WI: MLB merges with PCL in late 1950s?

What teams from the PCL stay, what teams get folded?

Dodgers and Giants stay in NYC. Maybe they share Shea or the Giants build a stadium in Hell's Kitchen or the Meadowlands...or maybe in pre-1965 race riots Newark?

Athletics stay in KC. Royals butterflied out of existence along with the Mariners and Mets. Sacramento, Portland and Salt Lake City have long, storied franchises.Charlie Finley doesn't buy the Athletics, maybe the Oaks instead. The A's stay in KC under the new ownership and aren't the dominant team in the 70s and 80s.

Milwaukee gets the Brewers a little earlier, and unlike the Pilots, the Brewers don't go insolvent. Selig never buys the Pilots on the cheap and thusly never becomes commissioner. Does realignment never happen as a consequence, or maybe with the three leagues merging, the MLB moves to an East-West format?
Imagine a northeast corridor division with the Red Sox, Yankees, Giants, Dodgers, Senators, and Phillies (although that would be even worse for me as a Phils fan).

Houston stays in the NL. With more teams voting , NL probably adopts the DH too.

If PCL stays independent like the AL and NL, what does the World Series look like?
 
The Hundredth Idiot said:
What teams from the PCL stay, what teams get folded?

Dodgers and Giants stay in NYC. Maybe they share Shea or the Giants build a stadium in Hell's Kitchen or the Meadowlands...or maybe in pre-1965 race riots Newark?

Athletics stay in KC. Royals butterflied out of existence along with the Mariners and Mets. Sacramento, Portland and Salt Lake City have long, storied franchises.Charlie Finley doesn't buy the Athletics, maybe the Oaks instead. The A's stay in KC under the new ownership and aren't the dominant team in the 70s and 80s.

Milwaukee gets the Brewers a little earlier, and unlike the Pilots, the Brewers don't go insolvent. Selig never buys the Pilots on the cheap and thusly never becomes commissioner. Does realignment never happen as a consequence, or maybe with the three leagues merging, the MLB moves to an East-West format?
Imagine a northeast corridor division with the Red Sox, Yankees, Giants, Dodgers, Senators, and Phillies (although that would be even worse for me as a Phils fan).

Houston stays in the NL. With more teams voting , NL probably adopts the DH too.

If PCL stays independent like the AL and NL, what does the World Series look like?
I'm thinking San Fran can't support Seals & Oaks both, so one moves; my guess, the Oaks. Where to? Albuquerque? SLC? Maybe Vancouver, BC?:cool: (Probably a longshot...:() And what happens to the Stars & Angels, in the same boat? Does one of them end up in Vancouver, instead?:cool: (Probably a longshot...:()

Road trips to the Coast are going to probably need some scheduling adjustment; 5-game stretches? And does MBL extend its season to equal PCLs?

I'm not seeing the Dodgers staying, but they won't end up in San Fran, either. Milwaukee? KC? Atlanta?
 
I don't imagine the teams in New York or Boston would want to extend their seasons. Although they could, and maybe the domed stadium takes off sooner...in fact, stadium architecture could be radically different ITTL because of the merger.

Dodgers could move to DC after the second Senators team moves to Dallas and becomes the Rangers. Also, maybe ITTL, it's the Oaks, instead of the Giants that threaten to leave for Tampa Bay, and this time, it actually happens. Or more likely, the Oaks move to Denver and become the Colorado Rockies.

As far as road trips, yeah, west coast road trips would necessitate five-game game series. I think a merger with half the PCL teams going to the NL and half with the AL is most likely. The merger, coupled with the five game series, would put the MLB on a schedule structure like the NFL: half of the games in division, a quarter within league, a quarter of interleague games facing another division's teams on a rotating, year-by-year basis.

I still think Los Angeles can support two ballclubs. Stars are the LA team proper. Angels take OC, like in OTL.
 
The Hundredth Idiot said:
I don't imagine the teams in New York or Boston would want to extend their seasons. Although they could, and maybe the domed stadium takes off sooner...in fact, stadium architecture could be radically different ITTL because of the merger.

Dodgers could move to DC after the second Senators team moves to Dallas and becomes the Rangers. Also, maybe ITTL, it's the Oaks, instead of the Giants that threaten to leave for Tampa Bay, and this time, it actually happens. Or more likely, the Oaks move to Denver and become the Colorado Rockies.

As far as road trips, yeah, west coast road trips would necessitate five-game game series. I think a merger with half the PCL teams going to the NL and half with the AL is most likely. The merger, coupled with the five game series, would put the MLB on a schedule structure like the NFL: half of the games in division, a quarter within league, a quarter of interleague games facing another division's teams on a rotating, year-by-year basis.

I still think Los Angeles can support two ballclubs. Stars are the LA team proper. Angels take OC, like in OTL.
I'd agree with that...tho the "musical moves" seems a bit comical.;)

MBL did lengthen their season OTL, & PCL made a point of longer seasons; it would mean more money coming in, wouldn't it? And might be done by starting earlier?
 
The Hundredth Idiot said:
If you think the moves are comical, just wait until you see what I have planned for John Elway ITTL now that the Oaks are in Denver. ;)

It's not where they end up, it's the sheer numbers.;) I don't pretend to know enough to judge how likely any of them are.:eek::p
 
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