ButtonYellow.svg
ButtonYellow.svg
ButtonYellow.svg
ButtonYellow.svg
ButtonYellow.svg
    Athletics
ButtonYellow.svg
ButtonRed.svg
ButtonRed.svg
ButtonRed.svg
ButtonRed.svg
ButtonRed.svg
ButtonRed.svg
class=notpageimage|
Locations of teams for the 1976 American League season
ButtonYellow.svg West   ButtonRed.svg East
Usa edcp relief location map.png
ButtonYellow.svg
ButtonYellow.svg
ButtonYellow.svg
ButtonYellow.svg
ButtonYellow.svg
    Athletics
ButtonYellow.svg
ButtonYellow.svg
ButtonRed.svg
ButtonRed.svg
ButtonRed.svg
ButtonRed.svg
Tigers    
ButtonRed.svg
ButtonRed.svg
ButtonRed.svg
class=notpageimage|
Locations of teams for the 1977–1981 American League seasons
ButtonYellow.svg West   ButtonRed.svg East

Seattle

In the 1969 Major League Baseball expansion (which had been originally planned to take place in 1971, but said date was moved up two years when Senator Stuart Symington of Missouri demanded that a new team be placed in Kansas City at the earliest possible convience), Kansas City, Montreal, San Diego, and Seattle were each granted franchises; the Kansas City Royals and Seattle Pilots were added to the American League, while the Montreal Expos (now the Washington Nationals) and San Diego Padres joined the National League. The Seattle Pilots only played one season, during which they faced financial difficulties owing to no television coverage, a poorly performing team, a stadium with problems, and the highest ticket and concession prices in the league. [2] Owners of other American League teams wanted Dewey Soriano and William R. Daley to sell the team to a Seattle owner who would improve the team and address issues at Sick's Stadium, particularly uncovered seats with bad views. [2] After several attempts to sell the team to a Seattle owner failed, on April 1, 1970, judge Sidney Volinn declared the team officially bankrupt; it was sold to Milwaukee car dealer (and future MLB commissioner) Bud Selig, [3] who moved the team to there and renamed it the Milwaukee Brewers, who began play a week later on April 7. [4] [5] Selig had negotiated a deal for the purchase with Soriano during Game 1 of the 1969 World Series. [5]

As a result of the relocation of the Seattle Pilots to Milwaukee, in 1970 the city of Seattle, King County and the state of Washington sued the American League for breach of contract. [6] The $32.5 million lawsuit [7] proceeded until 1976, when at trial the American League offered the city a franchise in exchange for the city, county, and state to drop the suit. [6] On November 2, 1972, King County had broken ground on the Kingdome, [8] which would come to be used by the Seattle Mariners for baseball and by the Seahawks for football.

On January 15, 1976, the expansion franchise was approved, becoming the 13th franchise in the American League. It was owned by Lester Smith and Danny Kaye, [7] who paid an expansion fee of US$ 6.5 million. [9] Owing to the history surrounding the franchise, sportswriter Emmett Watson of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer joked that the team should be named the Seattle Litigants. [7]

Toronto

Toronto had a long history of interest in baseball. Its first professional baseball team was established in 1885, and in 1886 Sunlight Park was built to host its games. In 1897, Hanlan's Point Stadium was built at the Toronto Islands for the Toronto Maple Leafs of the International League, and on September 5, 1914 it was the site of baseball legend Babe Ruth's first professional home run and only minor league home run. [10] In 1926, Maple Leaf Stadium was built for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The team was successful, sometimes drawing more fans than established Major League Baseball teams. [11] The team was owned by Jack Kent Cooke, who in the mid-1950s sought municipal financing of a major league baseball park on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition. [11] He was also involved in the failed attempt to establish the Continental League as a third league in Major League Baseball in the early 1960s. [11] Maple Leaf Stadium was demolished in 1968 after the Toronto Maple Leafs were sold to Walter Dilbeck and moved to Louisville, Kentucky. (The team has since relocated twice, and is now the Worcester Red Sox.)

