The Browns had a higher attendance than Cardinals in 17 of their first 25 seasons

Hubkittel on the Browns Forum wrote:
http://www.baseball-fever.com/forum.php

The browns had a higher attendance than the cardinals in 17 of their first 25 seasons. Their 26th season was in 1926 (and we all know what happened that year). After 1925, the only year the browns outdrew the cards was in 1944 and they only outdrew them by 53,000.

While the great depression was tough on everybody (a fantastic understatement), it really hit the browns hard. After 1929, the browns wouldn't draw more than 179,000 fans in a season until 1940.

The years 1944-46 are fairly interesting. the browns drew reasonably well by their standards and by the standards of St. Louis baseball. They drew 509,000 in 44, 483,000 in 45, and 526,000 in 46. Their 46 attendance figure was the eleventh highest attendance number in 20th century st. louis baseball history up to that time. It was a darn good year for them. But the cardinals outdrew them by over 500,000.

The browns just got buried in the post war period. starting in 1946, the cards drew over a million fans for six straight years and never drew less than 880,000 between 1946 and 1953. The cards attendance nearly doubled between 45 and 46 while the browns were unable to make a similiar leap. The browns average attendance from 46 to 53 was around 400,000. While that kind of attendance would have been decent in the 20's or 30's, it killed the browns in the post war period.

To answer the question of "Did the browns have a fan base?" i would say it's obvious that they had one. Based on attendance figures, they were the most popular baseball team in st. louis for the first 25 years of their existance. The success of the cardinals after 1925, combined with the great depression, severely hurt the size of the fan base. But the fans came back in the 1940's to the point that 1946 saw the browns drawing more fans then they had in 20 years. The browns were simply unable to expand that fan base in the post war period and that failure killed them in St. Louis.

No Wonder Your Team Is Crap

Sent in by Charlie Danick, New York

Let me tell you a story--it's not a tale but a real story.

My first season as a basebball fan was in 1948. My cousin Bobby, now gone, was a diehard Brooklyn fan and it was he who turned me into a Bums fanatic at age 10. I really began digging those Ebbets Fielders; Bobby took me there for my first game and I saw my supermen in baggy uniforms. Especially Billy Cox at third..my Lord, what an infield arm. He was, in the infield, what Carl Furillo was in the outfield.

Well anyway, being a Bums fan,the NL team I hated the most was the NY Giants and in the AL, the Yankees.We had a neighbor across the street named Milt Pashman who was a diehard Yankee fan with season box seats. So one Sunday in the summer of '49, he asked my parents if he could take me, along with his kids, to a Yankee game. They said yes.

The Browns were in town. In '49, the Yankees and Bosox were hot squads so I had a warm spot in my heart for the lowly Browns. I already was building a library of baseball mags so I knew the names and numbers of every player in MLB.

We got to the Stadium early and the Browns were warming up tossing, playing pepper and what not.

By their uniform numbers I was able to pick out Sievers, Dillinger, Kokos, Lollar etc. I stood in back of the visitors' dugout and right in front of me, Bob Dillinger was having a soft catch with whomever. I yelled out, "You're a thief like John. He stole money and you steal bases. Are you related?" He walked right to the guard rail and yelled, "Oh, you must be one of those Yankee-loving New York snotnosed bastard kids." I kid you not--he was aggravated. Heck I was rooting for the Browns that day but he got me so mad,I yelled back, "No wonder your team is crap if you speak for it."

So help me, I thought he was going to come into the seats after me. But just in time, one of the guards, sensing Bob's anger, grabbed me by the back of the shirt and hauled me away from the guard rail. But here's the payoff. After getting the s--- scared out of me, when I returned to the seat, Mr. Pashman, a lawyer said, "Charlie, do you know what kind of lawsuit we would have,had he hit you?"

Those were the days!!!

St. Louis Browns 1944 World Series Available on Video

The St. Louis Browns versus the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1944 World Series is available on VHS video. The cost is $19.99.

In 1943 to support the overseas troops engaged in World War II, Major League Baseball created an official film recapping the World Series championship games. Since then, these official highlight films have evolved into comprehensive documentaries that include classic footage from the television broadcasts, dynamic scenes shot by the Major League Baseball Productions crews, and exclusive interviews with the key players and managers from the Fall Classic.

This tape features the three World Series in which the St. Louis Cardinals played. 1943: St. Louis Cardinals vs. New York Yankees;   1944: St. Louis Cardinals vs. St. Louis Browns–In the only all St. Louis World Series, the Cardinals defeated the St. Louis Browns.  1946: St. Louis Cardinals vs. Boston Red Sox–A Game Seven victory noted for the Redbird's Enos Slaughter's "Mad Dash" for home.

To purchase, visit:  http://www.unclebobmovie.com/world-series-film/
Just scroll to the bottm of the page.

Browns Fan Club Sets Up Digital Museum

The St. Louis Browns Fan Club announced the establishement of an on-line, digital "museum." Browns  fans(and baseball fans in general) can access the display of Browns memorabilia in the Museum by going to http://stlbrownsmuseum.blogspot.com/. Available for display is a wide array of photographs, scorecards, uniforms, autographed baseballs, contracts, game tickets, and more.

Viewers are invited to submit their Browns memorabilia to become a part of the museum display. Send to stlbrowns@swbell.net. We will be glad to post it for the enjoyment of all visitors.