In 1954, Veeck announced his intention to move the Browns to Memorial Stadium...
and again it was vetoed. The American League hinted to Veeck that if he wanted
to get out of St. Louis, MLB would only approve the move to Los Angeles' Wrigley Field II (which had initially been proposed back on D-Day in 1941). When it looked as if
Baltimore was going to lose their chances at getting the Browns, thus remaining
a Triple-A city for long term.... attorney Clarence Miles went to St. Louis and
asked Veeck to buy the team. Veeck sold him 4/5 of the St. Louis Browns' total
stock. With that, Miles then went to Major League Baseball properties showing
them that he now owned the majority and there would be no more silly antics, as
long as he was allowed to move the team to Memorial Stadium. The Yankees (who
originally came from Baltimore as did Babe Ruth), instantly vetoed the move. It
seemed as if Baltimore was sunk. The Yankees wanted 100% of Bill Veeck gone from
the game� not just 80% of him. Clarence Miles then got on a plane and went
back to St. Louis yet again and convinced Bill Veeck that he had no choice than
to sell him the rest of the team. Veeck finally relented and Clarence Miles took
over 100% of the franchise. The move was finally approved and in 1954, the St.
Louis Browns moved to Baltimore's Memorial Stadium to become the 4th Major League
version of the Baltimore Orioles and the first since 1903... all thanks to
Clarence Miles who saw an opportunity and persisted no matter how sticky things
had gotten. This was the very convoluted history of how the Baltimore Orioles Major League franchise finally came to be in 1954. |