The Kansas City Royals, Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres, and the Seattle Pilots began play in the 1969 season.
[3] In May 1966, Commissioner of Baseball William Eckert stated that cities that should be considered for expansion included Milwaukee (the Milwaukee Braves had moved to Atlanta before the 1966 season), New Orleans, Oakland, San Diego, Seattle, and Toronto, and that expansion would occur in "eight to 10 years;"[4] he subsequently stated that the leagues could expand "any time after two years".
The list included Atlanta, Buffalo, Dallas–Fort Worth, Denver, Oakland, San Diego, Seattle, and Toronto.
[12] In October 1967, with the team's lease at Municipal Stadium expired,[13] Finley once again proposed to move the franchise to Oakland, this time at the owners' meetings in Chicago.
Cronin conveyed the news to Kansas City mayor Ilus Davis and Stuart Symington, a US Senator from Missouri.
[13] Tom Yawkey arranged a meeting of the owners still at the convention, during which the league agreed to accelerate the expansion process and assured that Kansas City would be granted a new franchise to begin play no later than the 1969 season.
[16] On the floor of the United States Senate on October 19, Symington described Finley as "one of the most disreputable characters ever to enter the American sports scene" and said that "Oakland is the luckiest city since Hiroshima".
[16] The league's stature also declined with the move of the Brooklyn Dodgers to Los Angeles and the New York Giants to San Francisco, which caused those cities' PCL teams to relocate to much smaller markets.
[16] Charlie Finley also found the stadium inadequate during a 1967 visit, and so rejected Seattle as a potential target for moving the Kansas City Athletics.
[16] Coupled with Symington's threats related to the move of the Kansas City Athletics, the political influence swayed the American League owners.
[15] On December 1, 1967 at the Winter Meetings in Mexico City, the franchise was officially awarded to Pacific Northwest Sports, which received $5.5 million in funding from Daley, who thus had 47% ownership of the venture.
[18][16] The National League had received applications for an expansion franchise from Buffalo, Dallas–Fort Worth, Milwaukee, Montreal, San Diego, and Toronto as well as an informal bid from Denver.
Jackie Robinson, who had been signed to a contract by Branch Rickey in late 1945, played the entire season for the International League team.
[27] Several influential owners pledged their support for a Montreal franchise in that meeting, including Walter O'Malley, Roy Hofheinz, and John Galbreath.
[27] National League president Warren Giles had encouraged the owners during the meeting, stating "If we're going to expand, let's really spread it out".
[26] Because of the slow pace of progress in meeting commitments, Jean-Louis Lévesque withdrew his financial support in the franchise on July 31, 1968.
On May 27, 1968, the National League officially awarded a franchise to San Diego to commence play in the 1969 season[27] for a fee of $12.5 million for the team.
[36] On October 14, 1968, the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres drafted players exclusively from National League teams.
[34] On 15 October, the Kansas City Royals and Seattle Pilots drafted players exclusively from American League teams.
Because Buffalo was not awarded an expansion franchise, Erie County legislators reconsidered a $50 million bond issue that was to be used for the construction of a domed stadium for baseball and football.
[41] The National League originally resisted a divisional split, with its president Warren Giles citing "the tradition and history of baseball".
They went onto sweep the St. Louis Cardinals in their first ever NLCS, and defeat the Houston Astros (moved to the AL prior to the 2013 season) to win the franchise's first World Series title.
The team fared poorly on the field, and faced financial difficulties owing to no television coverage, a stadium with problems, and the highest ticket and concession prices in the league.
[44] As a result of the relocation, in 1970 the city of Seattle, King County, and the state of Washington sued the American League for breach of contract.