st louis Baseball History

From 1885-88, the ST. LOUIS BROWN STOCKINGS would win the American Association pennant. In 1886, the Browns would win the World Series Champions, and tied for the crown in 1885. Over these four season, the Browns would compile a 360-162-5 record. In this time, the Browns were lead by Charlie Comiskey who was widely known as one of the best and colorful players of the era.

ST. LOUIS TERRIERS were members of the Federal Baseball League from 1914 -1915. They were the third professional team in St. Louis during the era. The team was owned by Phil Ball, who would purchase the Browns after the Federal League folded in 1915. Ball would continue to lead the Browns until 1933. The Terriers would finish at the top of the FBL in 1915, but would have to claim second place to the Chicago Whalers. Even though they finished with a league best 87 wins, the Terriers would only  reach a .565 Winning Percentage. The FBL Championship would go to the Chicago Whalers who achieved a .566 Winning Percentage. 

ST. LOUIS STARS of the Negro Baseball Leagues had their share of great players and incredible athletes. The Stars existed in St. Louis from 1911 to 1931, and compiled a record of 712 wins with 518 losses. From 1911 to 1919, they were actually called the "Giants"and competed as an independent baseball team within the Western Independent Clubs. In 1920, they would join the Negro National League (NNL) going 32-40, while also playing in the exhibition "Negro Leagues vs. Major Leagues" (NvM) where they would go 3-2. In 1922, the Giants would change their name to the Stars, and for the next 10 years the Stars were consistantly at the top of the Negro National League.  The Stars would finish at the top of the league in 1928, 1930, and 1931, while finishing second in 1930. 

SPRING TRAINING - In the 52 years of the Browns history, they had a total of 23 different locations, scattered over 8 states, they called home for Spring Training.  Some spots would not be considered prime training locations (French Lick IN - 1902, Waco TX - 1913, Bogalusa AL - 1921),  while others would be a pleasant destination after a a cold winter (St. Petersburg FL - 1914, Anahiem CA - 1946, Miami FL - 1947). The most common Spring Training location was West Palm Beach, Florida where the Browns trained from 1928-36. The Browns were the first MLB to call West Palm Beach home for the Spring. 

The ST. LOUIS CITY SERIES was a rivalry series between the St. Louis Browns and their National League neighbor, the St. Louis Cardinals. This exhibition series was maintained throughout most the time the two teams shared "The Gateway City". 

SPORTSMAN'S PARK - Known as one of the classic ballparks of the first half of the 20th century, Sportsman's Park was the home of the St. Louis Browns for the 52 years the team was in St. Louis. Located at the corner of Grand and Dodier, the history of this ballpark dated back to as early as 1867. The first called the Grand Avenue Ball Grounds, the name changed to Sportsman's Park in 1876. It was first home to the St. Louis Browns Stockings between 1875 and 1893. As everyone knows, this "Browns Stockings" team would become the St. Louis Cardinals and they would move to their own field after the 1893 season. From 1894 to 1902, the field was still used by local teams. When the Milwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis and became the beloved St. Louis Browns, the life of Sportsman's Park began again. Eventually it would become the center of baseball in St. Louis. It would be home to ten World Series, and three MLB All-Star games. This park would take on many changes throughout the years, but the stories of this field are always inspiring. This is one of many installments of the Sportsman's Park on this website. There are too many stories to limit it to a single entry. Please continue to check in and learn more about this classic ballpark of St. Louis.

In the 1940s,  "France" Laux, born J. Francis Laux Jr, covered both the Cardinals and Browns beginning in 1929 and running through the 1942 season. He returned to the booth in 1948, announcing Browns games and would continue on a part time basis through the 1953 season.  Laux was known to be the first full time radio voice for Baseball in St. Louis. He would often be paired with Ron Rawson. The other pairing who covered the Browns during this era was Jack O'Hara and Dizzy Dean. Always honest and straight to the point, he developed a solid fan base of loyal Browns listeners.

Buddy Blattner would begin broadcasting for the St. Louis Browns and be paired with Dizzy Dean in 1950. The pair would cover the Browns, the Game of the Week on ABC and CBS, as well as the voice of the St. Louis Hawks. Later in his career he would broadcast baseball games for the Cardinals.  He was also heavily involved in local charities, where he developed the "Buddy Fund" which provided athletic equipment to underpriveleged children  the St Louis area. Buddy Blattner has been inducted into the US Table Tennis Association Hall of Fame, and the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.