UNITED LEAGUE BORN
Owners, magnates forge new circuit from ashes of major leagues

In November 1950, following years of declining attendance and sagging revenues, the American League filed for bankruptcy and announced that it would cease operations.  In December, the National League followed suit, citing explosive salary growth, the rise of television, and a lower quality product since the war years.  The outbreak of war in Korea was the final blow to the already crippled major leagues, as several major stars shipped off to war again and attendance took another hit.
   A diluted talent pool and cutthroat salary competition for the best players had spelled disaster, as attendance failed to rebound from the wartime slump, and overspending on salaries drove even the wealthiest franchises deep into red ink.  A series of scandals involving some of the game's top players further eroded interest in the national pastime, as did rumors of game-fixing as a means for owners to recoup some of their losses.  By 1950, both leagues were at the breaking point, and after several seasons of spiraling debt, Organized Baseball's creditors finally pulled the plug.  Within six weeks of the 1950 World's Series, both major leagues and all 16 franchises were shut down.

THE REBIRTH
   In January 1951, at a secret meeting at the Waldorf Astoria in New York, several former magnates met with Commissioner Happy Chandler to formulate the blueprints of a successor league that would fill the gap left by the defunct major leagues. Chandler, former N.L. President Ford Frick, and magnates Larry MacPhail, Walter O'Malley, Branch Rickey, Tom Yawkey, Bill Veeck, and Philip Wrigley recognized that the game had strayed from its roots but still had a sizable fan base that could be tapped into and nurtured.  To prevent the ruinous bidding wars over star players as well as young talent, the Chandler group proposed that salaries be determined by an agreed pay scale.  To address the issue of diluted talent, the group proposed a single eight-team circuit, ensuring several star players on each team rather than thinly dispersed among 16 clubs.  After several days of intense negotiations, the group announced on January 5 the birth of the United League of American Base Ball Clubs.
   The Chandler group agreed that despite shrinking to eight teams, the new United League should maintain baseball's geographic scope and avoid fragmenting already shrinking fan bases. Many major league ballparks were at risk of being sold to creditors, demolished, or being used by football teams. The league would have to act quickly to preserve the game's green cathedrals.  For half a century, the major leagues called the same 11 cities home, with no new clubs or relocations. But with an eye toward increasing the sport's popularity, the option of placing franchises in new cities was left open.  The league generated a short list of 18 cities deemed capable of supporting a big league club, and solicited quick bids from ownership groups. After rejecting a plan that would have kept superstar players in their old cities (Stan Musial in St. Louis and Ted Williams in Boston, for instance), it was determined that all major league players would be released and placed in a pool to be distributed among the eight teams by draft.