Are you thinking, "Where in the world did Coach Ed come up with this logo?" or "Where did The Pilots come from?", or maybe even "Are The Pilots even a baseball team?" Well, I'm happy to say we have the answer for you.
Here's a bit of baseball history
The Pilots were indeed a major league baseball team. In 1969 they were known as The Seattle Pilots. Their first and only season they played in Sicks Stadium, which was basically an enlarged minor league field. They played 162 games that season, with a losing record of 64 wins to 98 losses, and ended up in 6th place.
In 1967, Dewey & Max Soriano were awarded the franchise, under the condition that King County would build a domed stadium within 3 years. They had the baseball background, more than 20 years experience, however, lacked funds to pay for it. They were financed by a man named William R. Daley, who was a former owner of the Cleveland Indians.
Only a couple months into the 1969 season, it was clear that Daley would need to dump more money into the franchise in order to attempt to turn a profit. This he was unwilling to do. The plans to build a domed stadium were put on hold.
By April 1, 1970, the team was officially bankrupt, despite offers in 1969 to purchase the team, which were rejected, for various reasons.
On April 7, 1970, the franchise was purchased for 10.8 million dollars by Bud Selig and moved to Wisconsin, and became The Milwaukee Brewers.
An interesting note, the Pilots drafted an unknown named Louis Piniella on Oct 15, 1968. In April of 1969, they traded Piniella to Kansas City, where he finished the year as Rookie of the Year.
Now you can tell others that your team was indeed named after a major league baseball team.
If you're interested in more details regarding the Seattle Pilots, you may want to check out the following links:
