Pop Flies (St. Louis Browns Fan Club newsletter), Sportsman’s Park: The Player, The Fans and The Game by Dan O’Neill, The St. Louis Baseball Reader by Richard F. Peterson, Out of the Park: Memoirs of a Minor League Baseball All Star by Ed Mickelson, The Boys Who Were Left Behind: The 1944 World Series between the Hapless St. Louis Browns and the Legendary St. Louis Cardinals by John Heidenry and Brett Topel, The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns by Peter Golenbock, The Best of Seasons: The 1944 St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns by Bill Borst, This Date in Baltimore Orioles and St. Louis Browns History by John C. Hawkins, As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns by David Alan Helle, The 10 Worst Years of Baseball: The Zany, True Story of Baseball in the Forties by William B. Mead and Harold Rosenthal, Even the Browns by William B. Mead, Baseball Goes to War by William B. Mead, Baseball In St. Louis: 1900-1925 by Steve Steinberg, Still Last in the American League: The St. Louis Browns Revisited by Bill Borst, The 1922 St. Louis Browns: Best of the American League's Worst by Roger A. Godin, The Bottom Line : The Complete St. Louis Browns Stats Book by Bill Borst, A Jockstrap Full of Nails by Bill Borst and Erv Fischer, Mound City Memories (Society for American Baseball Research), Beerball: A History of St. Louis Baseball by Ed Gaus, Baseball Through a Knothole: a St. Louis History by Bill Borst, St. Louis' Big League Ballparks by Joan M. Thomas, Cardinal Classics: Outstanding Games from Each of the St. Louis Baseball Clubs 100 Seasons by Robert Tiemann, Dizzy and the Gas House Gang: The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals and Depression-Era Baseball by Doug Feldmann, Before They Were Cardinals: Major League Baseball in Nineteenth-Century St. Louis by Jon David Cash, St. Louis Then and Now by Elizabeth McNulty, Historic Photos of St. Louis by Adele Heagney and Jean Gosebrink, Chris Von der Ahe and the St. Louis Browns by J. Thomas Hetrick, The Baltimore Orioles: The History of a Colorful Team in Baltimore and St. Louis by Frederick G. Lieb and Bob Broeg, The Baltimore Orioles by Fred Lieb and Frederick G. Lieb, The Big Book of St. Louis Nostalgia by Bill Nunes with David Lossos & Lonnie Tettaton, etc.
Heroes
Browns Hall of Famers (26):
Jim Bottomley 1B 1936-1937
Jesse Burkett OF 1902-1904
Dizzy Dean RHP 1947
Rick Ferrell C 1941-1943
Goose Goslin OF 1930-1932
Rogers Hornsby 2B 1933-1937
Heinie Manush OF 1928-1930
Satchel Paige RHP 1951-1953
Eddie Plank LHP 1916-1917
Branch Rickey MGR/GM 1913-1915
George Sisler 1B 1915-1927
Bill Veeck, Owner 1951-1953
Rube Waddell LHP 1908-1910
Bobby Wallace SS 1902-1916
AWARDS
Rookie of the Year: (1)
1949 Roy Sievers OF
MVP: (1)
1922 George Sisler 1B
No-Hitters: (4)
8/30/1912 Earl Hamilton
5/5/1917 Ernie Koob
5/6/1917 Bob Groom
5/6/1953 Bobo Holloman
Cycle Hitters: (5)
8/8/1920 George Sisler
8/13/1921 George Sisler
4/17/1924 Bill Jacobson
5/23/1929 Oscar Melillo
7/19/1941 George McQuinn
Browns Managers: (25)
Jimmy McAleer 1902-1909
John O'Conner 1910
Bobby Walker 1911-1912
George Stovall 1912-1913
Jimmy Austin 1913
Branch Rickey 1913-1915
Fielder Jones 1916-1918
Jimmy Austin 1918
Jimmy Burke 1918-1920
Lee Fohl 1921-1923
Jimmy Austin 1923
George Sisler 1924-1926
Dan Howley 1927-1929
Bill Killefer 1930-1933
Allen Sothoron 1933
Rogers Hornsby 1933-1937
Jim Bottomley 1937
Gabby Street 1938
Fred Haney 1939-1941
Luke Sewell 1941-1946
Zack Taylor 1946
Muddy Ruel 1947
Zack Taylor 1948-1951
Rogers Hornsby 1952
Marty Marion 1952-1953
St. Louis Browns's Details
Status:
Swinger
Orientation:
Not Sure
Hometown:
St. Louis, Mo.
