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The Seattle Pilots were an American professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington for one season, . The Pilots played home games at Sick's Stadium and were a member of the West Division of Major League Baseball's American League. On April 1, 1970, they moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and changed their name to the Brewers. The team's name originated from the owner's part-time job as a harbor pilot and the city's association with the aviation industry.〔"Seattle Post-Intelligencer," 10 March 1968 and Bill Mullins, ''Becoming Big League,'' p. 105〕 The team colors were royal blue and gold (with accessory red in the logo: helm and baseball seams). Seattle had long been a hotbed for minor league baseball and was home to the Seattle Rainiers, a successful team in the Pacific Coast League (PCL). At the time, Seattle was the third-biggest metropolitan area on the West Coast. The Cleveland Indians briefly considered a move to Seattle in 1964 but opted to stay in Ohio. In 1967 Charles Finley looked to move his Kansas City Athletics to Seattle, but ended up moving the Athletics to Oakland, California. There was no real competition from other professional teams at the time. While Seattle had landed the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s SuperSonics in 1967, the NBA was not in the same class as baseball was in terms of popularity at the time.〔Bill Mullins, ''Becoming Big League'', p. 51〕 The NFL would come to the city in 1976 with the addition of the expansion Seahawks. ==Formation== The front man for the franchise ownership, Pacific Northwest Sports, Inc. (PNSI), was Dewey Soriano, a former Rainiers pitcher and general manager and former president of the PCL.〔''Seattle Times,'' 10 April 1969〕 In an ominous sign of things to come, Soriano had to ask William R. Daley, who had owned the Indians at the time they flirted with Seattle, to underwrite much of the purchase price. In return, Soriano sold Daley 47% of the stock—the largest stake in the club. He became chairman of the board while Soriano served as president. However, a couple of factors were beyond the Pilots' control. They were originally not set to start play until along with the Kansas City Royals. However, the date was moved up to under pressure from Senator Stuart Symington of Missouri. Professional baseball had been played in Kansas City in one form or another from until the A's left for Oakland after the season, and Symington would not accept the prospect of Kansas City having to wait three years for baseball to return.〔''Seattle Times,'' 19 October 1967〕 (The American League would not allow only one new team to enter the league, as the resulting odd number of teams would unbalance the schedule. That meant Kansas City and Seattle had to be admitted together.) Also, the Pilots had to pay the PCL $1 million to compensate for the loss of one of its most successful franchises. After King County voters approved a bond for a domed stadium (what would become the Kingdome) in February 1968 with 62% in favor, the Seattle Pilots were officially born.〔Susananne Elaine Vandenbosch, "The 1968 Forward Thrust Election," pp. 85, 92〕 California Angels executive Marvin Milkes was hired as general manager,〔 and Joe Schultz, coach of the National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals, became manager.〔〔''Seattle Times,'' 21 February 1968〕 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「Seattle Pilots」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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