Grandpa and the Saint Louis Browns 190704

      I had lost track of this picture when we moved here three years ago. It is a picture of the old Saint Louis Browns, a professional baseball team that eventually became the Baltimore Orioles. My grandfather played catcher for them in Saint Louis. He is on the far left. I don't know when he played, but judging by the picture it was early 1900's. When I was a boy he told me he had played for the Browns but I could not imagine that. Until I saw this picture after grandpa had passed away, I was not sure.

      The Browns started as the Milwaukee Brewers before moving to Saint Louis in 1901. They played in Saint Louis for 52 years.
      The Browns only had 4 winning seasons from 1902 to 1922, but they trounced the Cardinals in attendance. The Browns namesake was taken from the original name of the Cardinals from back in the 1880's. Robert Hedges, the original owner of the Browns in Saint Louis built the old Sportsmen's Park in Saint Louis. The Browns owned Sportsman's Park and rented it to the Cardinals and because they were in different leagues it worked. I suppose grandpa had fond memories of playing on that same plot of ground when he took me to the Cardinals games in the fifties.
      The Browns won their only American league pennant in 1944. They played the world series against the Cardinals. That series was the last time an entire world series was played in one stadium. There is a story with with the Browns winning the pennant that I find amusing. The war in Europe was still raging and American troops were battling hard against the Germans. The seasoned soldiers were entrenched in their defense lines one night. An American patrol of new guys fresh from the U.S. approached the defense line. They were called out by the defenders for the daily password to enter the line. Those on the defense line didn't know the password, but called out a question any American soldier would know the answer to. The question was "Who won the American league pennant?" The new troops knew the answer was the Browns because they had just arrived from the states, but when they gave the answer the soldiers in their foxholes couldn't believe it. The new guys almost got shot, but with some fast talking from the new soldiers, the defenders realized those approaching in the night had to be Americans.
      In 1945 the Browns hired Pete Gray, the only one-armed major position player in major league history. Gray wasn't a star by any measure, but fans went to the games to watch him play. The Browns had no winning seasons after 1944, so they focused more on colorful stunts like the one in August of 1951. They were playing the Detroit Tigers. The Browns wanted to start the game with a man on base in the first inning. The owner sent in Eddie Gaedel as a pinch hitter.

      Gaedel was just 3 feet 7 inches tall, giving the Detroit pitcher no strike zone and Gaedel was walked to first base after 4 pitches. He was then replaced with a pinch runner. It was Gaedel's only appearance in a major league game. The fans loved the stunt, the league did not.
      History of the Saint Louis Browns
      
      
Copyright Bill Weber 2006-2019 and beyond.