On December 1st, 1941, during a scheduled press conference located at the Lyman's Cafe in Los Angeles, California, the St. Louis Browns' Owner Donald Barnes with a majority approval by the owners of Major League Baseball, announced to the sports world that the Browns, would be moving out further west to Los Angeles. As we all know this relocation gave the city of Los Angeles, its first professional sports team, and gave Barnes & the Browns to tap into an unexplored, eager market which the Los Angeles Browns would definitely benefit off.
The move was also thanks to Bank of America Co-founder A.P. Giannini, who agreed with Barnes' vision. Giannini would supply the much-needed additional funding that would transform this vision into a reality. As part of the deal, the Browns purchased the Pacific Coast League's Los Angeles Angels, moved the Angels down to Long Beach momentarily, while the Browns moved into Los Angeles' Wrigley Field, enlarging the stadium with the additional seating and modifications needed to field a big league team. The Angels would also work as an minor league affiliation strictly for the Browns, serving as the Browns' top farm team.
The St. Louis Cardinals' Owner Sam Breadon excited about the idea of not sharing a city with another pro baseball team, added $250,000 to help make this move a reality. The deal also answered travel concerns, as the Browns' ownership struck a partnership with TWA Airlines and the Chicago-to-Los Angeles Sante Fe Railroad.
The Browns' relocation to Los Angeles was the first relocation in 40 years for Major League Baseball. Little did we know at the time, that there would be plenty of relocations and expansion over the next decades to come.
The Browns would be the only Los Angeles professional sports team for the next four years, until the National Football League's Cleveland Rams relocated to L.A. and became the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams were coming off a victory in the 1945 NFL Championship Game, but saw the potential and financial possibilities in moving out west. For Cleveland fans, they would eventually welcome Paul Brown's Cleveland Browns of the All-America Football Conference.
The Browns struggled physically and mentally those first few years -- suffering through plenty of three-week road trips, mostly by train, occasionally by air. The team needed a same-league franchise, a league foe to help take the burden off the Browns. That's where the Philadelphia Athletics came in. The Athletics know exactly how the Browns felt in St. Louis, playing in the same city with another team was frustrating. Both Philadelphia teams were horrible during the 1940's, and it simply didn't make sense to have two teams. The Macks were already in the process of selling, and the decision by MLB to allow the Athletics the likelihood to move compared to the Phillies was easy... The Browns needed to steady their own ship, cutting back on some travel, and that could benefit the next relocating team as well, case in point, the Athletics.
The Macks would sell to San Francisco businessman Paul Fagan. Fagan already purchased the PCL San Francisco Seals in 1945, and spent millions upgrading their stadium of one day hosting a Major League Baseball team. The deal pays off, and the San Francisco Athletics were born. The Athletics, just like the Browns, benefit with their move out west. The Athletics would eventually move into Candlestick Park and then their beautiful park on the harbor in Oracle Park.
The Boston Braves, another two-teams-in-a-town team, would leave the city of Boston to the Boston Red Sox, moving out to the Midwest, to play in Milwaukee, starting in 1954. The Milwaukee Braves would be a huge hit, as Milwaukee's attendance during the 1950's would set records in sharp contrast to the downward MLB attendance trend that was happening during that time. Despite the great attendance the Braves' ownership flirted with the idea of moving the team to a bigger city, particularly Atlanta. Thanks to a brief, but ugly, public legal trial with the state of Wisconsin, and thanks to a narrow vote margin, the Braves stay in Milwaukee.
The New York Giants moved out to Minnesota in 1956, moving into the new Metropolitan Stadium. The deal to move the Giants out to Minnesota was struck in 1954, when the Giants couldn't get an exact agreement on a possible new stadium deal in New York, while playing at an eroding Polo Grounds was past its purpose. For Giants legend, Willie Mays, he was familar with Minneapolis, playing for the Minneapolis Millers (the Triple-A Affiliate to the Giants).
Prior to the 1958 MLB Season, Brooklyn Dodgers' Owner Walter O'Malley, frustrated with an outdated Ebbets Field, and not keen on settling in Queens, New York -- moves the Dodgers to Dallas, to become the Dallas Dodgers. The Dodgers enjoy immediate success, as Texas falls in love with Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and the voice of Vin Scully.
Expansion first comes to Major League Baseball in 1961, with the Baltimore Orioles joining the American League, and the Los Angeles Angels joining the National League. The following 1962 season, introduced the American League's Houston Colt 45's (who would become the Astros years later), and the New York Mets would join the National League, starting out at the Polo Grounds before moving into Shea Stadium.
The struggling Washington Senators move to Atlanta in time for the 1966 MLB Season. The Senators move into the new Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Long-time Atlanta Crackers Owner Earl Mann had been looking to add a team to the south for many years. Working in tandem with Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr, the Senators are lured from Washington.
Four Major League teams join in 1969 -- The Kansas City Royals and Seattle Pilots of the American League, and the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres of the National League. The Padres wouldn't stay in San Diego for long, as they would relocate to Washington D.C. and become the Washington Stars in 1974. The good news for Padres fan, they would return once again as an expansion team in 1977 along with the Toronto Blue Jays, both members of the American League.
Expansion would not come around for another 16 years, as the Colorado Rockies and Florida Marlins would join the National League in 1993. The last season of expansion took place in 1998 with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays joining the American League, and the Arizona Diamondbacks joining the National League. The Montreal Expos were able to strike a miraculous stadium deal to keep them in Montreal, while the Rays (minus Devil) are a team continuously circulating in relocation to this day.
Among these rumors are also the potential for future expansion cities such as Portland, Charlotte, San Antonio, and Nashville. These cities are also speculated relocation sites for the Rays as well. There is even talk of baseball returning to Brooklyn, thanks to the National Basketball Association's Brooklyn Nets.
But of course, you know...
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That most of the above has never happened. For fictional purposes, I chose the date December 1st, 1941 instead of the actual date of the vote on December 8th -- because if the date was any earlier, the original plan would have succeeded, and all the fiction above could have happened.
Most of the fiction was truly the vision from a writer for MLB.com named Mike Petriello, who wrote this great piece. The article details what actually happened and what could have happened. Simply put, any chance of the Los Angeles Browns happening ended when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor & the United States on December 7th.
There is plenty of back-and-forth debate from baseball experts, bloggers or casual fans on the chances of the Los Angeles Browns chances at becoming a reality. Some say it wasn't close, and there are some that say it came closer than anyone could have imagined. To understand the situation, you will have to understand how what actually happened -- which I will post in tomorrow night's post "What Actually Happened."
I was inspired by this article to create an alternate timeline playing Out of the Park Baseball 22, creating uniforms even for the Los Angeles Browns (pictured below). I am already through the 1942 and 1943 seasons, which have been reported in full detail on the OOTP Forums.
I will bring this story to life on here as well, as you will witness an alternate baseball history, which I decided to call 'The L.A. Browns Butterfly Effect'. In my alternate reality, the Los Angeles Browns did become a reality, and I will show how it would have changed the baseball landscape.
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