[Syd Thrift]

Team Movement

The big story here of course is the Seattle Pilots moving to Milwaukee to become the Brewers. As a Seattle native, this is a little sad, but the more I've read about that situation the more I come to the conclusion that the real error was granting Seattle a major league team in 1969 in the first place. I think the city would have supported the team but Sicks' Stadium was barely adequate as a minor league stadium and was just not up to snuff in major league terms. According to Ball Four they were still building the stands on Opening Day, and the plumbing was so bad that the toilets stopped working after the 6th inning (earlier on the rare days when the Pilots actually drew fans).

Anyway, even though I think of the Brew Crew as an AL East / AL Central / NL Central team, they stay in the AL West for the time being, as they actually are further west than anyone in the East and will continue to be until the Senators move to Texas in 1972 (and even then, Chicago and Milwaukee are basically in the same part of the country; if I were in charge of placing teams I'd make sure those two were in the same division).

Uniform Fun!

Other than the Brewers' scheme change...

The Cleveland Indians went away from the sleeveless design they'd been sporting for much of the 1960s. The new look is honestly a little bit boring but I imagine that at the time the sleeveless look seemed very outdated and 1950s. They also had a very major change to their color scheme, going from an all-red look to one that looked very muted and blue by contrast. I know that they'll change unis around several times over the 70s (which, let's face it, were kind of a great period for baseball unis if you like color and splash).

Oakland changed the color of the underbrim of their hat from green to yellow. I'm going to go ahead and skip that change (though in general I like their uniforms from this period). Incidentally they did *not* get rid of their sleeveless unis, making them I think the last team in the league to still sport them.

The Phillies revamped their logo, moving to that letter P with the baseball inside of it that I think most of us associate with the team, and then changed their primary color from red to maroon. It's nice to see not every single team being either red or blue, I have to tell you, and that's one thing that makes me happy that the current save is not in the 30s and 40s.

The Pirates, like the Indians, also moved off of those sleeveless unis. I'd go so far as to call the Pirates' sleeveless job iconic, as looking at them instantly brings Bill Mazeroski to mind. Anyway, polyester pullovers were the thing in the 70s and the Pirates were all over that. I don't think they moved to the stovepipe hat until 1971 but OOTP doesn't really model that terribly well anyway, I don't think.

Ballparks

Baseball returns to Milwaukee and Milwaukee County Stadium. County Stadium is a little bit of a throwback to the baseball-first parks that were built in the 50s and were replaced by the cookie-cutter, multi-purpose parks that were all the rage in the 60s through the 80s. I guess I shouldn't go crazy in extolling its virtues - looking it over now, it's... not *not* a cookie-cutter...

I understand why Crosley was torn down - it was in a bad part of town and too small - but I'm a bit sad to see it go. Right now Riverfront is in the minority in cookie-cutter parks in the NL but already you've got Shea, the Astrodome, and the Launching Pad in Atlanta. Once Connie Mack Stadium and Forbes Field are replaced by the Vet and Three Rivers next year, fully half the parks in the NL will be like this, and I think it's Le Stade Olympique that finally pushes it into the majority in the Senior Circuit. To me, all those turf-circle stadiums in the NL were as big a factor in the different styles of play between the leagues in the 70s and 80s as the DH rule was.

Minor League Notes

The American Association expanded from 6 teams to 8 - hopefully everyone will have a AAA affliliate now - and split into two divisions. The two new teams are the Evansville Triplets, a Twins affliate, and the Wichita Aeros, who are the property of the Indians. The Senators take over the Denver Bears and that allows the Montreal Expos to take control of the Buffalo Bisons in the IL. Speaking of the International League, Jacksonville relocates to Louisville, becomes the Colonels, and are now the property of the Boston Red Sox (formerly they were owned by the Mets). I have the AA and IL set up as two subleagues in one larger league so that they can play the AAA championship at season's end.

In the Pacific Coast League the Vancouver Mounties prove to be too far north, I guess (Vancouver's right on the coast but WHATEVER). They move to Salt Lake City and become the Padres' new AAA affiliate. The Brewers, who used Vancouver last season, move on to the Beavers instead. At a glance, I'm pretty sure everyone has a AAA franchise now. The teams that did not - 2 of the expansion teams and the Red Sox - now seem to have them, and the numbers add up (2 teams added, and one team goes from 2 AAA clubs to 1).

I'm not going to go over the lower minor league changes in as great of a detail... I do notice that the Elmira Pioneers (Eastern League) have another one of those really dumb two-team arrangements for both the Royals and the Padres. Welp, it's Royals only now. Hope you like NOTHING, San Diego! Similarly, it looks like Jacksonville got a team back in the Southern League where IRL both Montreal and Milwaukee used them. I'll go with just Montreal on the basis that Milwaukee is in kind of dire straits right now.