We’re going a little darker than usual today because we’re talking about the heartbreaking collapse of minor-league baseball. And that makes me very angry.
Let’s start in New York. It’s 1958. There is panic in the office of New York Mayor Robert Wagner because his city has lost not one but both of its National League teams to a far-off land called California. This requires a task force! Wagner calls an influential lawyer named William Shea and gives him one job:
GET A NATIONAL LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM FOR NEW YORK!
This should be pretty easy. After all, New York is the biggest city in the country. No, it’s more than that. New York has more people than Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Phoenix, and Atlanta COMBINED.
It turns out — it’s not easy at all.
The Rest of the Story
William Shea's strategy was bold and brilliant ... but it only saved New York. The rest of America is still waiting. And minor league baseball is running out of time.
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