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The 1962 Major League Baseball expansion was the formation of two new Major League Baseball (MLB) teams for the 1962 season. The Houston Colt .45s (later renamed the Astros) and the New York Mets were added to the National League (NL), becoming the 19th and 20th teams in MLB's two leagues. The expansion was the second part of an initiative that resulted in the addition of four clubs to MLB. The Colt .45s were the first major league team in the city of Houston, while the Mets served as a replacement for two New York City-based NL clubs that had relocated to California after the 1957 season. ==Background== For a 50-year period from 1903 to 1952, MLB's 16-team structure (split into the American and National Leagues) remained intact. No franchises were relocated during this period, and five markets—Boston, Chicago, New York City, Philadelphia, and St. Louis—had two or more teams. According to authors Andy McCue and Eric Thompson, "The less financially successful clubs in two-team cities were finding it increasingly difficult to compete" by the early 1950s. In addition, population changes in the United States were leading to many citizens moving away from the Northeast, where many MLB teams were based, to southern and western locations.〔 From 1953 to 1955, three franchises were relocated, all of which had been in markets with two or more teams. Prior to the 1958 season, the two New York City teams in the NL, the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants, moved westward; the Dodgers relocated to Los Angeles, while San Francisco became the new home of the Giants.〔 New York City sought a replacement NL franchise, and by December 1958 MLB had created an Expansion Committee.〔 Despite the formation of the group, MLB displayed little intention of adding a New York team.〔Longley, p. 50.〕 The city had beaten MLB to planning for future expansion, with the formation of the Mayor's Committee shortly after the Dodgers and Giants announced their moves; the committee was headed by lawyer William Shea.〔 The relocation of the Dodgers and Giants led to a proposal for a third major league: the Continental League, which would have started by 1961 with franchises in markets MLB had previously ignored. In addition, MLB was facing pressure from the U.S. Congress, which indicated that efforts to prevent future expansion would arouse interest in weakening the sport's exemption from antitrust laws. Congress voted on a bill aimed at repealing the exemption, but it failed to pass. However, MLB moved to expand after a rival league became a possibility.〔 MLB formed an expansion committee, which voted in favor of adding four new teams, two in each league, by 1961–62.〔Jozsa, Jr., p. 63.〕 In picking potential sites for new franchises, MLB sought cities that had received interest from the potential Continental League; among them were Houston, Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, D.C. The NL was the first of the leagues to announce an expansion, as the 1960 World Series was in progress. It decided to place expansion teams in Houston and New York City.〔 Shea had been a supporter of the Continental League concept, and had attracted several investors. A potential Houston team also had numerous partners, many of whom had oil interests. The AL initially showed interest in adding a Houston team, but the investors chose to seek an NL franchise. The two cities were granted MLB franchises on October 17, 1960.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1962 Major League Baseball expansion」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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