In the early 1970s, Toronto City Council alderman Paul Godfrey proposed a plan for a publicly financed domed stadium in the city, but it was opposed by taxpayers and amateur sports groups. [11] Undeterred, he proposed renovation of Exhibition Stadium to support baseball. The stadium was renovated in anticipation of the city being awarded a Major League Baseball team, costing CA$15 million. [12] Half of the funds were provided by the municipal government, and the other half from an interest-free loan from the provincial Government of Ontario. [11] Its seating capacity was increased to 40,000. [13]

There had been strong interest from several groups and individuals to own a Major League Baseball team in the city. The most prominent was Labatt Brewing Company, who wanted to use ownership of a sports team as a means to establish a visible presence in the Toronto market. [14]

On January 9, 1976, the National Exhibition Company, owners of the San Francisco Giants, established an agreement in principle to sell the franchise to a consortium owned by Labatt Brewing Company, Vulcan Assets, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce for CA$13,250,000 (equivalent to $61,466,238in 2021. [13] The Giants had failed to repay a US$ 500,000 loan from Major League Baseball, and had experienced declining revenues since the relocation of the Kansas City Athletics to Oakland in 1968. [13] Of the sale price, US$ 5,250,000 was to be placed in escrow to "meet certain possible obligations with respect to the transaction", especially the lease of Candlestick Park, which would expire in 1994. [13]

The new owners of the Giants, led by Don McDougall, would move the team to Toronto pending approval from the other eleven National League teams, which would be sought on January 14 at the Winter Meetings of General managers in Phoenix. The team would be known as the Toronto Giants [13] and would begin play during the 1976 Major League Baseball season. The deal was scuttled by a Superior Court of California, which issued an injunction blocking the sale on February 11, 1976; the injunction was requested by the city of San Francisco on January 10. [15] The National Exhibition Company eventually accepted a purchase proposal from Bob Lurie in a deal brokered by George Moscone, the Mayor of San Francisco; Lurie elected to keep the team in San Francisco. [15] This was the third scuttled attempt by Labatt to bring an MLB team to Toronto, after failures to acquire the Baltimore Orioles and the Cleveland Indians. [16] Soon after, Godfrey received a phone call from Kansas City Royals owner Ewing Kauffman informing him that he supported a Toronto franchise for the American League. [17]

During an owners meeting held on March 20, 1976, the American League franchises voted 11-1 to expand the league with a Toronto franchise, to which National League owners resolved to consider a Toronto franchise to begin play in the 1977 season. [17] Bowie Kuhn, at the time the Commissioner of Baseball, planned for the National League to expand with new franchises in Toronto and Washington, D.C., and for the American League to add a new franchise in New Orleans in addition to the already-awarded Seattle franchise. [17] [18] On March 29, National League owners met and voted in favour of the expansion plans, but they were rejected because the vote was not unanimous, with dissenting votes from the owners of the Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies. [18] A subsequent vote on April 26 ended this plan with a 7–5 result in favour of the proposal, again failing to achieve unanimity. [18]

Two groups bid for the rights to franchise ownership in the city, [12] which presented bids during an American League owner's meeting on March 26, 1976. [19] Ultimately, an ownership group named Metro Baseball Ltd. consisting of Labatt Brewing Company, the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, and Imperial Trust won the bid for a franchise fee of CA$7 million. [9] [20] [21] [14] The other bid was made by Atlantic Packaging. [20] The winning bid was represented by legal counsel Herb Solway and Gord Kirke. Kirke prepared the original documents which led to the foundation of the team in 1976. [22]

After the city was awarded the franchise, U.S. President Gerald Ford attempted to pressure Major League Baseball to instead award the franchise to Washington, D.C., which he claimed should have a team before Toronto. Both the American League and National League dismissed his request. [23]

In 1974, the Toronto City Council approved a further CA$2.8 million for renovations to Exhibition Stadium, retrofitting the stadium for baseball and would be ready in time for the 1977 season. [14] Paul Beeston was hired as the team's first employee on May 10, 1976, and Peter Bavasi was hired as the team's first president and general manager on June 18, 1976. [14] [18]