Zodiac Sign:
Taurus
Smoke / Drink:
Yes / Yes
St. Louis Browns (1902-1953) Posted at 4:59 PM Jun 25, 2008 view more
The St. Louis Browns were an American League baseball team that existed from 1902 to 1953. The team was originally established in 1901 as the Milwaukee Brewers, but moved to St. Louis the following year and renamed themselves the Browns, in reference to the original name of the legendary 1880s club owned by Chris Von der Ahe that would eventually change its name to the Cardinals in 1900.
When the Browns arrived in St. Louis in 1902, they built a new ballpark on the site of the old Brown Stockings' former home, Sportsman's Park, located at North Grand and Dodier St. in North St. Louis. In 1909 it was the Browns (not the Cardinals) that rebuilt Sportsman's Park as only the third concrete-and-steel ballpark in the Majors. The Cardinals, in fact, had been playing in a different ballpark, Robison Field (also known as New Sportsman's Park, League Park and Cardinal Field over the course of the team's occupancy there) since 1893. Robison Field was located at the corner of Natural Bridge Avenue and Vandeventer Avenue where Beaumont High School stands today. Despite being the new team in town, the Browns at Sportsman's Park quickly became the main baseball attraction in St. Louis, trouncing the Cardinals in attendance. The Cardinals remained there until Browns owner Philip DeCatesby Ball allowed them to move out of that dilapidated, old ballpark and share Sportsman's Park with the Browns in mid-1920. So the Browns actually played more seasons (52) at Sportsman's Park than the Cardinals (46). The move to allow the Cardinals to relocate was one of many that eventually doomed the Browns; Cardinals owner Sam Breadon and general manager Branch Rickey (a former Browns manager) used the proceeds from the Robison Field sale to build baseball's first modern farm system - which eventually produced several star players that brought the Cardinals more drawing power than the Browns. Then, in 1926, the Cardinals would face off against the New York Yankees in the team's first World Series championship. After that, the allegiance of St. Louis baseball fans began to swing towards the Cardinals.
The Browns usually fielded terrible or mediocre teams. The club would finish in the American League cellar nine times and would lose 100 games or more eight times, including the 1939 season's 43-111 record that left them 64-1/2 games out of first place. But they did have some successful years as well. The 1922 Browns came very close to beating the Yankees to a pennant. The club was boasting the best players in franchise history, including future Hall of Famer George Sisler, and an outfield trio - Ken Williams, Baby Doll Jacobson, and Jack Tobin - that batted .300 or better in 1919-23 and 1925. In 1922, Williams became the first player in Major League history to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in a season, something that would not be done again in the Majors until 1956.
But once the Cardinals started fielding better players and winning pennants, they simultaneously began their domination of St. Louis baseball while still technically tenants of the Browns.
Before they left St. Louis the Browns would set a bunch of dubious baseball records. On July 7, 1953, they set the league record for most consecutive defeats at home, dropping 20 straight. In 1950 the Browns set another league mark by having the most runs scored against them in a single game — 29 by the Boston Red Sox. They still hold the record for the most runs given up in a season opener, 21 against Cleveland in 1925.
During World War II, the Browns won their only American League pennant in 1944. Some critics called it a fluke; most Major League stars voluntarily joined or were drafted into the military; however, many of the Browns' best players were classified 4-F: unfit for military service. That year the Browns faced their local rivals, the lesser successful Cardinals, in the 1944 World Series (nicknamed "the Streetcar Series"), the last World Series to date played entirely in one ballpark, and lost 4 games to 2.
In 1945, the Browns posted an 81-75 record and finished in third place, 6 games out, again with less than top-ranked talent. The 1945 season may be best remembered for the Browns' signing of utility outfielder Pete Gray, the only one-armed Major League position player in history. Playing minor-league ball for Memphis, Gray batted .333, hit five home runs and tied a league record with 68 stolen bases — with one arm. He would play 77 games with the 1945 Browns, batting .218 with 13 RBIs. But with the war’s end, Gray was sent back to the minors where he continued to play until the early 1950s. He died in 2002. 1945 proved to be the Browns' last hurrah; they would never have another winning season in St. Louis. In fact, 1944 and 1945 were two of only eight winning seasons they enjoyed in the 31 years after nearly winning the pennant in 1922.
