Marty Marion’s Chandlerville Property Sold

By Bill Beard For the Star-Gazette  After 46 years as a family getaway, the heirs of St. Louis Cardinals great Marty Marion have sold the 276.56-acre property. Sullivan Auctioneers held the auction at 4 p.m., Saturday, November 2 in St. Luke’s Banquet Hall in Virginia. Dick McCormick of Central Illinois Outfitters (CIO) in Springfield., purchased the property, which includes a fine home and 28-acre lake, for $1,440,222, or $5,222 per acre. The ground is 3.5 miles south of Chandlerville, on the Philadelphia Road, and within a half-mile of the Jim Edgar Panther Creek State Fish and Wildlife Area (JEPCSFW). For the rest of the story, visit:  http://www.beardstownnewspapers.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5488:marty-marions-chandlerville-property-sold&catid=31:general&Itemid=44

Picking a New and Distinctive Emblem

When Donald L. Barnes and his associates purchased the American League Baseball Company in 1936, they decided among other things, to identify by a new and distinctive emblem, everything pertaining to the Browns.

A nationwide contest was held to select such an emblem, and a committee of local newspaper men acted as judges. More than 2000 persons from the United States, Canada and Mexico sent in ideas and drawings. These included everything from animal symbols and elf-and-brownie legends to a simple sketch of a baseball.

 

The winner was Miss Helen Seevers of St. Louis who submitted a design of an equestrian figure atop a “Browns” baseball, with a shield of stars and stripes as a background. Each of the eight stars on the shield represents a member of the American League. The stripes are emblematic of the nine men on the field who make up a team in America’s greatest sport – Baseball.

The figure on horseback is St. Louis the Crusader, the illustrious King Louis IX of France. Clad in 13^th century armor, he holds aloft his inverted sword forming the cross – the cause to which he devoted so much time, treasure and effort.

The equestrian statue from which the Browns emblem was developed had been presented to the city of St. Louis by the Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company in 1906. From that time on, its design has been regarded as the official emblem of St. Louis.   v

Help for the Cardinals

 Click on Photo to Enlarge

Roy Sievers - AL rookie of the year in 1949
Don Larsen - Only perfect game in World Series, 1956

Pop Flies Part of Missouri History Museum Library

Pop Flies now has a permanent home in the Missouri History Museum Library. The library is located at 250 Skinker Blvd. across the street from Forest Park in St. Louis. 

The Library has extensive materials related to St. Louis history, Missouri history, the history of the American West, genealogy and family history, neighborhood histories, urban history, Native American ethnology, letters, diaries, and works by St. Louis authors. The Library houses more than 90,000 cataloged volumes, pamphlets, and periodicals.

The Photographs and Prints Collection consists of more than 600,000 images, with more than 600 daguerreotypes made by Thomas Easterly between 1840 and 1880 that document the development of St. Louis and its early residents.

The Broadcast Media Collection contains more than 10,000 videotapes and 5,000 reels of film that document early St. Louis radio and television.

The Objects Collection contains more than 160,000 items that include more than 10,000 items of historic clothing and textiles.

Pop Flies will be a part of the archives for permanent retention and available as a part of St. Louis baseball history.

NY Times Writes "In St. Louis, Celebrating a Team Long Gone"

Click on photo to Enlarge

By Hillel Kuttler
Published: October 19, 2013
 In the corridor of a St. Louis-area hotel last month, Sam Cash waited in line for autographs from members of the long-departed major league team known as the Browns. The signatures secured, he then sat at an adjacent table with his own Browns display that featured team trivia, a team time line and photographs of his favorite Browns player, Bud Thomas. Fans and several former Browns took a look.

Most of those attending the St. Louis Browns Historical Society and Fan Club’s annual luncheon that day were, understandably, in their 70s and 80s. Cash, a talented baseball player and Kansas City Royals fan, is 10.

Leaders of the Browns group — founded in 1984 on the 40th anniversary of the team’s first and only appearance in the World Series — know that Cash is an exception, that the clock is undoubtedly ticking on a 330-member organization dedicated to a sad-sack franchise that left town six decades ago to become the Baltimore Orioles.

Read the entire article at: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/20/sports/baseball/in-st-louis-celebrating-a-team-long-gone.html?_r=0

The First World Series

The First World Series

By Harvey Frommer

 

With the 2013 World Series still ahead of us and lots of anticipation and some angst in the air, the first World Series in an earlier and more innocent time in the history of baseball, seems a wordy topic to reflect on.   It is especially relevant for your loyal scribe who is still hard at work on a mainly oral history REMEMBERING THE FIRST SUPER BOWL and still eagerly awaits contacts from any with info or memories of that 1967 event.           Back in the 1880s for a period of seven years there had been play-offs between National League and American Association champs. Once the play-offs went to 15 games - 1887 between St. Louis and Detroit.              In 1903, Pittsburgh won its third straight National League pennant in Boston won the brand new American League title by 14 l/2 games over the Philadelphia Athletics. The Pirates bragged about Honus Wagner whose .355 average earned him the batting title. Their swashbuckling manager Fred Clarke was runner-up with a .351 average. Boston bragged about its two 20-game winners Deacon Phillippe and Sam Leever.           The first modern World Series came about at the suggestion of Boston owner Henry J. Killilea and Pittsburgh's owner Barney Dreyfuss. It was called "Championship of the United States," a five of nine games affair.  The matchup was a voluntary agreement between the two clubs not the leagues.           On October l, 1903 the first game was played at Boston's Huntington Avenue Baseball Grounds before 16,242, quite a  turnout underscoring the appeal of the “first World Series.” Each team provided one umpire. Hank O'Day represented the National League while Tommy Connolly was the American League choice.            Right-hander Deacon Phillippe, age 31, winner of 25 game in 1903, matched up against Boston's Cy Young, who had won 28 games that season and was in the 14th season of a legendary 22 year career.                The Pirates jumped all over Young in the first inning. After their first two hitters, Ginger Beaumont and Clarke, made easy outs, Tommy Leach tripled. Then the great Honus Wagner singled him in for the first run in World Series history. An error by Boston second baseman Hobe Ferris on Kitty Bransfield's ground ball prolonged the inning. The all hell broke loose. Boston catcher Lou Criger would commit two more errors; the Pirates would steal three bases. And by the time pitcher Phillippe struck out ending the inning, the American Leaguers were in a 4-0 hole. Pittsburgh won the game, 7-3 victor.            Throughout the game and the series Boston's rabid fans serenaded Pittsburgh players with a popular song of the day, "Tessie." Moreover, they substituted their own vulgar words for the regular lyrics.  "It was that damn song that caused us problems," grumbled Buc player Tommy Leach.            Deacon Phillippe won three of the first four games of the series for Pittsburgh but then faltered. Boston then swept the last four games. Bill Dinneen and Cy Young accounted for all five Boston victories.               On October 13, only 7,455 showed up - the smallest crowd of that first “Fall Classic.”  Phillippe pitched his fifth complete game of the series but lost, 3-0 to Dinneen. Boston had the championship.           Right after the game ended players from both clubs lined up for  a combination team photo. That surprised many and was a remarkable display of good sportsmanship considering the bitterness that had existed between the junior American League and the senior National League.              Deacon Phillippe made out very well. He was heroic in his efforts in the series with five decisions in 44 innings pitched, still World Series records.   His reward- - a bonus and 10 shares of stock in the Pirates.            An oddity of the World Series was that the losing players received more money that than the winners. Buc Owner Dreyfuss put his club's share of the gate receipts into the players' pool. Each Pittsburgh player netted $1,316 while each Boston player netted $1,182.           That first Fall Classic was a far cry from the way the competition has evolved. Nevertheless, it triggered all that has taken place through these many decades.                So bring on the 2013 Fall Classic.

60 Years Ago the Browns Became the Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles, much like many teams around the league, have worn a patch on both sleeves of their jersey for the past few years commemorating something, and 2014 will be no different.

