My first Formula One race was with Ferrari as a third

With the Rams rebooting in Los Angeles, ESPN.com presents a series exploring the remnants departed teams have left behind in the cities they abandoned.SEATTLE -- The Seattle Pilots had an official theme song that included the lyrics: You brought the majors to the evergreen Northwest; now, go, go you Pilots, youre going to be the best!Sadly, those lyrics should have been: Now go, go you Pilots, youre going to be the Milwaukee Brewers (not that youre ever going to be very good there, either).As part of a four-team expansion that also saw the debuts of the Montreal Expos, Kansas City Royals and San Diego Padres, the Pilots began in Seattle in 1969. But just a year later they were gone, relocated to Milwaukee after going bankrupt and being bought by Bud Selig. Nearly a half-century later, little physically remains here from that season. The Pilots home of Sicks Stadium was torn down decades ago, and a Lowes home improvement store now stands on the site. Inside the store is a replica of the departed ballparks home plate and markings where the bases and mound once were.You go back a couple generations in baseball history and we had professional baseball from 1901 to 1969, through two world wars and a depression, and then -- poof! -- its gone, Seattle sports historian David Eskenazi said. The first year we didnt have pro baseball was 1970.The Pilots might be remembered even less had it not been for the finest baseball book ever written: Ball Four, Jim Boutons diary of that 1969 season. Bouton wrote in his Opening Day entry after beating the Angels 4-3, Already were better than the Mets.The Pilots did not remain so.The Mets went on to win their first World Series that year, but Seattle went 64-98 and finished last in the six-team AL West.The aptly named Sicks Stadium was a tiny and old minor league ballpark with plumbing issues that resulted in players sometimes taking cold showers or just going home without showering. Perhaps conditions would have been better had the Lowes been around in 1969.Those Pilots drew only 677,944 fans, though that still was more than the Phillies, White Sox, Padres or Indians drew that year (the major league average was 1,134,569). They drew 14,993 for the April 11 home opener, a 7-0 win over the White Sox, but three days later a mere 3,611 watched the Pilots lose to the Royals. Only 1,954 fans showed for another April game. I was there Aug. 22 for Tommy Harper Night, held when Harper stole his 60th and 61st bases of the year, yet it was of so little interest it was attended by just 6,719 fans besides me.I dont think this is a town that will ever draw 25,000 or 30,000 regularly, Bouton wrote. Its a town much more concerned with culture than athletics. (This has changed, as all those Seahawks No. 12 jerseys document.)Low attendance and a poor stadium -- workers were still nailing and painting the bleachers of the renovated Triple-A park the day of the home opener -- were not the only issues. The Seattle owners, Dewey and Max Soriano, were not rich enough to support the Pilots -- they needed to sell 47 percent of the team stock to former Cleveland Indians owner William Daley. Nor were there rich businessmen in the area to take over the franchise in that era -- Bill Gates and Paul Allen still were Seattle teenagers just learning the wonders of computers.Before Microsoft, Amazon and Starbucks started here, Boeing was the main local company. It was about to begin staggering layoffs that would lead to an early 70s billboard that infamously read: Will the last person leaving Seattle turn out the lights.Maybe the Pilots inspired the sign.One week before the 1970 season began and with the teams finances in ruins, the Pilots fate was still so much up in the air that they sent their equipment truck from spring training in Arizona to Provo, Utah. There the drivers stopped and waited for word whether to continue to Seattle or veer northeast to Milwaukee. On March 31, eight days before the teams season opener, word was sent: Go to Wisconsin. The Pilots were moving to Milwaukee.As the late Mike Hegan told me once, the day after the move to Milwaukee was announced, he and his teammates entered their spring training clubhouse and found their jerseys now had MILWAUKEE stitched across the chest rather than SEATTLE. Its amazing how cold this business can be, Hegan said.Seattleites still know all too well how cold it can be. In 2006, Howard Schultz, who turned Starbucks into a global phenomenon, sold the NBAs SuperSonics to a group of Oklahoma businessmen who moved the team to Oklahoma City in 2008.Fortunately, the Pilots legacy lives on in an important way beyond Ball Four, the home plate at Lowes and the occasional fan wearing a replica cap with the pilot-like scrambled egg design across the bill. Thanks to Washington Attorney General Slade Gorton and trial lawyer Bill Dwyer, the state successfully sued the American League over the Pilots departure. The league agreed to give Seattle another expansion team in 1977: the Mariners.Although after 39 seasons and not a single World Series appearance, Seattle is still wondering whether the Mariners will ever go, go to be the best. <a href="https://www.fakenfljerseys.com/">Fake NFL Jerseys For Sale</a>. -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. <a href="https://www.fakenfljerseys.com/">Fake NFL Jerseys Cheap</a>. LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. 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Mario Andretti has urged Haas to sign an American driver to increase exposure for Formula One in the United States.Haas is yet to confirm who will partner Romain Grosjean next season, with uncertainty over whether Esteban Gutierrez will be retained. Though young American driver Santino Ferrucci is signed on as a development driver Haas wants someone with experience for its second season in F1.Alexander Rossi, who won the Indy 500 as a rookie this year for Andrettis son Michaels team, was previously tipped as a candidate after five races for Manor in 2015 but he has signed on for another season of IndyCar. Andretti thinks Haas has a responsibility to grow the sport in the States.Speaking to ESPN about the lack of an American driver on the grid, Andretti said: Having an American team there, maybe some of that will change and I hope they do sign an American one day because I think you have a vast fanbase here in the United States. Even for Formula One, I think its understated. But I can see it really really magnifying if there was an American driver there, especially now theres the race at Circuit of the Americas.Alexander Rossi is one perfect example of one [American] talent being overlooked for some reason. Hes done very well in GP2 and all that, he knows the circuits very well and has the experience. But when youre not considered by a top team theres no way youre going to be able to show what you can do.Andretti thinks the lack of an American on the grid is a good argument for the introduction of guest drivers for teeam to run people with a local interest.ddddddddddddMy first Formula One race was with Ferrari as a third driver, a top team. Imagine if one of our talents, even Alexander, would have been invited by Mercedes to be third driver at some events it might have been another story, he might have shown differently.Now, having done quite a good season here in the States and having signed for another season with Michael, it looks like he didnt have any offers from a top teams [in F1].Team owner Gene Haas says there are no American drivers who fit the requirements he is looking for at the moment, suggesting he will only sign one after gaining the relevant experience at another team on the grid.If we had to do everything American, we wouldnt have enough money or enough time for anything, Haas told ESPN. Were here really to build a race team. If an American driver came along to have the pedigree to do this, yeah, we would seriously consider that. But at the moment, there arent any F1 drivers.Youre always looking for experience. Its a drivers market right now because weve lost two very experienced drivers and the newcomers really dont have much experiences. Theres lots of drivers out there but you take that chance of the unknown. Theres a lot of people that can compete well in GP3 and GP2. They qualify well but racing in Formula One is a whole different sport.Additional reporting by ESPNs Bob Pockrass <a href="http://www.chinawholesalejerseysnfl.com/">Wholesale Jerseys</a> ' ' '