[4] The team colors were royal blue and gold (with accessory red in the logo: helm and baseball seams).

In an ominous sign of things to come, Soriano found himself short of cash after making little effort to find locally-based partners.

He 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.

After King County voters approved a bond for a domed stadium (what would become the Kingdome) in February 1968 with 62% in favor,[8][9][10][11] the Seattle Pilots were officially born.

On paper, the newly-formed American League West was by far the weaker division, as it consisted of the two expansion teams and the four clubs that had finished sixth through ninth place in the 1968 campaign.

Nevertheless, the Pilots stayed within striking distance of .500 for much of the spring, and were only six games out of the AL West lead as late as June 28.

[6] While a condition of awarding the Pilots to Seattle was that Sicks' had to be expanded to 30,000 seats, work did not really begin in earnest until January 1969.

[20] Seattle finished above fellow cellar dweller teams like the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, and the expansion San Diego Padres.

Despite their straitened financial condition, the Sorianos balked at corporate support, a critical factor even in those days for sports franchises.

They met in secret for over a month towards 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.

However, the remaining owners of the Pilots turned it down in the face of pressure from Washington's two senators, Warren Magnuson and Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson, as well as state attorney general Slade Gorton.

Local theater chain owner Fred Danz, restaurateur Dave Cohn, and Westin Hotels head Eddie Carlson came forward with an offer to buy out the Sorianos and reduce Daley's stake to 30 percent.

[28][6] In January 1970, Carlson put together a nonprofit group, modeled loosely on the ownership structure of the National Football League's Green Bay Packers, to buy the team.

Under new manager Dave Bristol, the Pilots arrived for spring training in Tempe, Arizona unsure of where they would play.

Had Milkes been more than 10 days late in paying the players, they would have all become free agents and the AL would have been reduced to nine teams for the 1970 season, which would have left the schedule in chaos.

[32] With this in mind and with no credible alternatives to Selig's offer, Federal Bankruptcy Referee Sidney C. Volinn declared the Pilots bankrupt on March 31—seven 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.

[33] Selig intended to change the team's colors to navy and red in honor of the minor-league Brewers of his youth.

Instead, due to the move being finalized at such a late date, the Brewers were stuck using old blue and gold Pilots' uniforms, with the team name replaced.

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.

At trial, the American League offered to give Seattle an expansion baseball franchise in return for dropping the suit,[37] and details were ironed out over the next year.