What if: Sports Alt History

Hey guys, Imp here! So as a guy interested in both sports and Alternate history, I decided to do a What if. I know, seems common, right? But I do have some What if questions that I'm interested in asking.

1. What if the Brooklyn Dodgers/NY Giants stayed in New York and the Dome was constructed? Would there be teams in the West Coast?

2. A more common one, the 1994 Postseason. What if the Postseason didn't cancel? Would the Expos win it all, would the Yankees kickstart the dynasty early, etc.?

3. The Padres would've relocated to Washington D.C. but was stopped in the last minute. What if they DID move to Washington D.C.? Would baseball be bleak in San Diego?

4. What if the Rockets drafted MJ instead of Hakeem Olajuwon? Would there be a Houston Rockets Dynasty instead of the bulls?

5. The Edmonton Oilers also could've relocated to Houston, but was saved in the last minute. What if the Edmonton Oilers did relocated to Houston?

That's all for now!
 
cofoofo https://www.alternatehistory.com/forum/threads/sports-what-ifs.49926/page-128#post-19214858

1. What if the Brooklyn Dodgers/NY Giants stayed in New York and the Dome was constructed? Would there be teams in the West Coast?
I think the Giants might move later on to texas or they would fill the void of the senators, but is possible to keep both team with Giants getting later on OTL Shea Stadium. Well there the athletics to move and always expansion teams..or a merger with PCL.

3. The Padres would've relocated to Washington D.C. but was stopped in the last minute. What if they DID move to Washington D.C.? Would baseball be bleak in San Diego?
Or the Expos move later on?

5. The Edmonton Oilers also could've relocated to Houston, but was saved in the last minute. What if the Edmonton Oilers did relocated to Houston?
Mass Riots in Canada, cost the prime minister his job, angry Albertans storm the NHL HQ...etc.

. A more common one, the 1994 Postseason. What if the Postseason didn't cancel? Would the Expos win it all, would the Yankees kickstart the dynasty early, etc.?
Yankees were still in choke mode, either white sox or mariners are the AL representative, maybe the same for expos or reds
 
What if the Rockets drafted MJ instead of Hakeem Olajuwon? Would there be a Houston Rockets Dynasty instead of the bulls?

Jordan was already doing all-time-great stuff as a young player (see his 63 points against the ridiculously good 1986 Boston Celtics in the playoffs), but he never got out of the first round until Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson arrived.

And it's not like Hakeem was chopped liver either - he got to the Finals before Jordan did (too bad Ralph Sampson's back betrayed the Rockets), and while people credit Jordan's first retirement for Hakeem's two championships it's rather disingenuous since they never faced each other in the Finals anyway.
 
If Allan Houston doesn't hit the buzzer-beater against the Heat in Round 1 of the 1999 NBA Playoffs, the Knicks would have fired Jeff Van Gundy, and they would have went after Phil Jackson.
 
Without Phil Jackson on the Lakers they're not gonna be championship favorites in the 1999-2000 season. If Tim Duncan doesn't hurt his knee heading into the playoffs that season San Antonio repeats.
 
Hey guys, Imp here! So as a guy interested in both sports and Alternate history, I decided to do a What if. I know, seems common, right? But I do have some What if questions that I'm interested in asking.

1. What if the Brooklyn Dodgers/NY Giants stayed in New York and the Dome was constructed? Would there be teams in the West Coast?

2. A more common one, the 1994 Postseason. What if the Postseason didn't cancel? Would the Expos win it all, would the Yankees kickstart the dynasty early, etc.?

3. The Padres would've relocated to Washington D.C. but was stopped in the last minute. What if they DID move to Washington D.C.? Would baseball be bleak in San Diego?

4. What if the Rockets drafted MJ instead of Hakeem Olajuwon? Would there be a Houston Rockets Dynasty instead of the bulls?

5. The Edmonton Oilers also could've relocated to Houston, but was saved in the last minute. What if the Edmonton Oilers did relocated to Houston?

That's all for now!

1. Most likely outcome is the Giants move to Minnesota. Los Angeles was courting the Senators and O'Malley went over to meet the city officials. In OTL, the American League had the Angels on the west coast with the Kansas City A's the closest team, so if the Dodger Dome happens...the Giants go to Minnesota, the Senators to Los Angeles, an expansion team replaces the Senators, and the big question is who the other AL expansion team is. This scenario butterflies the Mets, so the Astros plus one other team will join the NL.

West Coast baseball is a given. If they don't get something, the PCL will become a major league. Or the Continental League will force MLB's hand likebit did in OTL. Just with a different set of cities.

2. Maybe. Anything can happen in the postseason.

3. I can't picture San Diego getting a replacement team. Main butterflies are the Padres move to the East and someone has to move West. And 30 years later you need a different home for the Expos.

4. Possibly. The Rockets had a good supporting cast and adding MJ could put them over the top in a few seasons.

5. Gretzky and Messier were already gone. The biggest story there is the team is now the Houston Oilers and Bud Adams can't do anything about it. Suck it, Bud Adams.
 
Without Phil Jackson on the Lakers they're not gonna be championship favorites in the 1999-2000 season. If Tim Duncan doesn't hurt his knee heading into the playoffs that season San Antonio repeats.

