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The 1977 Major League Baseball expansion resulted in the establishment of expansion franchises in Seattle and Toronto in the American League of Major League Baseball. The Seattle Mariners and Toronto Blue Jays began play in the 1977 Major League Baseball season. Seattle and Toronto were included in a list of potential expansion cities in a survey conducted by the American League in 1960. The others were Atlanta, Buffalo, Dallas–Fort Worth, Denver, Oakland, and San Diego. ==Seattle== (詳細は1969 Major League Baseball expansion, Kansas City, Montreal, San Diego, and Seattle were each granted a franchise; the Kansas City Royals and Seattle Pilots were added to the American League, while the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres joined the National League. The Seattle Pilots only played one season, during which they faced financial difficulties owing to no television coverage, a poorly performing team, a stadium with problems, and the highest ticket and concession prices in the league. Owners of other American League teams wanted Dewey Soriano and William R. Daley to sell the team to a Seattle owner who would improve the team and address issues at Sick's Stadium, particularly uncovered seats with bad views. After several attempts to sell the team to a Seattle owner failed, on 1 April 1970 judge Sidney Volinn declared the team officially bankrupt; it was sold to Bud Selig, who moved the team to Milwaukee and renamed it the Milwaukee Brewers. Selig had negotiated a deal for the purchase with Soriano during Game 1 of the 1969 World Series. As a result of the relocation of the Seattle Pilots to Milwaukee, in 1970 the city of Seattle, King County and the state of Washington sued the American League for breach of contract. The lawsuit proceeded until 1976, when at trial the American League offered the city a franchise in exchange for the city, county, and state to drop the suit. On 2 November 1972, King County had broken ground on the Kingdome, which would come to be used by the Seattle Mariners for baseball and by the Seahawks for football. On 15 January 1976, the expansion franchise was approved, becoming the 13th franchise in the American League. It was owned by Lester Smith and Danny Kaye, who paid an expansion fee of . Owing to the history surrounding the franchise, sportswriter Emmett Watson of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer joked that the team should be named the ''Seattle Litigants''. 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「1977 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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