For the fourth consecutive season, Baltimore will wear a patch on their right sleeve in 2014 and this one is quite important and historic. The patch the Orioles will wear next season will commemorate the 60th anniversary of the St. Louis Browns move to Baltimore.

The Orioles, who were known as the St. Louis Browns, moved to Baltimore from St. Louis and played their first season in 1954. Since then, the franchise has won six American League pennants and three World Series Championships, the latest coming in 1983.

 

The 60th anniversary patch has yet to be leaked, but it's expected to be a unique one.

Another Brownie First: Player Assigned to Room with His Manager

According to an interview with the late Jim Toomey (d. 2002), in 1946 manager Luke Sewell wanted to keep an eye on Vern Stephens, who had a playboy reputation, so they became roommates on the road.

Toomey says this is the only time that that happened in baseball history.




Donald Barnes: "Keep an eye on Vern, Skip, and we'll win this thing."  Luke Sewell: "Will do, Boss. I got an idea....."

Vern Stephens, playboy

Dating a Cubs Fan

Two Big Leaguers and One Who Kept Trying

In 1950, a young Filipino named Bobby Balcena played in the outfield for the Wichita Indians, a Class-A affiliate of the St. Louis Browns.

Minor league baseball was just returning to Wichita after a 17-year absence and Balcena held the interest of the fans, batting .290 with 32 doubles, 12 triples and 11 homers for a 77-77 team that included a pair of young right-handed pitchers who would go on to make their marks in the big leagues – Don Larsen and Bob Turley.

In the minor leagues, though, Balcena played in 1,948 games. He had more than 7,000 at-bats and 1,995 hits. He played 15 seasons in the bushes, six of those after his call-up by the Reds.

Bobby Balcena

Balcena did get to play in some future major league cities, such as Toronto, Kansas City, Seattle and Dallas. He also played in San Antonio, Buffalo, Vancouver and Hawaii.

But he kept waiting for a call that came only once. The major leagues taunted and tease Balcena for many years. He was a .284 career hitter in the minors with enough extra-base pop to make him dangerous.

It makes you wonder what made Balcena so persistent in his quest to get to the major leagues. And it’s fascinating that 12 years after playing in Wichita, he was still bouncing around the minors in Vancouver, where he played parts of three seasons from 1960-62.

Balcena played more than 500 minor-league games in Seattle and, according to reports, is still fondly remembered there. He played in nine organizations: St. Louis Browns, New York Yankees, Cincinnati, Kansas City A’s, Baltimore, Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee, Los Angeles Angels and Minnesota.

Larsen and Turley, meanwhile, also spent more time than you might imagine in the minors, especially considering their success as big league pitchers.

Larsen, who pitched parts of nine seasons in the minors, hurled the only perfect game in World Series history, in 1956 for the New York Yankees. It came in Game 5 against the Brooklyn Dodgers. He will forever be an icon for that game, but otherwise his major league career was mundane, thanks to an 81-91 record and one of the worst/toughest luck seasons in big league history.
In 1954, the year the Browns moved from St. Louis to Baltimore and became the Orioles, Larsen was 3-21. But he didn’t pitch that badly and it was the only season of his 14-year major league career that he topped 200 innings pitched.

Larsen was just 20 when he pitched for the Wichita Indians and finished the 1950 seasons with a record of 6-4 and an ERA of 3.14 in 21 games.

Turley, meanwhile, was 11-14 as a 19-year-old in Wichita. He and Larsen were part of a trade from the Orioles to the Yankees in 1954 in what turned out to be a 17-player deal.

And also like Larsen, Turley had his best years in New York, winning the Cy Young Award in 1958 with a 21-7 record and an American League-leading 19 complete games. Turley also won two World Series games that season, including Game 7 against the Milwaukee Braves, 6-2. Ironically, Turley relieved Larsen in that game as the two former Wichita Indians teammates teamed up on a five-hitter.

