Strange Failed MLB Relocations… 

"Whitney" Ford? OK, youre done.

Man, the history is interesting, but this guy has a way of absolutely mangling the pronunciation of every proper noun he’s ever encountered.

As a Northern Virginia native, it hurts so hard to hear the word Potomac pronounced as "Pot O Mack". It's pronounced "Puh Toe Mick"

The Minnesota Twins almost relocated to North Carolina in 1998. There was a public referendum for a ballpark that failed, so the buyer backed out. They were also almost contracted in 2001.

Alternative title: history of the Chicago white sox

When the Giants were in danger of moving, fans brought signs urging the Giants to stay. There was a front page photo in the San Francisco Chronicle of a cute kid almost in tears, holding a sign at a game. That kid was aa 5 year old Brandon Crawford, who would go on to play for the Giants.

I remember the ads in a Tampa newspaper that said “Give Tampa Bay a Giant Thumbs up” with a baseball glove with a thumbs up. Then when it didn’t happen they had the glove with a middle finger up saying “Tampa Bay salutes Major League Baseball!”

@1:15 did you say "whitney" ford?

In the 1960's, there was confirmed rumors about the Cleveland Indians moving to New Orleans.

The Giants almost moved to Minneapolis. Walter O'Malley, the Dodgers owner, called Giants owner Horace Stoneham and suggested he move to San Francisco to keep the rivalry alive.

I'm glad that the Giants didn't relocate to Toronto. We ended getting the expansion Blue Jays, and got a whole bunch of players that ingratiated themselves with Toronto, and ended up drafting well, and having a great farm system that served us very well for over a decade.

In 1977 or 78 the A’s nearly relocated to Denver. I remember having a baseball season preview magazine where they were referred to the “Denver A’s”.

You forgot the A's and White Sox also considered New Orleans, and the Indians seriously considered a plan to play 30 games a year in New Orleans when the Superdome opened.

In the early 90s the Seattle Mariners had a potential deal to play half their home games in Vancouver

You missed a couple of interesting ones: -1941: the St Louis Browns were all set to have a vote and announce their relocation to LA for the 1942 season. Then Pearl Harbor happened and it was called off. -1952: St Louis Browns ask to move to Milwaukee, but the Braves veto the deal -Early 1960s: Reds considered moving to San Diego, but got a stadium in Cincy -1985: Pittsburgh Pirates almost leave for Florida after the cocaine scandal

Your pronunciation is worse than my GPS! 😁

The Padres almost moved to DC in 1974, but Walter O'Malley recruited Ray Kroc to save the team for San Diego.

There have been more than 9 MLB teams who have relocated: The original AL Milwaukee Brewers relocated to become the St Louis Browns who relocated to become the Baltimore Orioles; The original AL Baltimore Orioles relocated to NYC to become the Highlanders/Yankees; The Indianapolis Hoosiers of the Federal League became the Newark Peppers; the Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee then Atlanta; the Philadelphia Athletics moved to KC then Oakland with an upcoming move to Las Vegas in progress; The part of the original NL Baltimore Orioles became the Brooklyn Dodgers who then moved to LA, and the rest merged with the NY Giants who then moved to SF; the original AL Senators moved and became the Twins, while the expansion era Senators became the Rangers after the move to Texas; the Seattle Pilots became the new AL Milwaukee Brewers in 1970; and the Expos moved to DC and became the Nationals. That makes 11 relocations

It is interesting that the White Sox have considered leaving Chicago many times due to the Cubs being so popular.

New subscriber here! Solution to criticism: Nowadays it is super easy to find a pronunciation for something you are not positive about. If you Google the proper name and "pronunciation" you will get a video or audio clip demonstrating the proper way or ways to say it. We ought not mispronounce names in a day and age where all it takes is less than a minute of typing and listening to learn forever. I loved the content, B-roll, tone, structure, and storytelling approach. 😊

Who the fuck was Whitney Ford?

