Seattle Pilots

Seattle Pilots

1969 Seattle Pilots Team Photo
Established: 1969 (Expansion team)
Relocated: April 1, 1970 (to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, as the Milwaukee Brewers)
Major league affiliations:
*American League (1969)
**West Division (1969)
Stadium:

Sick's Stadium (1969)

Uniform Colors: Royal Blue, Gold

         

Logo Design: Pilots (name of team) on baseball in a red Pilot's ship's wheel logo with golden wings (representing airplanes)
Record: 64-98
Mascot: None
Theme Song: Go, Go You Pilots!
Division Championships: None
American League Championships: None
World Series Championships: None

The Seattle Pilots were an American professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington for one season, 1969. The Pilots played home games at Sick's Stadium and were a member of the West Division of Major League Baseball's American League. On April 1, 1970, they moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and changed their name to the Brewers.[1]

The team's name originated from the owner's part-time job as a harbor pilot and the city's association with the aviation industry.[2] The team colors were royal blue and gold (with accessory red in the logo: helm and baseball seams). Seattle had long been a hotbed for minor league baseball and was home to the Seattle Rainiers, a successful team in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). At the time, Seattle was the third-biggest metropolitan area on the West Coast. The Cleveland Indians briefly considered a move to Seattle in 1964 but opted to stay in Ohio. In 1967 Charles Finley looked to move his Kansas City Athletics to Seattle, but ended up moving the Athletics to Oakland, California. There was no real competition from other professional teams at the time. While Seattle had landed the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s SuperSonics in 1967, the NBA was not in the same class as baseball was in terms of popularity at the time.[3] The NFL would come to the city in 1976 with the addition of the expansion Seahawks.

Formation

The front man for the franchise ownership, Pacific Northwest Sports, Inc. (PNSI), was Dewey Soriano, a former Rainiers pitcher and general manager and former president of the Pacific Coast League.[4] In an ominous sign of things to come, Soriano had to ask William R. Daley, who owned the Indians during the time they flirted with moving to Seattle, to underwrite much of the purchase price. In return, Soriano sold Daley 47% of the stock — the largest stake in the club. He became chairman of the board while Soriano served as president.

A couple of factors were beyond the Pilots' control. They were originally not set to start play until 1971 along with the Kansas City Royals. However, the date was moved up to 1969 under pressure from Senator Stuart Symington of Missouri. Professional baseball had been played in Kansas City in one form or another from 1883 until the A's left for Oakland after the 1967 season, and Symington would not accept the prospect of Kansas City having to wait three years for baseball to return.[5] (The American League would not allow only one new team to enter the league, as the resulting odd number of teams would unbalance the schedule. That meant that Kansas City and Seattle had to be admitted together.)

Also, the Pilots had to pay the PCL $1 million to compensate for the loss of one of its most successful franchises. After King County voters approved a bond for a domed stadium (what would become the Kingdome) in February 1968 with 62% in favor,[6][7][8][9] the Seattle Pilots were officially born.[10][11] California Angels executive Marvin Milkes was hired as general manager,[11] and Joe Schultz, a coach with the National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals, became manager.[1][12]

Team Issues

The wordmarks for the Seattle Pilots

Schultz and Milkes both optimistically stated that they thought Pilots could finish third in the newly formed, six-team AL West.[13] However, the Pilots experienced the typical struggles of a first-year expansion team. They won their very first game, and then their home opener three days later, but only won five more times in the first month. Nevertheless, the Pilots managed to stay in reasonable striking distance of .500. The Pilots were only 6 games back of the division lead as late as June 28. But a disastrous 9–20 July (and an even worse 6–22 August) ended even a faint hope of any kind of contention, though they were still in third place as late as August. The team finished the season in last place in the AL West with a record of 64-98, 33 games out of first (Minnesota), and 45 games behind league-leading Baltimore.[14][15]

However, the team's poor play was the least of its troubles. The most obvious problem was Sicks' Stadium. The longtime home of the Rainiers, it had once been considered one of the best ballparks in minor league baseball.[16] By the 1960s, however, it was considered far behind the times. While a condition of MLB awarding the Pilots to Seattle was that Sicks' had to be expanded to 30,000 seats, only 19,500 seats were ready by Opening Day because of numerous delays.[17] The scoreboard was not even ready until the night before the season opener. By June there were finally 25,000 seats in place. Water pressure was almost nonexistent after the seventh inning, especially with crowds above 8,000.[18] Attendance was poor (678,000) and the Pilots lost several hundred thousand dollars their first and only season.[19] The team's new stadium was slated to be built at the Seattle Center,[20] but a petition by stadium opponents ground the project to a halt.[21] The site was later moved to south of downtown and became the Kingdome,[9] now occupied by CenturyLink Field.

Relocation

By the end of the season, the Pilots were gasping. However, Daley refused to put up more financing. It was obvious that they would not survive long enough to move into their new park without new ownership.[22] It was also obvious that such a move would have to happen quickly, as Sicks' Stadium was inadequate even for temporary use.

During the offseason, Soriano made contact with car salesman and former Milwaukee Braves minority owner Bud Selig, who was leading the effort to bring major league baseball back to Milwaukee. They met in secret for over a month after the end of the season, and during Game 1 of the World Series, Soriano agreed to sell the Pilots to Selig for $10.8 million.[23] Selig would then move the team to Milwaukee.

