ABSTRACT
The fifties saw the onset of transfer fever in major league baseball following many decades of franchise stability with respect to geographic affiliation. Prior to that time, the majors had been confined to the northeast quadrant of the United States; i.e., with St. Louis as both its westernmost and southernmost city. This configuration reflected the origins of the game as well as the nation's population distribution up until the middle of the twentieth century. A complex set of factors set into motion following World War II, however, would render the spread of the majors an inevitability. These included:
the cultural intermingling of American G.I.s during the war broadened baseball's appeal and increased the demand for more balanced geographical representation in the big leagues;
an increase in the leisure time and disposable income of Americans;
the rise of new media to cover the game, particularly television; and
the beginning of a realignment of the U.S. populace first in a more westerly, then southerly, direction.
