Introduction to Chapter 1:

1956-1960: The Judgment of 8,000 People

At the end of the 1956 season, if organized baseball's minor leagues weren't on their collective deathbed, they were certainly stumbling toward it. The demise was frighteningly rapid. From the peak year of 1949, the number of leagues and teams had been cut in half. Those that remained faced continued uncertainty as to whether or not it could win the attention of fans who now had television to occupy their leisure time, which brought big league baseball into their living rooms.

Major league franchises accelerated the decline by reducing their minor league holdings. The St. Louis Cardinals, owners of organized baseball's largest farm system, likewise looked to cut back. After the 1956 season, one of their three top minor league franchises - one of which was the International League's Rochester Red Wings - would have to go.

Professional baseball in Rochester dated back to 1877 and the city was an uninterrupted presence in the International League and its predecessors since 1885. The Cardinals had purchased the team in 1928 and, one year later, built Red Wing Stadium. Over the years the Rochester Red Wings had been one of the league's most successful franchises.

But tradition was not factored in the decision. Rochester had the worst attendance of the three cities and red ink had accumulated. But the Cardinals, to their credit, did not abruptly pack up and leave town. Rochester was given a short window of opportunity in which to purchase the team and the stadium. No one individual or group stepped forward, however, and only community ownership remained as an option.

The dilemma came with Rochester in the midst of an upheaval in its sports franchises. The city had earlier that year added a long-desired franchise in the American Hockey League to play in its new War Memorial arena. Rochester's professional basketball team, the Royals, was likewise in limbo. Financial losses had mounted and local ownership was considering offers that would move the team. Rochester could end up with three professional sports teams, or, if the Amerks failed, it could have none. But Rochester was, in no uncertain terms, a baseball town, and the loss of the Red Wings would be the most telling blow to civic pride.

In what would become known as the "72-day miracle," over 8,000 Rochesterians first pledged to buy, and then purchased, shares in Rochester Community Baseball Inc. The Cardinals generously gave concessions and extensions to help facilitate the sale and further signed an agreement to supply players to the Red Wings.

Even so, minor league baseball was still a touch and go proposition in the late 1950s. The first half of the decade had been very successful for the Red Wings and fans' patience was short when they saw mediocre teams. St. Louis was rebuilding and much of the local wrath was pointed at leadership on the banks of the Mississippi.

The first four seasons of the community-owned era were full of notable players and incidents. The team went through an on the field shooting of one of its players and the in-season resignation of its manager. Heros on the field included local product Bob Keegan as well as Luke Easter, Charlie James, Gene Green, Cal Browning and future Hall of Famer Bob Gibson. Off the diamond Morrie Silver, Frank Horton and George Sisler Jr. played key roles in maintaining and strengthening the shaky footing on which the franchise sat. But by the end of the 1960 season, even after four years of community baseball, professional baseball in Rochester was still not, by any means, a solid proposition.

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