Pot-o-mac? NO. Po-toe-mac.

Nothing Whitney Ford loved more after a win was a cool glass of Pink Whitey.

Very informative. I had no idea about most of these. MLB could look very different if some of these relocations had happened. Check some of those pronunciations, though. Particularly Rutherford, Raleigh and Potomac.

Interesting presentation. Worth a subscription. Looking forward to seeing more of your content.

The Seattle lawsuit wasn't just because they lost their team. It was mainly because relocating the team after just a year in Seattle broke a promise MLB had made with the city if Seattle agreed to build a new stadium and expand the temporary stadium they were initially using (which Seattle did). Also, Seattle did not "win" the lawsuit. They agreed to drop the lawsuit in exchange for an expansion team, which as you pointed out became the Seattle Mariners (but 1977 was their first season, not 1976).

Nice video, subscribed

Speaking of the White Sox, the current owner Jerry Reinsdorf, has said the team might move when the current lease with the stadium expires in 6 years. I guess history does repeat. I guess time will tell if they finally do move or not.

The loss of the mention of the St. Louis Browns moving to Los Angeles in 1942 , is perplexing. I believe it got the League’s approval? It almost went through, until a little thing happened. Pearl Harbor. If that didn’t happen, in 1966, it could have been the Los Angeles Browns in the World Series against a Dodger team of possibly Baltimore? Or a Dodger team of somewhere else? Anyway we have the Baltimore Orioles & the Los Angeles Dodgers today.

There were lots of rumors in 1992 of the Seattle Mariners moving to Tampa as well. After an awful season, the team had an ad showing Ken Griffey Jr. wearing a “Tampa Bay” jersey with a tagline that “things could have been worse.”

Good video man. I could see the Tampa Bay Rays relocating and Charlotte getting a team.

just a reminder Tampa Bay isn’t a city. It’s a region. St. Petersburg and Tampa are two different cities.

This channel is underrated

My man, the Yankees’ “Chairman of the board” was not named WhitNey Ford. You need to edit that BIG TIME.

Interesting stuff.

White Sox also looked at Tampa Bay. Giants also looked at relocating to San Jose too. Expos also looked at relocation to San Juan Puerto Rico and played games there.

I like your voice with baseball keep working man

Featured throughout the video is St. Petersburg, Florida. Tampa Bay's of course not a city. In fact in 1980 Pinellas had a greater population than Hillsborough County. The Pinellas peninsula had just as rich of a minor league history as the eastern part of the bay. 730k vs 647k. Most of Sarasota County's 202k population was closer to St. Pete than downtown Tampa. Tampa could have drawn from the 322k in Polk County. Pinellas was the 3rd most populous county in the state. 4th was Tampa's Hillsborough. We are talking about THE coast where Spring Training had lived for decades. This is during an age when the following metros now with at least 1 sports teams in the Deep South had none: Charlotte, Nashville, Orlando, Jacksonville, Memphis, Raleigh. You big old Atlanta with a whopping 3 teams. Then just New Orleans and Miami with 1 franchise each. Duval with 571k was thinking this way too. They were also counting on the mere 51k in St. Johns and hefty 259k in Volusia County which had the Daytona 500 which was the marquee event in NASCAR, which was regional sport. Not national like baseball, football, and basketball. You gotta give credit to the various metros in Florida who vied to be Florida's Second City after Miami was awarded the Dolphins in the 1960s. There was a race to acquire a pro franchise to announce your presence to America. At that point the main 2 teams in the state beyond the Dolphins were the Florida Gators and the Florida State Seminoles. This is true well into the 80s when the state only had the Dolphins and hapless Buccaneers. The Gators and Noles could not be relocated from their smaller home counties: Alachua (151k) and Leon (149k), respectively. Ain't that something, the state capital had fewer people than an orange topped blue cesspool off I-75.

