The first letter is great but long, so I will reply as we go.

Let me begin by saying that I am a Milwaukee Brewers fan. I came by your site through the link on the "brewerfan.com" site and was very interested in everything you had there. I lived in Milwaukee during June-September 1969 and was at County Stadium in person for the June 16 game between the Pilots and the White Sox. During the spring and during the last few weeks of the baseball season, I lived in Los Angeles. I regularly listened to Dick Enberg and Don Wells doing the Angels games on KMPC (or KABC, when there was a conflict with a Rams or UCLA game). I remember that Dave Niehaus would fill in regularly, whenever Enberg or Wells were working at another sports event.

One thing that I have been saying is that the "turn back the clock" game in Milwaukee should have featured the Pilots in visitors uniforms and the White Sox in home uniforms.

NOTE FROM MIKE: As the 1960s drew to a close, the White Sox were drawing poorly (much worse than the Pilots) and in 1968 and 1969, played a "home" game in Milwaukee against each American League team. This was supposedly to help Bud Selig and his organization land a new squad to replace the recently-departed Braves. In reality, it was to boost attendance while gaining leverage for a new stadium to replace old Comiskey Park. The new stadium, of course, wasn't built until many years later, and had owner Arthur Allyn's younger brother, John, not insisted on buying him out, the team might well have moved to Milwaukee. For more on this, I suggest the book "Stealing First in a Two-Team Town: The White Sox from Comiskey to Reinsdorf" by Richard C. Lindberg (1994, Sagamore Publishing). Which is a long way of explaining why a true turn-back-the-clock day would have had the Pilots as the visiting team.

Several years ago, I needed a project for a high school social studies class. I had saved almost every newspaper article I could find about the Pilots during the time period from September 1969 to April 1970, and I noticed a trend: the Los Angeles Times, which owned properties in Dallas, regularly reported that the team would move to Dallas. The Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, which was a Hearst paper (and Hearst had properties in Milwaukee) regularly reported that the team would move to Milwaukee. KMPC radio/KTLA channel 5 would regularly report that the team was going to stay in Seattle. (I believe Gene Autry had an interest in KVI in Seattle.) So I divided up the information, and set up three class discussion groups, where the students would pretend to be the corporate board of these media conglomerates. It was an interesting class session, especially for the students who were real sports fans.

I think the overall response of the students (other than the ones pretending to be Hearst or LA Times directors) was that the team should stay in Seattle. Considered in that perspective, I think that is the only desirable outcome. But, the biggest problem is one that is alluded to in your history pieces. Sick's Stadium was limited in seating capacity, and there was little hope for profitability until a larger, long-term project for a new stadium could be completed. The A.L. should not have gone into Sick's Stadium for more than a one-year arrangement. (You may remember that the Angels played in little Wrigley Field for one year, 1961, but they knew for sure that they would be in Chavez Ravine with the Dodgers in 1962.) When a team is in such a small stadium, it is a major problem to get a total attendance figure large enough to make ends meet. Even if 50,000 people want to see their team play on a Sunday afternoon, the paid attendance will be in the 25,000 range. I think baseball has gotten smarter over the years. Right now, the competitive relationship between the NL and the AL has been reduced or even eliminated. Joint decisions are made on expansion. I don't think we'll ever see expansion teams going into the likes of little Wrigley field, Sick's Stadium, or Jarry Park again.

NOTE FROM MIKE: I agree that we've seen the last of the minor league parks being pressed into service as interim homes for major league teams and that it was foolish for the American League to expect the Pilots to play in Sick's Stadium for five years. I disagree on the seating capacity, though. The generally poor condition of the stadium, combined with a sour economy, public relations blunders and poor play due to injuries, were probably larger factors in the low attendance and, hence, the move to Milwaukee.

The biggest reason the Pilots moved to Milwaukee was that County Stadium, with a large capacity and an established Milwaukee fan base, was available and, due to Bud Selig's efforts, ready to go. I had attended all of the 1968 White Sox games at County Stadium, and all but three of the games in 1969. As far as our common experience of having a baseball team come to a city, win our hearts, and then suddenly leave, I join you in your criticism of the practice (and I think many Milwaukee fans will also join in this). I don't think baseball will do this again, the way it was done in the 1960s.

NOTE FROM MIKE: I agree, but only because baseball is afraid of protracted litigation and of risking their anti-trust exemption. I find it very interesting that Major League Baseball has taken over the Expos, the same way they said they would take over the Pilots.

It is good that we can continue to remember the events of the past. Your Pilots site is an excellent way to do this. I enjoy remembering the Pilots, whether in a "turn back the clock" game in Milwaukee, or a reunion game to be played in Seattle. Milwaukee fans and Seattle fans share some common heroes from that era--Tommy Harper, Marty Pattin, etc. This is something good that we can enjoy sharing, as long as it is done in the proper perspective. If I lived in Seattle, I don't think I would enjoy seeing another team come to town, calling themselves the Pilots and wearing the Pilots logo, especially if I had to see them beat up on the Mariners. This occurred to me when I was in Miller Park last August 4.
—jlduskey

I am SO HAPPY you've put together this Web site, THANK YOU! It is now my favorite. I loved everything about the Seattle Pilots and saw about 40 games, including Opening Day, Bat Day and my 12th birthday (8/15). Thanks to your Web site, I was able to prove that I saw Boog Powell hit an inside-the-park home run! No one believed me when I told the story, but your expanded box score (8/16) proved it. Thanks.
—redgar