View source for Continental League

{{Short description|Proposed American baseball league}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2017}}
{{Infobox Sports league
| title          = Continental League
| logo           =
| pixels         =
| caption        =
| sport          = [[Baseball]]
| founded        = {{start date|1959|07|27}}
| fame           = Compelled [[Major League Baseball]] to hasten its efforts to add [[expansion team]]s
| motto          =
| inaugural      = {{mlby|1961}} (planned)
| teams          = 8 (planned)
| country        = [[United States]] and [[Canada]]
| folded         = {{end date|1960|08|02}}
| founder        = [[William Shea]]
| president      = [[Branch Rickey]]
}}
The '''Continental League of Professional Baseball Clubs''' (known as the '''Continental League''' or '''CL''') was a proposed third [[Major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada|major league]] for [[baseball]] in the United States and Canada. The league was announced in 1959 and scheduled to begin play in the 1961 season. Unlike previous attempts at competitor leagues to [[Major League Baseball]] such as the [[Players' League]] (1890) and the [[Federal League]] (1913–1915), the Continental League sought membership and acceptance within organized baseball, as attempts to form outsider leagues could be quashed per a [[Federal Baseball Club v. National League|1922 Supreme Court case]] that declared Major League Baseball exempt from federal antitrust laws.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://mlb.nbcsports.com/2019/05/29/happy-birthday-to-baseballs-antitrust-exemption/ |title=Happy birthday to baseball's antitrust exemption |last=Calcaterra |first=Craig |date=May 29, 2019 |website=NBC Sports |access-date=November 10, 2021 |quote=What is still in place, firmly, is Major League Baseball’s ability to work to thwart competitors, if any ever arise, and its ability to carve out protected geographic territories for its clubs and anti-competitive contract rights for its clubs.}}</ref> The league disbanded in August 1960 without playing a single game as a concession by lawyer [[William Shea]] as part of his negotiations with Major League Baseball to expand to incorporate at least eight new teams.

==History==
[[File:William Shea.jpg|thumb|right|upright=.66|[[William Shea]]]]
[[File:Branch Rickey Cardinals.jpg|thumb|right|upright=.66|[[Branch Rickey]]]]

===Background===
The move of the [[New York Giants (NL)|New York Giants]] (to San Francisco) and the [[Brooklyn Dodgers]] (to Los Angeles) following the 1957 season led New York City mayor [[Robert F. Wagner Jr.]] to appoint a four-man committee to bring the National League back to the city in 1958. Early overtures to entice one of the other six existing NL teams – the [[Cincinnati Reds|Cincinnati Redlegs]], [[Philadelphia Phillies]], and [[Pittsburgh Pirates]] were reportedly approached – were abandoned.

===New league announced===
{{Location map+ | USA
| width   = 400
| caption = Continental League cities
| places  =

{{Location map~ | USA
| lat_deg = 39.74
| lon_deg = -104.99
| mark = Black pog.svg
| label_size = 75
| position = bottom
| label = '''[[Denver]]'''}}

{{Location map~ | USA
| lat_deg = 29.76
| lon_deg = -95.38
| mark = Black pog.svg
| label_size = 75
| position = left
| label = '''[[Houston]]'''}}

{{Location map~ | USA
| lat_deg = 44.95
| lon_deg = -93.20
| mark = Black pog.svg
| label_size = 75
| position = top
| label = '''[[Minneapolis–Saint Paul|Minneapolis–St. Paul]]'''}}

{{Location map~ | USA
| lat_deg = 40.71
| lon_deg = -74.01
| mark = Black pog.svg
| label_size = 75
| position = right
| label = '''[[New York City|New York]]'''}}

{{Location map~ | USA
| lat_deg = 43.74
| lon_deg = -79.37
| mark = Black pog.svg
| label_size = 75
| position = top
| label = '''[[Toronto]]'''}}

{{Location map~ | USA
| lat_deg = 33.75
| lon_deg = -84.39
| mark = Black pog.svg
| label_size = 75
| position = bottom
| label = '''[[Atlanta]]'''}}

{{Location map~ | USA
| lat_deg = 42.89
| lon_deg = -78.88
| mark = Black pog.svg
| label_size = 75
| position = right
| label = '''[[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]]'''}}

{{Location map~ | USA
| lat_deg = 32.76
| lon_deg = -97.03
| mark = Black pog.svg
| label_size = 75
| position = top
| label = '''[[Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex|Dallas–Fort Worth]]'''}}

}}

The Continental League was the idea of attorney [[William Shea]], who proposed it in November 1958. On July 27, 1959, the new league was formally announced, with teams in [[Denver]], [[Houston]], [[Minneapolis–St. Paul]], [[New York City]], and [[Toronto]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1959/07/28/page/39/article/third-major-baseball-league-formed|title=Third Major Baseball League Formed|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=July 28, 1959|page=39|access-date=August 10, 2017}}</ref> The name of the league was said to have been the suggestion of Colorado senator [[Edwin C. Johnson]].