In 1951, Bill Veeck, the former owner of the Cleveland Indians, purchased the Browns. In St. Louis he extended the promotions and wild antics that had made him famous and loved by many and loathed by many others. His most notorious stunt in St. Louis was on August 19, 1951, when he sent Eddie Gaedel, a 3-foot 7-inch, 65-pound midget, to bat as a pinch hitter. When Gaedel stepped to the plate he was wearing a Browns uniform with the number 1/8 and little slippers turned up at the ends like elf's shoes. With no strike zone to speak of, Gaedel walked on four straight pitches, as he was ordered to not swing at any pitch. The stunt infuriated American League President Will Harridge, who voided Gaedel's contract the next day.
After the 1951 season, Veeck made Ned Garver the highest paid member of the Browns. Garver remains the last pitcher to win 20 games for a team that lost 100 games in a season. He was the second pitcher in history to accomplish the feat.
Veeck also brought the legendary and seemingly ageless Satchel Paige back to major league baseball to pitch for the Browns. Veeck had previously signed the former Negro League great to a contract in Cleveland in 1948 at age 42, amid much criticism. At 45, Paige's re-appearance in a Brown's uniform did nothing to win Veeck friends among baseball's owners. Nonetheless, Paige ended the season with a respectable 3-4 record and a 4.79 ERA.
Veeck believed that St. Louis was too small to support two Major League franchises and made plans to try and drive the Cardinals out of town. He signed many of the Cardinals' most popular ex-players and, as a result, brought many of the Cards fans in to see the Browns. Veeck also signed former Cardinals great Dizzy Dean to a broadcasting contract and tapped Rogers Hornsby as manager. He also re-acquired former Browns fan favorite Vern Stephens and signed former Cardinals pitcher Harry Brecheen, both of whom had starred in the all-St. Louis World Series in 1944. Furthermore, he stripped Sportsman's Park of any Cardinals material and dressed it exclusively in Browns memorabilia. He even moved his family to an apartment under the stands. Although the Browns fielded hideous teams during this time, Veeck's showmanship and colorful promotions made attendance at Browns games more fun and unpredictable than the conservative Cardinals were willing to offer.
Veeck's all-out assault on the Cardinals came during a downturn in the Cardinals' fortunes after Branch Rickey left in 1942. Indeed, when Cardinals' owner Fred Saigh was convicted of massive tax evasion late in 1952, it looked almost certain that the Cardinals were headed out of town, as most of the top bids came from non-St. Louis interests. However, Saigh accepted a much lower bid from Anheuser-Busch, whose president, August Busch, Jr. immediately announced that he had no intention of moving the Cardinals. Veeck quickly realized the Cardinals now had more resources than he could ever hope to match and decided to move the Browns.
Veeck attempted to move the Browns back to Milwaukee (where he had owned the Brewers of the American Association in the 1940s), but the move was blocked by the other American League owners, seemingly for reasons that were more personal than business-related. Veeck then tried to move the Browns to Baltimore. However, he was rebuffed by the owners, still seething at the publicity stunts he pulled at Browns home games. Meanwhile, Sportsman's Park had slipped into disrepair. Veeck was forced to sell it to the Cardinals since he couldn't afford to make the necessary improvements to bring it up to code. With his only leverage gone and facing threats of liquidating his franchise, Veeck was all but forced to sell the Browns to a Baltimore-based group led by attorney Clarence Miles and brewer Jerry Hofberger. With Veeck "out of the way," the American League owners quickly approved the relocation of the team to Baltimore for the 1954 season.
Unlike other clubs that relocated in the 1950s, retaining their nickname and a sense of continuity with their past (such as the Brooklyn-Los Angeles Dodgers and New York-San Francisco Giants), the St. Louis Browns were renamed upon their transfer, implicitly distancing themselves at least somewhat from their history. In December 1954, the Orioles further distanced themselves from their Browns past by making a 17-player trade with the New York Yankees that included most former Browns of note still on the Baltimore roster. Indeed, to this day the Orioles make almost no mention of their past as the Browns. Though the deal did little to improve the short-term competitiveness of the club, it helped establish a fresh identity for the Orioles franchise.
