WTCG-TV owner Ted Turner obtains 100% of the Atlanta Braves for $12 million. ‘Captain Ted’ purchases the club to provide sports programming for his local channel 17, but when the FCC permits the station to use a satellite in December to broadcast shows on cable networks, the franchise, now available to be viewed by millions of subscribers, will become known as America’s Team.
1976 – Charles Ruppert, Giants vice president and son-in-law of Horace Stoneham, announces the sale of the team to a Toronto, ON group for $13.3 million. Outrage by the fans prompts San Francisco mayor George Moscone to get a preliminary injunction preventing the move.
The Astros obtain Art Howe from the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete a deal the previous month for infielder Tommy Helms. The versatile Howe is instrumental in Houston’s first division title and later manages the team for five seasons.
1976 – Executives of the International Amateur Baseball Association meet in Mexico City to end a long-standing feud between delegations, creating in the process a new organization named the “Asociación Internacional de Beisbol Amateur”. With the United States returning to the IABA fold, after an absence of many years, the first AINBA World Championships are scheduled for Cartagena, Colombia. Manuel Gonzalez Guerra of Cuba is named the first AINBA president.
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