The year was 1962. The Milwaukee Braves, despite 86 wins, finished in fifth place behind the NL Champion Giants. Attendance had dropped for the fifth year in a row, which was the same problem team owner Lou Perini cited as the reason for moving the Braves from Boston to Milwaukee in 1953.
Enter William C. Bartholomay, leader of a business consortium from Chicago. Perini wished to sell the Braves, and Bartholomay agreed. Meanwhile, down in the growing southern city of Atlanta, Georgia, newly elected mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. had promised to bring a Major League Baseball franchise to the city during his campaign.