Continental League
The Continental League of Professional Baseball Clubs (known as the Continental League or CL) was a proposed third
History
Background
The move of the
New league announced
The Continental League was the idea of attorney
Representing the team owners at the announcement were
At least three other teams were expected to be in place before play began in 1961, and the league said it had received applications from 10 cities. The three that were later selected were
On February 18, 1960, Rickey and Cooke announced an opening date of April 18, 1961.[8]
Established leagues respond
The Major League Baseball commissioner's office was noncommittal on the issue. At that time, however, the American League and the National League enjoyed far more autonomy than they do today, answering more to their constituent owners (who were universally hostile to the new league) than to the Commissioner's Office. They reacted to the formation of the new league by announcing plans to expand by adding two teams in each of the existing leagues. Priority would be given, it was stated, to cities that did not have Major League Baseball. Accordingly, the NL placed one of its expansion teams in Houston (the then-Houston Colt .45s, now the American League Astros), a Continental League city without an existing Major League Baseball team.
Though the AL placed one of its expansion teams (the
However, notwithstanding aforementioned promise to expand to non-MLB cities, the National League owners had always had misgivings regarding their apparent ceding of the nation's largest market to the American League. Thus, once expansion was committed to, it was virtually inevitable the NL would return to New York City. The NL opted to offer its tenth franchise to the owners of the Continental League New York team, who immediately accepted, effectively killing any attempt to revive the proposed league. This franchise would become the
The league disbands
With Shea's mission to bring the National League back to New York successful, he stopped championing the Continental League's formation. The promise of expansion achieved the owners' desired effect; on August 2, 1960, the Continental League formally disbanded.
Legacy
Baseball historians concur that even without the imminent threat of a third major league, Major League Baseball expansion would inevitably have happened due to such factors as pressure from Congress, the rapid growth of professional football, and the replacement of conservative long-tenured owners with younger businessmen who tended to be far more amenable to expansion. Nevertheless, the Continental League undoubtedly compelled MLB to hasten expansion by several years. Although Major League Baseball had succeeded in preventing the launch of an eight-team CL, it only did so by committing to eventually add eight franchises of its own. MLB finished honoring this commitment in 1969 when the AL and NL each added two more teams for a total of eight over the course of the decade, thereby matching the total number of new teams envisioned by the Continental League.
Although William Shea's efforts to create a third major league are not well known today, Shea Stadium, home of the New York Mets from 1964 to 2008, was named in his honor for his efforts in bringing National League baseball back to New York. Over the next two decades, Shea would become involved in efforts to secure second franchises for the New York metropolitan area in each of the other three major sports. He brokered the 1963 sale of the Titans of New York (now known as the New York Jets) from Harry Wismer to Sonny Werblin, ensuring the survival of the then-struggling American Football League franchise, and then worked to bring the New York Nets of the American Basketball Association to Nassau Coliseum. Shea also helped negotiate the mergers of both rival leagues with the established National Football League and National Basketball Association respectively. On the other hand, he actively opposed efforts to establish a World Hockey Association team on Long Island by successfully lobbying the National Hockey League and the New York Rangers to award an NHL franchise (the New York Islanders) to Nassau County.[9]
Of the eight proposed Continental League cities, all but one eventually received relocated or expansion Major League Baseball franchises –
References
- ^ Calcaterra, Craig (May 29, 2019). "Happy birthday to baseball's antitrust exemption". NBC Sports. Retrieved November 10, 2021.
What is still in place, firmly, is Major League Baseball's ability to work to thwart competitors, if any ever arise, and its ability to carve out protected geographic territories for its clubs and anti-competitive contract rights for its clubs.
- ^ "Third Major Baseball League Formed". Chicago Tribune. July 28, 1959. p. 39. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
- ^ "Rickey Hints Plea to Congress". Chicago Tribune. December 9, 1959. p. 53. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
- ^ "Texas Cities get berth in new league". Chicago Tribune. December 23, 1959. p. 35. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
- ^ "Buffalo's Addition Completes Continental". The Daily Gazette. Associated Press. January 30, 1960. p. 17. Retrieved August 8, 2017.
- ^ "Continental names Rickey as President". Chicago Tribune. August 19, 1959. p. 55. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Whats My Line: Branch Rickey". YouTube. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
- ^ "Houston Holding Up New League". Oakland Tribune. Associated Press. February 19, 1960. p. 48. Retrieved August 7, 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-7385-7357-1. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
- ^ "Blue Jays To Stage Majority Of 2020 Home Games In Buffalo". Twitter. Retrieved July 24, 2020.
Further reading
- Buhite, Russell D. (2014). The Continental League: A Personal History. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 978-0803271906.
- Shapiro, Michael (2010). Bottom of the Ninth: Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball from Itself. St. Martin's Publishing. ISBN 978-0805092363.