The Continental League was a proposed third major league for baseball. The CL was the idea of New York City's William Shea , proposed in November of 1958 after the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers announced plans to move to California. The league was formally announced in July 1959. Former Dodgers president Branch Rickey was named president of the Continental League. Teams were to be placed in cities that did not have Major League Baseball (except New York). The CL dissolved without playing a game, in August of 1960, after both the American League and the National League announced plans to expand into new cities. The NL added the Houston Astros and New York Mets, but the AL reneged on its part of the agreement, adding one team in an existing NL city — the Los Angeles Angels — and another in an existing AL city — the Washington Senators — though the old team of the same name became the Minnesota Twins. By 1993, Buffalo was the only CL city that lacked major league baseball.

Cities of the Continental League

• Atlanta, Georgia
• Buffalo, New York
• Dallas-Ft. Worth, Texas
• Denver, Colorado
• Houston, Texas
• Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota
• New York, New York
• Toronto, Ontario