Open Candidates for National League Expansion Since 1882 - Troy, NY and Worcestor, MA

With populations of 49,000 and 180,000, upstate New York's Troy and birthplace of movie director Sam Fuller Worcestor, MA hardly seem like cities that would be considered for expansion by Major League Baseball. However, to get added to the schedule next year (or any year for the past 131 years for that matter) is build a stadium and field a team.

The Troy Trojans were admitted to the National League in January of 1879. They played 4 seasons with the best record being 41-42 in 1880 and had an overall record of 139-191. While they started out with strong attendance, interest in quickly waned for the Trojans and by 1881 they had a game against Chicago which drew a paltry 12 people, a woeful record that still stands.  What was even more surprising about the Trojans record and attendance during this time was that they had 5 future hall of fame inductees on those teams - first basemen Dan Brouthers and Roger Connor, pitchers Tim Keefe and Mickey Welch and catcher Buck Ewing.

 The Worcestor Worcestors (or sometime referred to as the Ruby Legs) entered the National League in 1880 and after going 40 - 43 in their opening season, good enough for 5th place in the 8 team league, finished in last the next 2 seasons. Their most notable accomplishments came when in December of 1879 they became the first American baseball team to play in Cuba. The trip was a failure and only 2 games were able to be played and left the team in a financial jam before they even began their inaugural season. The team's highlight was when on July 12, 1880 pitcher Lee Richmond threw the first perfect game in baseball history. 

Tired of the lack of attendance and in the case of the Trojans, even having to pay for a decent-sized portion of the teams payroll, rumors circulated during much of the 1882 season that both teams would be removed from the National League. At the owner's meeting that December in Providence, RI, a vote was had on whether the 2 teams should return for 1883. The final tally was 6-2 with Chicago, Providence, Boston, Buffalo, Cleveland and Detroit voting to cast out the Trojans and Worcestors with, well, I will let you guess which 2 teams voted to return for the following year. However, an interesting caveat was added to the vote that is till binding. Both Troy, New York and Worcestor, Massachusetts are both still honorary members of the National League and as such if they ether field a team and stadium of major league caliber then each current National League team would be required to schedule between 2 and 4 games each year in those locations.