Seattle Pilots (1969)

American League (1969)

Background

The story of the Seattle Pilots is one of the most fascinating in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB). It began years before the team’s 1969 debut and is a tale of hope, excitement, money (and lack thereof), franchise relocations, and political influence.

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Seattle’s Big League Dreams

Until the 1950s, Major League Baseball was confined to the Northeast and Midwest, going no further than St. Louis. Post-World War II, many cities in the South and West began growing aided, in part, by the introduction of the Interstate Highway System.

In 1958, the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants moved to Los Angeles and San Francisco, respectively, but they weren’t the first teams to relocate during the decade. In 1954, the St. Louis Browns moved east to Baltimore to become the Orioles while the Philadelphia Athletics relocated to Kansas City. This came a year after the Boston Braves moved west to Milwaukee. The latter two moves would factor in the Pilots’ story. Meanwhile, the Dodgers and Giants relocations had other cities outside the Northeast and Midwest thinking they could support Major League Baseball.

Continental Divide

In 1959, a third major league called the Continental League was proposed. Its primary goal was to replace the departed Dodgers and Giants in New York, while also bringing baseball to new markets including Denver, Houston, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Dallas, Toronto, and Buffalo. The idea was scrapped in 1960 when both the National and American leagues announced plans to expand.

Though Seattle was not among the cities mentioned as a location for the Continental League, the town’s profile was nonetheless on the rise in the late 1950s. As early as 1959, the city was considered for membership in the fourth American Football League set to begin play in 1960. However, the University of Washington refused to let any pro team use their field and Seattle was passed over.

Go West, Old Team

In 1964, the Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) were threatening to relocate and had Seattle was on their short-list. Indians’ president Gabe Paul even visited the city to assess the possibility. The team, however, opted to stay in Cleveland. Three years later, in the summer of 1967, the Kansas City A’s, owned by the notorious Charles O. Finley, came calling.

While the Indians were apparently just using Seattle as leverage in talks to get a better lease at Cleveland Municipal Stadium, the A’s were serious about leaving Kansas City, preferably for the start of the 1968 season. Milwaukee and Oakland were also on Finley’s list. At the end of the 1967 baseball season, he settled on Oakland, with approval coming on October 19. While Seattle lost out on getting the A’s, the team’s move to Oakland would have lasting repercussions on the Emerald City.

The A’s departure from Kansas City was long in the works, and local and state politicians were apoplectic. Led by Missouri Senator Stuart Symington, they insisted Major League Baseball replace the A’s immediately. Symington went as far as to introduce legislation that would strip MLB of its anti-trust exemption.

The threat worked, and on the same day the A’s were granted their release from Kansas City, the American League announced two new franchises would be awarded to begin play no later than 1971. Great news for Kansas City baseball fans, but as far as they were concerned, 1971 was too long to wait.

Six weeks later, Seattle was granted conditional approval for one of the slots, with the other going, of course, to Kansas City. Both were slated to join the American League for the 1969 season, despite KC mayor Ilus Davis’ insistence that baseball in his city continue uninterrupted. On March 30, 1968, Seattle’s team was officially named the Pilots.

Not So Fast

The accelerated pace of getting the two (and later four, as the NL decided to expand for the 1969 season as well) teams hurt the Pilots more than the other new clubs. In addition to the $5.25 million expansion fee, the team had to pay an additional $1 million to the AAA Pacific Coast League for eliminating one of its strongest markets. On the positive side, voters approved a bond issue in February 1968 that would allow for the building of a domed stadium. Until that was completed, though, the team would have to use Sick’s Stadium, which would be expanded from 12,000 to 25,000 seats.

Ready or not, the Pilots took the field for the first time on April 8, 1969, playing the California Angels in that team’s home opener. Seattle won and two days later made their debut in front of the hometown fans in Washington State. Oddly, just under 15,000 fans turned out for the historic game against the Chicago White Sox. The Pilots won that game too and finished April with seven wins and eleven losses, a respectable start for a new team.

They finished with the second-worst record in the American League, besting only the Cleveland Indians. However, that was far better than the two new teams in the National League, the Montreal Expos and the San Diego Padres, who both lost 110 games.

No Money, Mo Problems

While the Pilots were competitive on the field, their finances were a mess. Sick’s Stadium, even as a temporary home, had proven inadequate. The city, which had owned the facility since 1964, hadn’t kept up with it. To make matters worse, the ownership group was severely under-capitalized. Indeed, Kansas City’s bid was contested by four groups, whereas Seattle’s partnership, unlike San Diego’s and Montreal’s, was never vetted. Even stranger, the trio sought no local business partnerships to help fill the team’s coffers.

During the off-season, Dewey Soriano, one of the team’s three partners, met with car dealer Bud Selig of Milwaukee, who agreed to buy the team for $10.8 million and move them to Milwaukee. His two associates, brother Max, and former Indians head William Daley, turned the offer down. They feared city and state officials would draw from Senator Symington’s playbook and invoke legal and legislative action. The American League agreed and ponied up $650,000 to keep the team afloat. Still, no new partners were approached.

Schlemiel, schlimazel

The extra funds got the team as far as spring training, but it wasn’t enough to get them to Opening Day. Two injunctions were filed to keep the team from moving, but on March 20 an attorney for the team stated the Pilots would not be able play in Seattle in 1970. A federal referee placed the team in bankruptcy on March 31, 1970.

The court battle continued for a few more days. On April 2, 1970, American League president Joe Cronin sent a telegram to Selig and his partners, welcoming Milwaukee back to the majors. With spring training finished, and opening day approaching, the team’s equipment trucks were sitting in Utah unsure of whether to head to Seattle or Milwaukee. They were finally directed to the latter.

The new Milwaukee Brewers opened their inaugural season at home with a 12-0 loss to the California Angels. The Brewers wore yellow and blue Seattle uniforms for the game.

Suit Yourself

Not surprisingly, the city of Seattle, King County, and Washington State sued the American League. The case dragged on for six years until the league agreed to award an expansion franchise to Seattle in exchange for the plaintiffs dropping their suit. On August 24, 1976, the Seattle Mariners were officially introduced and on April 6, 1977, they made their debut, hosting, yes, the California Angels, in the brand-new Kingdome. The M’s lost 7-0, but big league baseball had finally returned to the Pacific Northwest.

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