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Major League Baseball relocations of 1950s–1960s

The Major League Baseball relocations of the 1950s–1960s brought several Major League Baseball franchises to the Western and Southern United States, expanding the league's geographical reach. This was in stark contrast to the early years of modern baseball, when the American League placed teams in National League cities. Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, and St. Louis had two teams; New York City had three. With no teams west of St. Louis or south of Washington, D.C., baseball was effectively confined to the Northeast and Midwest.

Baseball's expansion mirrored the westward movement of the U.S. population during a flourishing postwar economy that saw the arrival of commercial jet travel. Economic push and pull factors caused many teams to move, and the emergence of cities in the new frontier allowed baseball teams to pop up across the country. The moves of the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants to California in 1958 opened the West Coast to the market of baseball.


Since 1960, the National and American Leagues have added 14 teams.[1]

Subsequent moves[edit]

Aside from the Seattle Pilots moving to Milwaukee after one year (to become the Brewers), the other moves since have involved Washington, D. C. The original Washington Senators moved to the Twin Cities region to become the Minnesota Twins (beginning play as such in 1961), and the expansion Senators that replaced them moved to Arlington, Texas (in the Dallas-Fort Worth region) to become the Texas Rangers (beginning play as such in 1972). The owners of the Giants, White Sox, and Pirates (in the latter's case, as a result of the Pittsburgh drug trials) all threatened to move, though none made good on them; and all three markets to which these teams threatened to move (Toronto, the Tampa Bay Area, and Denver, respectively) would later receive expansion teams of their own.


There were no more moves until 2005, when MLB moved the Montreal Expos to the American capital and renamed them the Washington Nationals.


Montreal is the only city which has lost a major league franchise since 1901 without eventually getting another team. This is not counting the short-lived Federal League of 1914 and 1915; however, all Federal League markets save two—Buffalo and Indianapolis—either had a franchise in one of the two established leagues at the time or got one later. As of 2022, MLB officials have expressed an interest in the return of baseball to Montreal, and the city is a leading candidate for a proposed expansion to 32 teams.[20]

1953: Boston Braves move to Milwaukee

1954: St. Louis Browns move to Baltimore and become the Orioles

1955: Philadelphia Athletics move to Kansas City

1958: New York Giants move to San Francisco; Brooklyn Dodgers move to Los Angeles

1961: Washington Senators move to Minneapolis–Saint Paul and become the Minnesota Twins; new Washington Senators (replacing the original Senators) and Los Angeles Angels created as expansion teams

1962: Houston Colt .45s (later renamed the Astros) and New York Mets (replacing the Dodgers and Giants) created as expansion teams

1966: Milwaukee Braves move to Atlanta

1968: Kansas City Athletics move to Oakland

1969: San Diego Padres, Montreal Expos, Kansas City Royals (replacing the Athletics), and Seattle Pilots created as expansion teams

From 1903 to 1952, no major league baseball team moved to a different city. From 1953 to 1969, there were eight moves.

American League

National League

History of baseball in the United States#1972–2013

Major League Baseball#Relocation and expansion

Relocation of professional sports teams