McHale himself who disposed of young talent and decimated the farm system: "With General Manager John McHale trading away brilliant young pitchers (Joey Jay and Juan Pizarro) and solid everyday performers like Billy Bruton and Joe Adcock, and then unloading over half the once fertile farm clubs, Bragan will have to depend on old Braves who may prefer peace to war." As the Braves slipped into the middle ranks of the National League, attendance at Milwaukee County Stadium declined precipitously. In , the club was sold to a group of Chicago-based investors. By , the Braves were rumored (correctly) to be moving to Atlanta. In , during their lame-duck season in Milwaukee, McHale was the figurehead for a supremely unpopular ownership. In , the Atlanta Braves' first year, the club started slowly. McHale was replaced as general manager in mid-season by Paul Richards, a former Tiger teammate of McHale's and a legend in Georgia's capital since his days as playing manager of the Atlanta Crackers of the Southern Association from 1938 to 1942. After the season, McHale left the Braves to replace Lee MacPhail as the chief aide to Baseball Commissioner William Eckert. Candidacy for Baseball Commissioner In , the year before the National League expanded to 12 teams, McHale was named president of the newly born Montreal Expos by their owner, Seagrams heir Charles Bronfman. A few weeks after McHale's appointment, Eckert was fired as commissioner and McHale emerged as a leading contender to succeed his former boss, along with executives Michael Burke of the New York Yankees and Chub Feeney of the San Francisco Giants. He had strong support in the American League, but NL owners—who wanted McHale's experienced hand turned toward the fledgling Expo franchise—intervened and McHale's candidacy was halted. (The commissionership eventually went to National League attorney Bowie Kuhn). Founding president of the Montréal Expos Putting the commissioner election behind him, McHale focused on building the first MLB franchise located in Canada. While McHale concentrated on upper management responsibilities during his first decade with the Expos, he eventually assumed their general manager portfolio as well, and it was during his watch (as GM from 1978 to 1984) that the Expos achieved their only playoff appearance, in . McHale resigned as general manager in favor of Murray Cook at the close of the season, then stepped down from the club presidency in ; he was succeeded in