Portland won 59 games that year, and SA won 53. The Spurs may have won a few more with Duncan, but the Blazers probably win another two or so if LA isn't the same. So, if the Blazers end up with home court, they probably win the title if Duncan is healthy or not (they were 3-1 that year against SA, two of those wins were when Duncan was playing).
 
Hey guys, Imp here! So as a guy interested in both sports and Alternate history, I decided to do a What if. I know, seems common, right? But I do have some What if questions that I'm interested in asking.

1. What if the Brooklyn Dodgers/NY Giants stayed in New York and the Dome was constructed? Would there be teams in the West Coast?

That's all for now!

1. Of course there would, whether the Dodgers and Giants went there or not. If no one goes there by 1958, the Senators are the obvious choice to move to LA, and the AL seemed less insistent that two teams go to California than the NL was (the NL told Walter O’Malley that he had to rope in another team or it was a no-go, so he got the Giants to move to San Francisco.)

If this happens, the A’s probably leave KC more quickly for Oakland, and the NL just adds two teams in 1962 on the West Coast. The AL probably gets Houston, which ends up working out for them when the new Senators move to Texas. Assuming both the Giants and Dodgers stay put, the biggest wrinkle will be three NYC teams, the Astros in the AL from the start, and the Cubs and Cardinals have to go into the West because the alternative is the Reds, Braves AND Pirates in the West (which the NL May do if the Cubs kick rip enough of a fuss.) Meanwhile, in the AL, one city gets left out in the cold in 1961 - either DC, Houston or the Twin Cities. Probably Houston, which gets a team in 1969 at the expense of probably Seattle. Bud Selig pushes and pushes for a team in Milwaukee, and he gets it in 1977 courtesy of the American League. This leaves Seattle out in the cold, so they get an NL team alongside Miami in the 1980s.
 
The Dodger Dome would've been something else. As a Brooklynite, I find the stealing of the Brooklyn Dodgers as one of the great crimes of history and I know for sure that Brooklyn would be a hotbed for baseball to this day.
 
The Dodger Dome would've been something else. As a Brooklynite, I find the stealing of the Brooklyn Dodgers as one of the great crimes of history and I know for sure that Brooklyn would be a hotbed for baseball to this day.
Of course would be, depending if giants stay, the Shea them could be a full fledge Stadium for Jets and later giants fulltime.
 
Of all the 1969 expansion teams cities only San Diego had a new stadium that opened in 1967, the main driver in San Diego getting a expansion team in the first place was that the Dodgers and Giants wanted another team on the west coast to cut down on travel expenses, the reason for the Padres staying in San Diego was because the city had a very tight lease with the team and were most likely going to prevail in any lawsuit.
So if the Padres were to leave then most likely the National League would have expanded at the same time the American League did in 1977 with San Diego getting a team.
Seattle got an expansion team from the American League in 1977 in order to settle a lawsuit that the city had filed so the same thing could have happened in San Diego.
Another possibility is that the Giants move to San Diego because in 1976 the Giants were sold to an ownership group in Toronto.
 
In 1970, the Bears lost a coin toss to the Steelers for the #1 pick (and the chance to select Terry Bradshaw).

If they win, and get Bradshaw, then the Steelers probably trade down. I read the book The Super 70's by Tom Danyluk. He interviewed Art Rooney, Jr for that book, and asked him what they would have done if they didn't win that toss. Art indicated that they didn't like Purdue QB Mike Phipps, so they probably trade out of that pick.

I don't know of any rumors at the time, but a good trade partner would have been New Orleans. Maybe they could have traded the #2 pick to them for their 1970 and 71 first-rounders, a second-rounder, a third-rounder, and a player (don't know who). Then, the Steelers could have drafted Archie Manning the next year.
 
In 1970, the Bears lost a coin toss to the Steelers for the #1 pick (and the chance to select Terry Bradshaw).

If they win, and get Bradshaw, then the Steelers probably trade down. I read the book The Super 70's by Tom Danyluk. He interviewed Art Rooney, Jr for that book, and asked him what they would have done if they didn't win that toss. Art indicated that they didn't like Purdue QB Mike Phipps, so they probably trade out of that pick.

I don't know of any rumors at the time, but a good trade partner would have been New Orleans. Maybe they could have traded the #2 pick to them for their 1970 and 71 first-rounders, a second-rounder, a third-rounder, and a player (don't know who). Then, the Steelers could have drafted Archie Manning the next year.
How would Archie do with steelers, Arche was good in an awful team....
 
How would Archie do with steelers, Arche was good in an awful team....

Not 100% sure, but I don't know why he couldn't have won as many SB's that Terry won, if not more. Archie was more mature earlier in his career than Terry was (Terry has said that he was very immature when he came into the league, and he also said that Chuck Noll was trying to help him grow up).
 
Not 100% sure, but I don't know why he couldn't have won as many SB's that Terry won, if not more. Archie was more mature earlier in his career than Terry was (Terry has said that he was very immature when he came into the league, and he also said that Chuck Noll was trying to help him grow up).
With some lucky break and more competent team, i could see 2-3 lombardi very easy, the otl 4 is possible but is a tossup, the butterflies are massive, cooper, peyton, eli all are gone...and their ITTL equivalent would end very differen....
 
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