Culminating six decades of demographic change, the National and American leagues moved to expand as the 1960s dawned. While the National League took a measured approach to analyzing markets, identifying ownership groups and giving them time to organize, the American League followed a stumbling, reactive path that wound up with the new franchises given merely eight days to find personnel and plan for an expansion draft. McCue follows New York City’s efforts to regain an NL franchise and ties those efforts with Branch Rickey’s Continental League gambit and political pressures in Congress. He also discusses the expansion committee and the background of demographic changes, with its rising and falling markets.

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Andy McCue

Andy McCue (agmccue44@earthlink.net) is a retired newspaper reporter, editor, and columnist with a strong interest in the business side of the game.