Expansion draft

In order to stock the roster of each team, a draft was held on November 5, 1976 in which each of the extant teams would make available to the expansion franchises some of the players on their major league and minor league rosters. Each team was allowed to protect fifteen players on the major league roster, and an additional three players after each of the first and second round of the draft. [24] The Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays each selected 30 players in the draft. [24]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Sarasota Herald-Tribune 1960.
  2. 1 2 Hogan 2007, p. 128.
  3. ↑ Schabowski, Rick (2011). "April 7, 1970: Milwaukee Brewers make their debut at County Stadium". Society of American Baseball Research . Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  4. ↑ Muder, Craig (2011). "Bud Selig's work as commissioner leads him to Cooperstown's doorstep". Society of American Baseball Research. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  5. 1 2 Stone 2006.
  6. 1 2 Cour 1999, p. C16.
  7. 1 2 3 Riess 2006, p. 802.
  8. ↑ MacIntosh 2000.
  9. 1 2 Jozsa 2006, p. 58.
  10. ↑ Creamer 2005, p. 98.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 Riess 2006, p. 844.
  12. 1 2 Canadian Broadcasting Corporation 2011, Last audio clip in the post, from CBC Radio in 1977.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 St. Petersburg Times 1976.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Riess 2006, p. 845.
  15. 1 2 Sakamoto 1976.
  16. ↑ Davidi 2016, p. 9.
  17. 1 2 3 Davidi 2016, p. 10.
  18. 1 2 3 4 Davidi 2016, p. 12.
  19. ↑ Davidi 2016, p. 11.
  20. 1 2 Sgambati 1976.
  21. ↑ Toronto Blue Jays: Franchise Timeline.
  22. ↑ Livesey, Bruce (January 25, 2006). "The champs' champion". Canadian Lawyer Magazine. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
  23. ↑ Howden 1976.
  24. 1 2 Holtzman 1997.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto Blue Jays</span> Major League Baseball franchise in Toronto, Ontario

The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. Since 1989, the team has played its home games primarily at Rogers Centre in downtown Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seattle Pilots</span> American baseball club

The Seattle Pilots were an American professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington during the 1969 Major League Baseball season. During their single-season existence, the Pilots played their home games at Sick's Stadium and were a member of the West Division of Major League Baseball's American League. On April 1, 1970, the franchise moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and became the Milwaukee Brewers.

The Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) is a Canadian baseball league, comprising teams of college players and former professionals from North America and beyond. The teams are located in Southern Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment</span> Canadian sports and real estate company

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE) is a professional sports and commercial real estate company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With assets that include franchises in four of the six major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, it is the largest sports and entertainment company in Canada, and one of the largest in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto Maple Leafs (International League)</span> Minor league baseball team

The Toronto Maple Leafs were a high-level minor league baseball club located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which played from 1896 to 1967.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sports in Toronto</span> Overview of sports traditions and activities in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, has a long history of sport. It is home to a number of clubs, including the Granite Club, the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, the Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club, the Argonaut Rowing Club, Toronto Argonauts football club, the Toronto Lawn Tennis Club, and the Badminton and Racquet Club. A number of heritage venues have developed in Toronto such as: Christie Pits, Coca-Cola Coliseum, Varsity Arena, and Maple Leaf Gardens. Toronto is also the location of the Canadian Football League's headquarters.

The 1977 Toronto Blue Jays season was the first season of Major League Baseball played by the Toronto-based expansion franchise. The Blue Jays finished seventh in the American League East with a record of 54 wins and 107 losses, 45½ games behind the World Champion New York Yankees.

This is a summary of the evolution of names of the current professional Major League Baseball teams in the National League and subsequent rival American League, and also of selected former major and minor league teams whose names were influential, long-lasting, or both. The sources of the names included club names, team colors, and city symbols. The names have sometimes been dubbed by the media, other times through conscious advertising marketing by the team, or sometimes a little of both.

Peter Bavasi is an American former front-office executive in Major League Baseball.

The 1992 Major League Baseball season saw the Toronto Blue Jays defeat the Atlanta Braves in the World Series, becoming the first team outside the United States to win the World Series.

The 1977 Major League Baseball season saw the American League (AL) having its third expansion, as the Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays began play, with Seattle returning to the MLB fold after a seven-year absence when the Pilots relocated to Milwaukee to become the Brewers. However, the National League (NL) did not expand, remaining at 12 teams compared to the AL's 14, until the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins joined the NL in 1993.