However, the remaining owners of the Pilots turned it down in the face of pressure from Washington State's two senators, Warren Magnuson and Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson, as well as state attorney general Slade Gorton. Local theater chain owner Fred Danz came forward in October 1969 with a $10 million deal, but it fizzled when the Bank of California called in a $4 million loan it had made to Soriano and Daley to finance the purchase of the franchise.[24] In January 1970, Westin Hotels head Eddie Carlson put together a nonprofit group to buy the team.[25] However, the owners rejected the idea almost out of hand since it would have devalued the other clubs' worth. A slightly modified deal came one vote short of approval.[26]

Bankruptcy

After a winter and spring full of court action, the Pilots reported for spring training under new manager Dave Bristol, unsure of where they would play. The owners had given tentative approval to the Milwaukee group, but the state of Washington got an injunction on March 16 to stop the deal. PNSI immediately filed for bankruptcy — a move intended to forestall post-sale legal action.[27] At the bankruptcy hearing a week later, Milkes testified there was not enough money to pay the coaches, players, and office staff. Had Milkes been more than 10 days late in paying the players, they would have all become free agents and left Seattle without a team for the 1970 season.[28] With this in mind, Federal Bankruptcy Referee Sidney Volinn declared the Pilots bankrupt on April 1—six days before Opening Day—clearing the way for them to move to Milwaukee. The team's equipment had been sitting in Provo, Utah with the drivers awaiting word on whether to drive toward Seattle or Milwaukee.[29] The move came so late that Selig had to scrap his initial plans to change the team's colors to navy and red in honor of the minor-league Brewers of his youth. Instead, the Brewers were stuck using old Pilots' uniforms, with the team name replaced. One legacy of the Brewers' roots in Seattle is that their colors are still blue and gold, although the shades have been darker since 2000.

Jim Bouton was a Pilots' relief pitcher in 1969, sold to the Seattle Angels by the New York Yankees in mid-1968.[30] His classic baseball book, Ball Four is based on a journal that he kept during the season.[31]

Lawsuit and enfranchisement of the Seattle Mariners

In 1970, in the aftermath of the Pilots' purchase and relocation to Milwaukee, the City of Seattle, King County, and the state of Washington (represented by then-State Attorney General Slade Gorton) sued the American League for breach of contract.[32] Confident that Major League Baseball would return to Seattle within a few years, King County built the multi-purpose Kingdome, which would become home to the NFL's expansion Seattle Seahawks in 1976.

The Pilots lawsuit continued until 1976. At trial, the American League offered to give Seattle an expansion baseball franchise in return for dropping the suit,[32] and details were ironed out over the next year. To keep the league with an even number of teams, a formal expansion proceeding was held, with a second team, the Blue Jays, being awarded to the city of Toronto (also allowing both leagues to place a team in Canada, the National League's Montreal Expos having been established in 1969). The new Seattle team, to begin play in 1977, would be owned by entertainer Danny Kaye, along with Stanley Golub, Walter Schoenfeld, Lester Smith, James Stillwell, Jr. and James A. Walsh. Seattle's new team would be known as the Mariners, and would initially incorporate the same blue and gold colors used by the Pilots.

The only season in Seattle

Year Record Win % Place Playoffs Notes
1969 64-98 .395 6th in AL West The only season in Seattle.
Totals 64-98 .395

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Clines, Frank (April 9, 1989). "The Pilots". Milwaukee Journal. p. 1C.
  2. ↑ "Seattle Post-Intelligencer", 10 March 1968 and Bill Mullins, Becoming Big League, p. 105
  3. ↑ Bill Mullins, Becoming Big League, p. 51
  4. ↑ Seattle Times, 10 April 1969
  5. ↑ Seattle Times, 19 October 1967
  6. ↑ "Stadium appears on way to victory". Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. February 14, 1968. p. 1.
  7. ↑ "Arena due for Seattle". Spokane Daily Chronicle (Washington). Associated Press. February 14, 1968. p. 29.
  8. ↑ "Seattle stadium approved; rapid transit plan killed". Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. February 15, 1968. p. 32.
  9. 1 2 "Seattle forms pro sports group". Ellensburg Daily Record (Washington). UPI. September 28, 1973. p. 6.
  10. ↑ Susananne Elaine Vandenbosch, "The 1968 Forward Thrust Election", pp. 85, 92
  11. 1 2 "Seattle Pilots true, true". Ellensburg Daily Record (Washington). Associated Press. May 11, 1968. p. 8.
  12. ↑ Seattle Times, 21 February 1968
  13. ↑ Bill Mullins, Becoming Big League, pp. 117-118
  14. ↑ 1969 Seattle Pilots season
  15. ↑ "American League: final standings". Spokane Daily Chronicle (Washington). Associated Press. October 3, 1968. p. 14.
  16. ↑ Alan J. Stein, "Sicks' Stadium", HistoryLink.org.
  17. ↑ Bill Mullins, Becoming Big League, p. 141
  18. ↑ Bill Mullins, Becoming Big League, p. 145
  19. ↑ Bill Mullins, Becoming Big League, p. 231
  20. ↑ "Stadium site mulled". Eugene Register-Guard (Oregon). Associated Press. September 11, 1969. p. 2C.
  21. ↑ The Sporting News, 14 December 1968
  22. ↑ Bill Mullins, Becoming Big League, p. 237
  23. ↑ Bill Mullins, Becoming Big League, p. 194
  24. ↑ Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 4 January 1970
  25. ↑ Seattle Times, 27 January 1970.
  26. ↑ Bill Mullins, Becoming Big League, p. 211
  27. ↑ Bill Mullins, Becoming Big League, pp. 229-230
  28. ↑ Seattle Times, 24 March 1970
  29. ↑ Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 3 April 1970
  30. ↑ "Jim Bouton sold to Seattle". Spokesman-Review (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. June 16, 1968. p. 9.
  31. ↑ Bouton, Jim (June 28, 1970). "Jim Bouton puts a little extra on his salary pitch". Pittsburgh Press. (Ball Four excerpt). p. 1, sec. 3.
  32. 1 2 Cour, Jim (1999-06-27). "Good riddance". The Austin American-Statesman.

Further reading

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