Representing the team owners at the announcement were [[Bob Howsam]] (Denver), [[Craig F. Cullinan Jr.]] (Houston), [[Wheelock Whitney (politician)|Wheelock Whitney Jr.]] (Minneapolis–St. Paul), Dwight F. Davis, Jr., who was representing the group headed by [[Joan Whitney Payson]] (New York), and [[Jack Kent Cooke]] (Toronto). Owners in each city had agreed to pay $50,000 to the league and committed to a capital investment of $2.5 million, not including stadium costs. A minimum [[seating capacity]] of 35,000 was established by the league for the venues in which its teams would play.

At least three other teams were expected to be in place before play began in 1961, and the league said it had received applications from 10 cities. The three that were later selected were [[Atlanta]] (announced December 8, 1959),<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1959/12/09/page/53/article/rickey-hints-plea-to-congress|title=Rickey Hints Plea to Congress|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=December 9, 1959|page=53|access-date=July 29, 2017}}</ref> [[Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex|Dallas–Fort Worth]] (announced December 22, 1959),<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1959/12/23/page/35/article/texas-cities-get-berth-in-new-league|title=Texas Cities get berth in new league|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=December 23, 1959|page=35|access-date=July 29, 2017}}</ref> and [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]] (backed by [[Robert O. Swados]] and announced on January 29, 1960).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1917&dat=19600130&id=dmgtAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9okFAAAAIBAJ&pg=557,4062772|title=Buffalo's Addition Completes Continental|newspaper=[[The Daily Gazette]]|date=January 30, 1960|page=17|agency=Associated Press|access-date=August 8, 2017}}</ref> Former Dodgers president [[Branch Rickey]] was named league president on August 18, 1959.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1959/08/19/page/55/article/grant-3d-league-major-status|title=Continental names Rickey as President|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|date=August 19, 1959|page=55|access-date=August 10, 2017}}</ref> Appearing in that capacity as a guest on the live [[CBS]] broadcast of ''[[What's My Line]]'' on Sunday, September 13, 1959, he pronounced the new league as "Inevitable as tomorrow morning."<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/9BtDRtlppRg Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200229105952/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BtDRtlppRg Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |title=Whats My Line: Branch Rickey |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BtDRtlppRg|website=YouTube |access-date=7 May 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

On February 18, 1960, Rickey and Cooke announced an opening date of April 18, 1961.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://newspaperarchive.com/oakland-tribune-feb-19-1960-p-48|title=Houston Holding Up New League|newspaper=[[Oakland Tribune]]|date=February 19, 1960|page=48|agency=Associated Press|access-date=August 7, 2019}}</ref>

===Established leagues respond===
The Major League Baseball commissioner's office was noncommittal on the issue. At that time, however, the [[American League]] and the [[National League (baseball)|National League]] enjoyed far more autonomy than they do today, answering more to their constituent owners (who were universally hostile to the new league) than to the Commissioner's Office. They reacted to the formation of the new league by announcing plans to expand by adding two teams in each of the existing leagues. Priority would be given, it was stated, to cities that did not have Major League Baseball. Accordingly, the NL placed one of its expansion teams in [[Houston]] (the then-[[Houston Astros|Houston Colt .45s]], now the American League Astros), a Continental League city without an existing Major League Baseball team.

Though the AL placed one of its expansion teams (the [[Washington Senators (1961–71)|Washington Senators]], now the [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|Texas Rangers]]) in a previously existing Major League Baseball city (Washington, D.C.), this was done to replace the [[Washington Senators (1901–1960)|original Senators team]], which had relocated to [[Minneapolis–St. Paul]] and became the [[Minnesota Twins]]. Like Houston, the Twin Cities of Minneapolis-St. Paul were a Continental League city without an existing Major League Baseball team.

However, notwithstanding aforementioned promise to expand to non-MLB cities, the National League owners had always had misgivings regarding their apparent ceding of the nation's largest market to the American League. Thus, once expansion was committed to, it was virtually inevitable the NL would return to New York City. The NL opted to offer its tenth franchise to the owners of the Continental League New York team, who immediately accepted, effectively killing any attempt to revive the proposed league. This franchise would become the [[New York Mets]]. The AL then followed by placing a second expansion team in Los Angeles, the [[Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim|Angels]], giving the American League its first presence on the West Coast.

===The league disbands===
With Shea's mission to bring the National League back to New York successful, he stopped championing the Continental League's formation. The promise of expansion achieved the owners' desired effect; on August 2, 1960, the Continental League formally disbanded.