The 2009 Major League Baseball season began on April 5, 2009; the regular season was extended two days for a one-game playoff between the Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins for the American League Central title. The postseason began the next day with the Division Series. The World Series began on October 28, and ended on November 4, with the New York Yankees defeating the Philadelphia Phillies in six games. This was the second time the season was completed in November. The only other occasion was the 2001 World Series, because of the delaying of the end of that season due to the September 11 attacks as November baseball would be guaranteed when Game 4 was played on Sunday, November 1. Had the 2009 World Series gone the full seven games, Game 7 would've been played on November 5, the latest date ever scheduled for a World Series game. It became the latest date for a World Series game in 2022. The American League champion had home field advantage for the World Series by virtue of winning the All-Star Game on July 14 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri, 4–3. In addition, the annual Civil Rights Game became a regular season game, and was played June 20 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati, Ohio, when the host Cincinnati Reds lost to the Chicago White Sox in an interleague game, 10–8. Both teams wore replicas of their 1965 uniforms in the contest.

The 1976 MLB Expansion Draft was held November 5, 1976. This expansion draft was conducted by Major League Baseball to stock the major league rosters of the Toronto Blue Jays and the Seattle Mariners, new major league expansion franchises established via the 1977 Major League Baseball expansion that were set to start play in the 1977 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Toronto Blue Jays</span>

The Toronto Blue Jays came into existence in 1976, as one of two teams slated to join the American League for the following season, via the 1977 Major League Baseball expansion. Toronto had been mentioned as a potential major league city as early as the 1880s, and had been home to the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team of the International League, from 1896 to 1967. They have played their home games at Rogers Centre since 1989.

The Major League Baseball relocations of the 1950s–1960s brought several Major League Baseball franchises to the Western and Southern United States, expanding the league's geographical reach. This was in stark contrast to the early years of modern baseball, when the American League placed teams in National League cities. Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and St. Louis had two teams; New York City had three. With no teams west of St. Louis or south of Washington, D.C., baseball was effectively confined to the Northeast and Midwest.

The 2012 Major League Baseball season began on April 5 because during the MLB Spring Training it was the first of a two-game series between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome in Japan. On November 22, 2011, a new contract between Major League Baseball and its players union was ratified, and as a result, an expanded playoff format adding two clubs would be adopted no later than 2013 according to the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The new format of the 2012 postseason to used the 1 game series of the Wild Card round of the format for the 2012 postseason only. The restriction against divisional rivals playing against each other in the Division Series round that had existed in previous years was eliminated, as the Baltimore Orioles and New York Yankees squared off in one of the best-of-five LDS in the American League. On April 4, 2012, it was the last day of the MLB Spring Training and ended with the new Marlins Park, as the newly renamed Miami Marlins hosted the defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals. The regular season ended on Wednesday, October 3. The entire master schedule was released on September 14, 2011.

The 1969 Major League Baseball expansion resulted in the establishment of expansion franchises in Kansas City and Seattle in the American League and in Montreal and San Diego in the National League of Major League Baseball. The Kansas City Royals, Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres, and Seattle Pilots began play in the 1969 Major League Baseball season. One of the reasons for expansion was increasing pressure to maintain the sport as the US national pastime, particularly because of the increasing popularity of professional football.

The 1961 Major League Baseball expansion resulted in the formation of two new Major League Baseball (MLB) franchises in the American League (AL). A new club was started in Washington, D.C., and took the existing name of the Senators, as the previous team of the same name moved to Minnesota for the start of the 1961 season and became the Twins. The second new franchise was granted to an ownership group led by Gene Autry for a team in Los Angeles who named themselves the Angels. The two new teams each paid a fee of $2.1 million and became the 17th and 18th franchises in MLB.

The 1962 Major League Baseball expansion was the formation of two new Major League Baseball (MLB) teams for the 1962 season. The Houston Colt .45s and the New York Mets were added to the National League (NL), becoming the 19th and 20th teams in MLB's two leagues. The Colt .45s were the first major league team in Houston while the Mets filled the void left when the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers of the NL moved to California after the 1957 season.

Major League Baseball (MLB), the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, has undergone several rounds of expansion beginning in 1961, eventually reaching 30 teams with its most recent expansion taking place in 1998. MLB has discussed preparations for another round of expansion. Several investment groups are vying for an MLB franchise.

References

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.