You should have included that the Expos were 'removed' from Montreal, after MLB took ownership of the franchise, and they played their home games in Puerto Rico for a season or two, before the official sale to the Lerner group and their relocation to DC.

please re record La Batts pronounced like baseball bat and Pa toe mak ( the river washington crossed

I live near where the Pilots played. Sicks Stadium is now a hardware store.

The St. Louis Cardinals almost moved to Houston in 1953, but then Gussie Busch bought the team instead to keep them in St. Louis, and the St. Louis Browns instead moved to Baltimore to become the Orioles later that same year.

Good video!

Need the anti trust act for the A’s

There was also a group in Southern California (Inland Empire) that tried to bring the Expos into the San Bernardino/Riverside area. I don’t think it ever got serious, but I read articles about it. Unfortunately I am not able to find the articles anymore…..

I gotta do it... Its Puh-toe-mic 10:21 .... My bad lol fire video 🔥👍

If you do a second one of these, you could add the second expansion Washington Senators looking to move to Buffalo in the early 70's before going to Arlington.

Seattle to Tampa Bay almost happened in 91-92.

Did you say “Riley” instead of Raleigh? I’ve never heard it like that and I cringed when I did hear it… I will say though, apart from the mispronunciations, it was a very informative video, and I enjoyed it

Ironically, the Giants have the Dodgers to thank in large part for staying in San Francisco. O'Malley knew a move to Tampa would ruin their historic rivalry and used his sway with the owners to get the proposed move voted down.

The Giants also had talks about moving to Buffalo, NY in the early 90's and reviving the "NY Giants" moniker.

Actually, the relocation of the early 1900s Milwaukee Brewers to St. Louis was hardly "devastating", as the American League, self-proclaimed as a "major" league and not necessarily taken seriously by all, had yet to establish its credibility.

In the early 90s rightbas the Biggio-Bagwell era was starting in Houston, the Astros almost moved to Northern Virginia because the owner hated being in the Dome

Hey bud My comment, upon me rereading it, seems a bit harsh. You have good content there. Check your pronunciation on the next one! I will be looking forward to seeing it, as I enjoy baseball very much. New sub!

The Expos didn't have attendance problems...the fans refused to go to the games after the players strike...feeling the players and owners were greedy...the refused to support a new stadium build...and because the players and owners are greedy they left...Montreal always supported baseball major and minor

In 1957, the baseball Giants were set to leave New York and originally had eyes on the Twin Cities. They were leaving New York regardless of what the Dodgers did. When the Dodgers decided to move to LA though, the Giants moved further west to San Francisco. The Twin Cities wouldn’t have to wait too long though as Senators 1.0 relocated.

For the Expos you forgot San Juan, Puerto Rico as an option. They even played a third of their home games there their last 2 years

The Chicago White Sox stadium is a white elephant. Instead of building that thing they should have done a Fenway-style renovation of Comiskey. But all is not lost. Nowadays, they could build a 40,000 seat stadium adjacent to a cornfield in one of the far northwest suburbs of Chicago and give it a "Field of Dreams" vibe.

Ray Lee, NC?

The NJ expos makes no sense, the state already had 3 fan bases, Yankees, mets and phillies

Sorry to add to the nitpicking, but it’s just “MLB”, not “The MLB”.

Wow I remember like 10 years ago the Rays wanted to move to New Jersey or Connecticut

If the Braves had the attendance to prosper in Boston as the Aaron/Matthews/Spahn core was about to blossom. The Ted Williams less Red Sox would've moved to San Diego in 1961 to begin a rivalry with the Angels.

The urban legend is that when La Batts Breweries finally got the Blue Jays, they were hoping that everyone would shorten the team's name to "The Blues", reminding everyone of their most popular brand of beer, La Batts Blue. Unfortunately for them, everyone instead shortened the team's name to "The Jays".

