Baseball's Game Changers by George Castle

Author:George Castle
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781493019472
Publisher: Lyons Press

Buffalo. Bills (NFL), Sabres (NHL)

Indianapolis. Colts (NFL), Pacers (NBA)

Carolina (Charlotte). Panthers (NFL), Hornets (NBA)

Tennessee (Nashville). Titans (NFL), Predators (NHL)

New Orleans. Saints (NFL), Pelicans (NBA)

Jacksonville. Jaguars (NFL)

The replacement Senators became the second expansion team to move. Three financially troubled ownerships resulted in the franchise transfer to Arlington, Texas, to become the Rangers in 1972.

Also hurting were the San Diego Padres, whose mustard-and-brown uniforms were some of the ugliest in baseball history. Small crowds at then–San Diego Stadium lightened owner C. Arnholt Smith’s pocketbook. Rumors were rife by 1973 that the franchise was headed to Washington, DC. But the Padres were saved for the city when McDonald’s impresario Ray Kroc, frustrated in his attempt to buy his hometown Cubs, purchased the team.

The best-managed of the early expansion franchises was the Kansas City Royals. Run by dynamic owner Ewing Kauffman, the Royals won 88 games in their fifth season in 1973, captured three consecutive AL West titles from 1976 to 1978, played in the World Series in 1980, and won everything, aided by umpire Don Denkinger’s bad call, in 1985. The Toronto Blue Jays then improved on the Royals’ blueprint as one of the two AL expansion franchises in 1977. Toronto would go on to pace the American League East in a down period for the Yankees, and became the first expansion team to win multiple World Series.

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