March 19, 1957: The End of the Fort Wayne Pistons

March 19, 1957: The Minneapolis Lakers knock the Fort Wayne Pistons out of the NBA Playoffs, 110-108. This is the last game the Pistons play in Fort Wayne, where team owner Fred Zollner founded them in 1941 as a company team (or, as they'd be known in Britain, a works side) for his foundry that made pistons for various vehicles' engines.

The Pistons won the Championship of the National Basketball League in 1944 and 1945, after reaching the Finals but losing in 1942 and 1943. They joined the NBA in 1948, and made back-to-back Finals in 1955, losing to the Syracuse Nationals, and 1956, losing to the Philadelphia Warriors. Fort Wayne players in the Basketball Hall of Fame included guards Bobby McDermott, Buddy Jeannette, Andy Philip; forward George Yardley; and center Bob Houbregs. Zollner was also elected, as a "Contributor."

But despite making the Playoffs again in 1957, Zollner knew that Fort Wayne was too small a city to support a major league team, so he moved them to a bigger city, one where the name "Pistons" would still make sense: Detroit.

Today, their original city is home to 265,000 people, with a "metropolitan area" of 650,000. It is also home to the Indiana Pacers' D-League team, the Fort Wayne Mad Ants; and the ECHL's Fort Wayne Komets. Both of those teams play in the Pistons' 1952-57 home, the 13,000-seat Allen County War Memorial Coliseum.

UPDATE: The Pistons do not have a team Hall of Fame. But they do retire uniform numbers. From the 1970s: 16, for center Bob Lanier; and 21, for guard Dave Bing. From their 1989 and 1990 NBA Championships: 2, for the 2 titles won by coach Chuck Daly; 4, for guard Joe Dumars; 10, for forward Dennis Rodman; 11, for guard Isiah Thomas; 15, for guard Vinnie Johnson; and 40, for center Bill Laimbeer. They have also honored team owner Bill Davidson and general manager Jack McCloskey with banners.

Dumars was also the general manager of their 2004 NBA Champions. From that team, they have honored him, Davidson; 1, for guard Chauncey Billups; 3, for center Ben Wallace; and 32, for guard Richard "Rip" Hamilton -- but not, as yet, head coach Larry Brown.

All of those, except Rodman, have also been elected to the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. So have team owner Fred Zollner, 1950s forward George Yardley (with the team at the time of the move), 1950s forward Earl Lloyd (who, as a 1950 Washington Capitol, was the 1st black player to play in an NBA game), and 1960s forward Dave DeBusschere (better known for his later tenure with the New York Knicks).

Oddly enough, no Fort Wayne Pistons figures have yet been elected to the Indiana Sports Hall of Fame.

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March 19, 1957 was a Tuesday. Baseball was in Spring Training. Football was out of season. There were no other games played in the NBA, and there were none played in the NHL. So there were no other scores on this historic day.