Reinsdorf needs to sell, but I wouldnt be suprised if the team eventually relocates. Most people i know are Cubs fans, and white sox fans these days are mostly legacy fans, ie their family rooted for them. Its a dying franchise. I could see them moving to NC or Salt Lake City, since Jerry isn't getting the brand new stadium he asked the city for.

It is pronounced East Rutherford, not East Rootherford.

When the A's move I'm switching. My dad won't.

Damn that Whitney Ford

The White Sox played home games in Milwaukee in 1968-1969. It wasn't four years, it was four months practically when the Pilots moved to Milwaukee

Alexandria is a part of Metro DC, and if the Expos had ended up at Potomac Yard instead of Navy Yard on the Anacostia River they still would have been the Washington Nationals and still likely would have spent time at RFK waiting for their own ballpark.

Actually, the first American league team to move was the Baltimore Orioles to New York to become the Yankees.

Wow, the pronunciation in this video is something special

"Three way trade"- The Pilots moved in 1970. The Chicago A's; Seattle White Sox deal was 1975

There’s talk now about an expansion team in Montreal.

St. Louis Cardnials almost moved to Houston Tx

You left out a Minnesota Twins to Virginia but Target Field was built. Angeles to Long Beach not a major but worth mentioning. The Cards to East St Louis in Illinois.

The Giants were originally going to move to Minneapolis, but Walter O'Malley talked them into moving to San Francisco instead, to keep the rivalry alive.

It's Whitey Ford. Whitney was a singer.

Also missed the Expos flirting with a move to San Juan - they actually split their time between Montreal’s Olympic Stadium and San Juan’ Hiram Bithorn Stadium in both the 2003 and 2004 seasons!

Where do you think the Oakland Athletic's are going to relocate too? San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Nashville, Charlotte, Montreal, Salt Lake City, Vancouver, Orlando, Las Vegas, New Orleans, Austin, Buffalo, Louisville, Portland, etc. etc. etc. (That's 14 options they can choose from lol)

Tampa was willing to do anything, except build a decent stadium. For the 3 way team swap, why didn’t the owners just swap teams instead of teams swapping cities? That happened in the NFL with Colts and Rams.

You forgot the Twins almost moved to Greensboro, NC.

The original senators wanted to move to LA in the early 50's.

You need a metropolitan area of MINIMUM 4 million people to be able to support an MLB franchise. Otherwise you have no income from a thriving corporate sector or a worthwhile local tv deal.

😂😂😂 Whitney Ford huh? Oh man. 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

The Seattle Mariners nearly came close to relocating to Tampa Bay. Chuck Finley, then owner of the Oakland Athletics, was condering moving his from Kansas City to Louisville, Kentucky to rename them the Kentucky Colonels. Je also considered moving to New Orleans, Dallas, and Srattle before settling in Oakland. Subsequently, he intended to sell the team to a businessman, Marvin Davis, whose intention was to move the team Denver, but the city of Oakland would not let him out of the lease of the coliseum after lising the Raiders.

Whitey Ford, not Whitney.

There is no such thing as "the MLB."

Somehow the Potomac Yards site in Alexandria both gets butchered and a picture of Georgetown Waterfront Park, which is miles away and not even in Virginia, is used

The padres to dc would’ve been crazy😂

Forgot about Puerto Rico for the Expos.

Toronto WOULD get their team the next year via expansion but it was all thanks to Ewing Kaufmanns wife who was a Toronto native

The Chicago White Sox are supposed to move to Mexico City Mexico if they are sold within a few years.

The central jersey metro would be a sick spot for an MLB team. Call them the "hub city punks" or something

The 1902 Milwaukee Brewers??? Did I hear that right?

I remember when the Pirates almost moved to Sacramento

Whitney Ford? Sheez

The Red Sox were about to leave Boston in the 1960s. Winning the pennant in 1967 put an end to that plan.

Raleigh is pronounced “Rah Lee.” Apart from the mispronunciations, overall great video!

Never should have moved the Dodgers