I think the Red Sox would have been forced to move because they could not compete with the Boston Braves. The Braves was a very popular team and colorful team when I was a kid, the KC A's and Washington Senators saved the Red Sox from finishing in last place during those years. That was the years of the baby-boomers who were at least three times the size of any generation before them or any generation after them for the simple reason, man meets woman, gets married, then has to put off having their first child until after the war. My dad was discharged like so many former WW 2 Vets in NOV 1945, when they got home, they already post poned having a family for 4 to 6 years, they didn't waste any time like until I get a better job to have a baby etc, Man and wife did their things from 1946 to 1956 and turned out the most babies by far ever and have not been duplicated today. I was a product of "no time to postpone having a baby", the point is IF the Braves would have stayed in Boston, they would have kicked the Red Sox out of town. Because the Boston Braves were a very colorful baseball team with many super stars while all the Red Sox had was some guy by the name of Ted Williams. As a teen-ager I hated it when the Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta. When I was a kid, the Milwaukee Braves was the most colorful baseball team in baseball, they won the NL in 1957 and 1958, but that was before my time. They never won it all when I was a kid, but you had to love Milwaukee with guys like Eddie Mathews, Del Crandill, Roy MacMillian, Joe Adcock, can't forget that dark skinned guy by the name of Hank Aaron, Warren Spahn etc etc. The current day Brewers or the Brewers almost 50 years ago could never take the place of that colorful Milwaukee Braves team in the 50's and 60's, I thought it a discrace that they moved to Atlanta. What was the question, Oh yes their days in Boston, yes if they hadn't moved they would have ate the Red Sox up and today Milwaukee's team would probably be known as the Milwaukee Red Sox, while Boston could still be basking in sunshine as the home of the Boston Braves.
The problem was at the time Boston didn't have as many people to support two teams. But if they waited for Aaron to arrive on the scene they probably would have all of New Englands minority fanbase and likely would do a better job rivaling the Red Sox sales. Then expansion teams would fill Milwaukee and Atlanta.
I think your comparison between the Cubs and the White Sox is good. I think it would be somewhat like that
Boston could not support 2 baseball teams, just as they can't support
2 football teams, 2 NBA teams, etc.
We all know that the Braves moved from Boston to Milwaukee to Atlanta and would become one of the most popular baseball team in the country. But what if they never left Boston. Do you think it would be simmilar to that of the Cubs vs. White Sox? Would Hank Aaron be as great or greater? What would the Braves fan base be if they were still in Boston?
