Branch Rickey stood before reporters in Chicago's Morrison Hotel and declared a new major league. The Continental League, he announced on July 27, 1959, would begin play in 1961 with teams in eight cities abandoned or ignored by the established National and American Leagues. The roster included New York, which had just lost its Dodgers and Giants, along with Houston, Toronto, Denver, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Atlanta, Buffalo, and Dallas-Fort Worth. Rickey, the man who integrated baseball with Jackie Robinson, now aimed to integrate its closed economic system.
The league was a bluff with serious intent. It was the brainchild of New York lawyer William Shea, who sought a team for his city after the departures to California. The threat of a viable competitor, backed by powerful local interests, forced the hand of the existing majors. The National League's response was not a war but a co-option. To head off the Continental League, it agreed to expand, adding the New York Mets and the Houston Colt .45s (later the Astros) in 1962. The American League soon followed, adding teams like the Los Angeles Angels and the new Washington Senators.
The Continental League folded in August 1960 without a single pitch. Its legacy, however, is the modern map of professional baseball. It directly created the Mets and Astros franchises. It demonstrated the viability of markets like Atlanta, Denver, Minneapolis, and Toronto, all of which received major league teams within the next decade. The league's mere proposal broke the 50-year stalemate on expansion, proving that the most effective revolutions are the ones you never have to fight.