MLB History: Owners Prevented from Owning More than One Team
It seems strange to imagine, but there was a time when people could own more than one team in the MLB. On this day in 1910, that practice was outlawed.
Let us go back to 1899. Back in that year, the the owners of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who also owned the Louisville Colonels, transferred all of their star players to Pittsburgh, creating one of the first powerhouse teams in the history of the National League. Earlier that year, the owners of the Cleveland Spiders purchased the St. Louis Browns and transferred all of their star players to St. Louis, resulting in one of the worst seasons in MLB history by the hapless Spiders.
And yet, despite these blatant conflicts of interest, and the eventual destruction of those teams, people were still allowed to own more than one MLB franchise. It simply did not make sense, but there was nothing officially in the rules against doing so. If someone wanted to create a Major League farm team, and stack the better drawing franchise, they could.
Finally, on this day in 1910, the baseball world came to their senses. It became a rule that a person could not own more than one franchise, putting these potential conflicts of interest to rest. Or, at least, that was the intent.
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However, that rule did not always stop such shenanigans within the game. During the 1950’s, the Kansas City Athletics were essentially a farm team for the New York Yankees. A’s owner Arnold Johnson had been a long time business partner of Yankees ownership, and had owned Yankee Stadium before purchasing the A’s. The team would be a disaster, and just a holding pen for players the Yankees had interest in.
Then came the debacle of how the final nail was put in the Expos coffin. Jeffrey Loria, one of the most reviled people in Canada, was given command of the Marlins. Marlins ownership had purchased the Red Sox, requiring a sale. The Expos went to the MLB, bringing the transfer of ownership full circle.
While there have been occasional concerns about teams working in consort instead of aiming to develop their own players, those issues have been largely mitigated. Most impropriety had been legislated out of the game, at least on the side of ownership. It was just a surprise that it took so long for anything to be done.
On this day in 1910, the MLB decided that owners could no longer have more than one franchise. In reality, that decision should not have taken so long.
