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It's well documented (see the book Even the Browns as source material) that the St. Louis Browns, plagued by years of weak teams and poor attendance, got their ducks in a row for a move to Los Angeles for the 1942 season, only to be forced to remain in St. Louis by wartime travel restrictions. However, suppose that as a sort of consolation prize, they proposed a move to Baltimore instead?

Baltimore was a minor (International League) city at the time, but one with a very sizable defense industry--meaning lots of folks with money for limited amounts of recreation. Further, such a move would probably have meant a net decrease in travel for American League teams, since Baltimore was on the way between Washington and Philadelphia: teams playing the A's and Senators could very easily have gotten off the train in Baltimore to play the Orioles without incurring any more miles traveled--and the run from St. Louis to Chicago and points east would have been eliminated.

So the questions are:

* Would such a move have sold to the other AL owners of the day?
* How would such a move have affected wartime baseball (the '44 Browns won the one and only pennant that team would ever win)?
* What would have been the post-war effects on the game?
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