St. Louis Baseball History: A Guide

Prior to Major League Baseball's franchise movements and expansion of the 1950s and 1960s, the St. Louis Cardinals had the unique distinction of being the southernmost and westernmost team. Its fan base extended from Georgia to Texas and north and east from the Gateway City into southern and central Illinois. Many Illinois residents carry memories of driving first through congested St. Louis streets to watch the Cardinals in Sportsman's Park and, later, motoring down interstate highway ramps to park near the "old" Busch Stadium and its successor, the "new" Busch.And while the National League Cardinals club attracts contemporary attention, it stands atop a deep and rich history of baseball going back to a decade before the Civil War. Long before the professional era, St. Louisans were playing and watching the game in city parks, laying the foundation for the future. That future saw now-vanished teams like the St. Louis Browns (moved to Baltimore in 1954), the Negro League Stars and Giants, and the short-lived Federal League outpost, the Terriers. All these teams spawned memories, colorful stories, and in many cases physical remnants.Brian Flaspohler assembles a guidebook for those wishing to explore that past. Among other things, he conclusively establishes the site of the first baseball game played in St. Louis and goes on to reveal other surprising bits of information. Did you know the homicide of one player was ruled "justifiable homicide" because he was brandishing a mop with malicious intent? Or that Hall of Fame broadcaster Jack Buck was once fired by the Cardinals? Or that the first female team owner ran the Cardinals early in the twentieth century? Or the rich history of Black baseball in segregated St. Louis?Flaspohler adds to this historical cornucopia by locating important baseball-related sites, not the least being where old ballparks once stood. Many photographs by Kathryn Flaspohler, the author's wife, show old fields and their present use, homes and businesses associated with the game, plus several pictures of players. This is a book that can be approached two ways—read cover to cover or by hopscotching around to points of particular interest. The last chapter provides not only instructions for finding historic baseball sites but also a "Hall of Fame Gravesite" tour.This book is a contribution to the history of sport as it played out in a city that played an important role in baseball.