==Legacy==
Baseball historians concur that even without the imminent threat of a third major league, Major League Baseball expansion would inevitably have happened due to such factors as pressure from Congress, the rapid growth of professional football, and the replacement of conservative long-tenured owners with younger businessmen who tended to be far more amenable to expansion. Nevertheless, the Continental League undoubtedly compelled MLB to hasten expansion by several years. Although Major League Baseball had succeeded in preventing the launch of an eight-team CL, it only did so by committing to eventually add eight franchises of its own. MLB finished honoring this commitment in 1969 when the AL and NL each added two more teams for a total of eight over the course of the decade, thereby matching the total number of new teams envisioned by the Continental League.
{{more|1961 Major League Baseball expansion|1962 Major League Baseball expansion|1969 Major League Baseball expansion}}

Although William Shea's efforts to create a third major league are not well known today, [[Shea Stadium]], home of the New York Mets from 1964 to 2008, was named in his honor for his efforts in bringing National League baseball back to New York. Over the next two decades, Shea would become involved in efforts to secure second franchises for the New York metropolitan area in each of the other three major sports. He brokered the 1963 sale of the Titans of New York (now known as the [[New York Jets]]) from [[Harry Wismer]] to [[Sonny Werblin]], ensuring the survival of the then-struggling [[American Football League]] franchise, and then worked to bring the [[Brooklyn Nets|New York Nets]] of the [[American Basketball Association]] to Nassau Coliseum. Shea also helped negotiate the mergers of both rival leagues with the established [[National Football League]] and [[National Basketball Association]] respectively. On the other hand, he actively opposed efforts to establish a [[World Hockey Association]] team on [[Long Island]] by successfully lobbying the [[National Hockey League]] and the [[New York Rangers]] to award an NHL franchise (the [[New York Islanders]]) to [[Nassau County, New York|Nassau County]].<ref name="NCBook">{{cite book|last=Hirshon|first=Nicholas|title=Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jz1EZBzMy5sC|access-date=January 18, 2015|year=2010|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|isbn=978-0-7385-7357-1}}</ref>

Of the eight proposed Continental League cities, all but one eventually received relocated or expansion Major League Baseball franchises – [[Minnesota Twins|Minneapolis–St. Paul]] in 1961, [[Houston Astros|Houston]] and [[New York Mets|New York]] in 1962, [[Atlanta Braves|Atlanta]] in 1966, [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|Dallas–Fort Worth]] in 1972, [[Toronto Blue Jays|Toronto]] in 1977, and [[Colorado Rockies|Denver]] in 1993. Buffalo, although it made efforts to lure an MLB team to then-new [[Sahlen Field|Pilot Field]] in the early 1990s, has not succeeded in bringing Major League Baseball back. (There had been a major league team in Buffalo [[Buffalo Bisons (NL)|in the nineteenth century]].)  Buffalo remains home to the [[Buffalo Bisons]], a team in the Triple-A [[International League]]. Buffalo also played host to the majority of Toronto Blue Jays home games for the [[2020 Toronto Blue Jays season|2020 season]] and part of the [[2021 Toronto Blue Jays season|next season]] due to cross-border travel restrictions caused by the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite web |title= Blue Jays To Stage Majority Of 2020 Home Games In Buffalo. |url=https://twitter.com/BlueJays/status/1286700290989789185|website=Twitter|access-date=24 July 2020}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last=Buhite |first=Russell D. |title=The Continental League: A Personal History |url=https://archive.org/details/continentalleagu0000buhi |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |year=2014 |isbn=978-0803271906 |url-access=registration}}
* {{cite web |last=Corbett |first=Warren |title=Rickey’s Folly: How the Continental League Forced Baseball Expansion |website=[[Society for American Baseball Research]] |date=2018 |url=https://sabr.org/journal/article/rickeys-folly-how-the-continental-league-forced-baseball-expansion/}}
* {{cite book |last=Shapiro |first=Michael |title=Bottom of the Ninth: Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball from Itself |url=https://archive.org/details/bottomofninthbra0000shap_y6j9 |isbn=978-0805092363 |year=2010 |publisher=St. Martin's Publishing |url-access=registration}}

{{Professional Baseball}}
{{Navboxes|list1=
{{Major League Baseball}}
{{Atlanta Braves}}
{{Colorado Rockies}}
{{Houston Astros}}
{{Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim}}
{{Minnesota Twins}}
{{New York Mets}}
{{Texas Rangers}}
{{Toronto Blue Jays}}
}}

[[Category:Sports leagues established in 1959]]
[[Category:1960 disestablishments in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct major baseball leagues in the United States]]
[[Category:Proposed sports leagues]]