The basketball Royals almost returned home

[bulldogbarks55]

Growing up less than an hour from Rochester, NY, I naturally followed all of the Flower City's sports teams. My one regret is that I never saw the Rochester Royals play during their time in Rochester. The reason is that I didn't really start paying attention to sports until 1958, the year I turned 11. The Royals had left for Cincinnati after the close of the 1956-57 season. In researching another topic I discovered some interesting news about the Royals and the way the NBA ultimately treated the franchise.

Co-owners and brothers Les and Jack Harrison had moved the Royals to the Queen City in 1957 in hopes of finding greener pastures. But after more than a decade as one of the NBA's elite teams, the late-'50s Royals were among the league's worst clubs. The '57-'58 crew won but 19 games and finished dead last.

After losing in excess of $25,000 their first year in Ohio, the Harrison brothers began looking for a buyer. Early on, no one in Cincinnati was interested. So Les and Jack, Rochester natives and still local residents (they were absentee owners in Cinci) received a call from fellow Rochesterian Norm Shapiro. Shapiro was a successful concessionaire and owner of a vending business. In 1957 he became concessionaire at Rochester's Red Wing (later Silver) Stadium when the International League team was sold to a community-owned group by the then-parent St. Louis Cardinals.

After some brief negotiations a deal was struck between the Harrisons and Shapiro. It called for the team to return to Rochester for the 1958-59 season. Given Les Harrison's long basketball coaching and scouting record presumably he would have worked for Shapiro as General Manager. Jack Harrison, an attorney who had served as business manager for the Royals during their tenure in Rochester, would probably have held a similar post with the team.

Shapiro had a check drawn, already to hand over to consummate the deal. The only thing the Royals were waiting for was the approval of the NBA's Board of Governors.

It never came. After much stonewalling the NBA finally admitted that since they were at that time in negotiations for a network TV contract, the league felt that cities like Rochester (late '50s population approx. 300,000) just weren't "major league" enough to suit the taste of the cheap suits on Madison Avenue. Because Cincinnati (approx. 550,000) had the Reds it was a "major league" city and thereby deserving of the NBA's and TV's blessing.

So the NBA got busy and found a buyer in Cincinnati and the Royals stayed there for another 14 years. During that time they built some great teams in the mid-'60s with Oscar Robertson, Jerry Lucas and Rochester leftover Jack Twyman. In '63-'64 they finished 55-29, only four games back of the mighty Celtics.

Which brings us to the point that if they had returned to Rochester they would have left eventually. At that time the War Memorial arena sat just 8,000. And as the game and salaries grew it would have become impossible for a local owner to compete. The last of the original one-man operations, Danny Biasone with the Syracuse Nationals, left his beloved Salt City for Philadelphia in '63-'64 where the Nats became the '76ers. Three years later the Sixers broke Boston's string of championships.

In looking at the bigger picture the NBA probably did Rochester a favor. By not allowing a return to the Flower City they saved us from the pain and embarassment of losing the team a second time. Any comments would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[gashouser27]

Nice history

Do you think Rochester could still be a good minor league basketball town. Remember the Zeniths and how good they were there for a few years. I mean it is a nice sports town (number one minor league town in the US!) and there is no D-I college program even

Don't even count the Razorsharks!

[winghaz]

Very interesting stuff, bulldog. Thanks for the info.

I remember when Sacramento was trying to get the Kansas City Kings, before the franchise's move. I have a sister who lives near Sacramento, and was out visiting and was talking with a friend who worked for the Sacramento Bee. He was talking about how Sacramento was going to get the Kings, and I'm almost positive I said to him something like, "No way. Sacramento isn't a major league city."

Of course, I was wrong. But look at that comment and compare it to what Rochester went through.

[bulldogbarks55]

Gashouser-

I worked for the Zeniths part time as public address announcer and also helped book high school preliminary games. As good as the Z's were, they never caught on. There would be crowds in excess of 5,000 at the War Memorial, like for the Buffalo Bills vs. the Press-Radio Club in a prelim. That night also featured the Buffalo Jills and the San Diego Chicken (Ted Giannulous). As soon as the Bills and Chicken were done, the crowd dwindled to about 1,200.

Unfortunately it was this way all three years I worked for the team. Three championship appearances, two titles and still blase fans. It was a tough sell. Rochester could support a team in a reputable league. The new ABA is too loosy-goosy to be a factor, you're right.

[gashouser27]

That's cool..It would be nice if U or R or someone tried to go D-I.

It would be nice for Rochester to have something besides the Amerks in the winter

[appleclock]

By not allowing a return to the Flower City they saved us from the pain and embarassment of losing the team a second time.

Instead, nearby Buffalo got to experience the disappointment of losing an NBA franchise with their dismal Braves less than two dacades later! I guess upstate New York is no place for pro basketball.

[Dilbert]

By not allowing a return to the Flower City they saved us from the pain and embarassment of losing the team a second time.

No its embarrising that Rochester has an ABA team.

[ROCHitman]

By not allowing a return to the Flower City they saved us from the pain and embarassment of losing the team a second time.

No its embarrising that Rochester has an ABA team.

No it's not. I bet we pull in some good crowds for the first year anyway.

Everything I am hearing leads me to believe we should be in the top quarter of the league for attendence.

If you're bored in the winter time, check out RIT's hockey games.

They're a division I program now.

[Swiss]

All I can say here is... very good history.

[Dilbert]

By not allowing a return to the Flower City they saved us from the pain and embarassment of losing the team a second time.

No its embarrising that Rochester has an ABA team.

No it's not. I bet we pull in some good crowds for the first year anyway.

Everything I am hearing leads me to believe we should be in the top quarter of the league for attendence.

If you're bored in the winter time, check out RIT's hockey games.

They're a division I program now.

They will have good attendance because most of the teams will probably drop out or fold midseason. They are playing at the War Memorial arent they?

[Gamingboy]

Rochester was declared "No.1 Minor League City" by some experts at a magazine that seems to know there stuff.

I do think the NBA did a favor by not coming back. The idea of Rochester being known as the "City that lost 2 NBA teams" would be dubious......

[bulldogbarks55]

Yeah, Gamingboy, that IS a dubious distinction. As far as I know only two cities have lost TWO NBA teams. One is Baltimore, where the original Bullets folded and the "new" Bullets, the transplanted Chicago Packers/Zephyrs, pulled up stakes and moved down the beltway to DC.

The other city is, sorry, STLfanatic, St. Louis. The St. Louis Bombers folded and the Hawks bailed for Georgia.

[Puckguy14]

Very interesting stuff, bulldog. Thanks for the info.

I remember when Sacramento was trying to get the Kansas City Kings, before the franchise's move. I have a sister who lives near Sacramento, and was out visiting and was talking with a friend who worked for the Sacramento Bee. He was talking about how Sacramento was going to get the Kings, and I'm almost positive I said to him something like, "No way. Sacramento isn't a major league city."

Of course, I was wrong. But look at that comment and compare it to what Rochester went through.

That's what the NHL originally said to Pro Hockey San Jose in 1989. And look what happened.

In this day and age of pro sports, if you build a big arena, they will come...if there is something available.