The Browns, along with the Washington Senators, were mostly associated with losing. The Senators became the butt of a well-known Vaudeville joke, "First in war, first in peace, and last in the American League," a twist on the famous "Light Horse Harry" eulogy of George Washington: "First in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen". A spinoff phrasing was invented for the Browns: "First in shoes, first in booze, and last in the American League."
Many older fans in St. Louis remember the Browns fondly, and some have formed societies to keep the memory of the team alive; also, it is not uncommon to see sporting goods stores in the St. Louis area stock Browns shirts and hats. The club was in St. Louis for 52 years. As of the 2006 season, the club had been in Baltimore longer than they were in St. Louis.
Special thanks to Jim McCarty for most of the information on this page!
For more info on the St. Louis Browns, please visit www.thestlouisbrowns.com.
I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)
Who I'd like to meet: Brownie fans all around the world... Follow the Browns!
Drum the Drummer to DEATH Show Sept. 27th, 2008 ONE drummer, 4 bands T Menance -- Progressive Live Hip Hop BrownTown -- Ween Tribute Band The Hot Liquors -- Rough & Tumble ROCK and ROLL Meh -- back for 1st time after 2+ years
Hey, sup. It"s very, very important that you are aware of Tom Petty Night, this Wednesday at Off Broadway. A ton of the best talent in St. Louis, talented personalities, and Johnny Vega$.
Pop Flies (St. Louis Browns Fan Club newsletter), Sportsman’s Park: The Player, The Fans and The Game by Dan O’Neill, The St. Louis Baseball Reader by Richard F. Peterson, Out of the Park: Memoirs of a Minor League Baseball All Star by Ed Mickelson, The Boys Who Were Left Behind: The 1944 World Series between the Hapless St. Louis Browns and the Legendary St. Louis Cardinals by John Heidenry and Brett Topel, The Spirit of St. Louis: A History of the St. Louis Cardinals and Browns by Peter Golenbock, The Best of Seasons: The 1944 St. Louis Cardinals and St. Louis Browns by Bill Borst, This Date in Baltimore Orioles and St. Louis Browns History by John C. Hawkins, As Good As It Got: The 1944 St. Louis Browns by David Alan Helle, The 10 Worst Years of Baseball: The Zany, True Story of Baseball in the Forties by William B. Mead and Harold Rosenthal, Even the Browns by William B. Mead, Baseball Goes to War by William B. Mead, Baseball In St. Louis: 1900-1925 by Steve Steinberg, Still Last in the American League: The St. Louis Browns Revisited by Bill Borst, The 1922 St. Louis Browns: Best of the American League's Worst by Roger A. Godin, The Bottom Line : The Complete St. Louis Browns Stats Book by Bill Borst, A Jockstrap Full of Nails by Bill Borst and Erv Fischer, Mound City Memories (Society for American Baseball Research), Beerball: A History of St. Louis Baseball by Ed Gaus, Baseball Through a Knothole: a St. Louis History by Bill Borst, St. Louis' Big League Ballparks by Joan M. Thomas, Cardinal Classics: Outstanding Games from Each of the St. Louis Baseball Clubs 100 Seasons by Robert Tiemann, Dizzy and the Gas House Gang: The 1934 St. Louis Cardinals and Depression-Era Baseball by Doug Feldmann, Before They Were Cardinals: Major League Baseball in Nineteenth-Century St. Louis by Jon David Cash, St. Louis Then and Now by Elizabeth McNulty, Historic Photos of St. Louis by Adele Heagney and Jean Gosebrink, Chris Von der Ahe and the St. Louis Browns by J. Thomas Hetrick, The Baltimore Orioles: The History of a Colorful Team in Baltimore and St. Louis by Frederick G. Lieb and Bob Broeg, The Baltimore Orioles by Fred Lieb and Frederick G. Lieb, The Big Book of St. Louis Nostalgia by Bill Nunes with David Lossos & Lonnie Tettaton, etc.
