The story of the Seattle Pilots is one of the most fascinating in the history of Major League Baseball (MLB). It began years before the team’s 1969 debut, and is tale filled with hope, excitement, money (and lack thereof), franchise relocations, and political influence.
The Waterbury Orbits were a minor league football outfit that played in 1966 and 1967 in the Atlantic Coast Football League during the mid-1960’s. Notable players included the cult legend minor league quarterback Jim “King” Corcoran, who blew through town in 1967, and gargantuan defensive lineman Wayne Coleman (’66) who went on to become the pro wrestling legend Superstar Billy Graham in the late 1970’s. The team moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut in 1968.
The Seattle Steelheads were members of the West Coast Negro Baseball Association (WCNBA) in that circuit’s only season, 1946. The team was actually the Harlem Globetrotters baseball club and returned to barnstorming when the WCNBA ceased operations.
The Cincinnati Stingers hockey team began life in the upstart World Hockey Association in the winter of 1975-76. Owners Bill DeWitt Jr. and Brian Heekin originally sought to land an NHL expansion club for the Queen City, failed, and then accepted the first expansion franchise awarded by the fledgling WHA as a fallback option in May 1973.
The Havana Sugar Kings were a minor league AAA baseball team based in Havana, Cuba. The team moved up to the International League in 1954 and stayed on the island nation until being forced to flea to New Jersey following the Cuban Revolution in the middle of the 1960 season.
Independent (1993) United States Interregional Soccer League (1994) USISL Pro League (1995) USISL Select League (1996) USISL A-League (1997-1998) USL A-League (1999-2002) Born: 1993 Folded: January 2003 First Game: Last Game: A-League Champions: 1997 & 2002 Stadia: 1994: Hart Park 1994: Brown Deer High School 1995-2000: Uihlein Soccer Park (5,500) 2001-2002: Milwaukee
The Texas Terror were an Arena Football League based in Houston that played two seasons in 1996 and 1997. The team was owned by the management of the Houston Rockets and, like their NBA parent, played at the Compaq Center (formerly the Houston Summit). After a dreadful sophomore season in 1997 that saw the team’s attendance plummet by over 50%, ownership abandoned the “Terror” identity and re-branded the team as the Houston ThunderBears in 1998. The ThunderBears eventually went out of business in 2001, closing the book on this indoor football franchise.
The American Basketball Association (ABA) was formed in 1967 as a competitor to the established National Basketball Association (NBA). It started with 11 teams, and within a few years was angling for a merger with the older league. In 1976, the NBA took in four ABA teams, while three other surviving teams disbanded.
The Baltimore Stallions played two seasons in the CFL starting in 1994. The most successful of the league’s American teams, they went to the Grey Cup following both seasons, winning in 1995. The team experienced grief off the field from the NFL, first with a lawsuit over using the name Colts, then by the relocation of the Cleveland Browns.
Fun While it Lasted presents the Jersey of the Week, brought to you by Royal Retros. Each week, we feature a historic uniform. Click to learn more about the team that wore this classic gear.
