Dodgers/Giants

Most of the moves on this list affected just two cities--the one being left and the one welcoming a new team. When the Dodgers and Giants moved, they changed the course of sports, and the business of sport, in the U.S. for good.
After failing in his attempt to get the city of New York to replace decaying Ebbets Field with a new stadium in Brooklyn, Dodger’s owner Walter O’Malley entered negations with Los Angeles to move his team to California in 1957. LA decided it could only take the Dodgers if a second baseball team would also move to the West Coast. Luckily for O’Malley, the Dodgers’ crosstown rivals were having stadium problems of their own.
Like the Dodgers, the NY Giants were contemplating a move from New York after they were denied their request for a new stadium. As the franchise’s investors deliberated on what action to take, O’Malley interjected and convinced majority owner Horace Stoneham to move the Giants to San Francisco.
With the Giants and Dodgers relocations, the East Coast’s dominance of sports came to an end. The Dodgers flourished in LA behind the likes of Koufax and Drysdale, shifting the media’s focus west of the Mississippi. For the first time, New York, St. Louis and Boston had to share the spotlight.
Fifty years after the Dodgers’ and Giants’ historic moves, America’s sports landscape is spread from coast-to-coast and everywhere in-between. What began as two team’s desire for better accommodations paved the way for cities like San Antonio and Denver, forever reshaping major sports in America.
Written by Ben Leffler, all-star intramural athlete, and Dustin Coates, who still owns Houston Oilers season tickets.