Reservations for Browns Player/Fan Lunch Reunion - Sept. 26 SOLD OUT

Reservations SOLD OUT.

Don Larsen

Had you reserved early, you would have met Don Larsen, former Browns pitcher and the only perfect game pitcher in World Series history.

You can still purchase a duplicate replica scorecard of the August 19, 1951 game between the Browns and the Detroit Tigers. This is when  Eddie Gaedel at 3' 7" stepped up to the plate to make history which is still talked about 60 years later.

The scorecard is indeed a collectors item. Check out the memories in this card. Identify two Browns players who are still around. Check out how many breweries advertised. Look up the hotels where the ballplayers stayed when traveling.  Check out the cost to buy this scorecard in 1951. And identify the Browns coach who went on to a successful career in show business.

The collectors scorecard is available by sending a check for $10 to the St. Louis Browns Fan Club, PO Box 510047, St. Louis, MO 63151.  This includes all shipping and handling.

Twitter Account Opened

Please follow the Official Browns twitter account: @StL_Browns.

Promise good tweets! 

The Cardinals Chairman Honors the Browns Legacy.

 ST. LOUIS -- If you're a baseball fan, you probably know Bill DeWitt Jr. as the chairman and chief executive officer of the Cardinals since his group bought the team in 1996.

 DeWitt has seen remarkable success during his time in charge, with 10 playoff appearances, three National League pennants and a pair of World Series championships in his first 17 years. The Cardinals look like a safe bet to make it 11 appearances in 2013.

But DeWitt also is in charge of what could be an awkward stewardship of another team's legacy: the St. Louis Browns. Much like the Philadelphia Phillies and Boston Red Sox, the Cardinals are the survivor in what was once a two-team town.

But the Athletics, having moved to Kansas City and then Oakland, and the Braves, once in Boston, then Milwaukee, before settling in Atlanta, have a continuity, from team name to a history they seem to happily draw from. When the Browns moved to Baltimore in 1954 and became the Orioles, they left the name and the team records behind.

The means it falls to the Cardinals, who shared a home (Sportsman's Park) with the Browns but not an identity, to honor them.

DeWitt is perfectly suited to do so. After all, Eddie Gaedel, the only midget to ever play Major League Baseball, wore DeWitt's St. Louis Browns uniform.

August 19, 1951. The second game of a doubleheader. And one of the great baseball executives ever, Bill Veeck, hired Gaedel to lead off. But naturally, he needed proper attire.

Veeck's father, Bill DeWitt Sr., had an interest in the Browns at the time. He and his brother had once sold peanuts at Sportsman's Park. Now, the proud father and team owner had made certain the Browns fashioned a uniform, just for DeWitt, Jr.

You know, until August, when a midget needed it.

"I had an official Browns uniform that was issued, sized to fit me," DeWitt Jr. proudly recalled as we chatted in his office at Busch Stadium Friday afternoon. "It's not like today, when you have different uniforms for different days. You'd get 'em at the beginning of the year, and at the end of the year, you'd give them to minor league clubs. My father [had] sold [the Browns] to Bill Veeck, but was still active in the operations."

So when the need came up, after scrambling for an answer, Veeck and the elder DeWitt settled on the uniform, and the younger DeWitt was happy to donate it to the cause.

"It was 1951. So I was nine. And my uniform was actually a little big on him, as a nine year old," DeWitt recalled, laughing. "So I still have it, the 1/8. It's on loan to the Hall of Fame," DeWitt added, matter-of-factly, as if we all of some memories of things we owned at nine years old now on loan to Cooperstown.

There'll be a place for Gaedel's jersey and other Browns memorabilia next year, when the Cardinal Nation Museum serves as one destination within the long-awaited Baseball Village, loudly getting built next to Busch Stadium as I entered Friday afternoon. And of course, there's the statue of George Sisler, who DeWitt referred to as "the greatest Brown of them all," amongst Stan Musial, Bob Gibson and Dizzy Dean, though Sisler never played a game for the Cardinals.

But DeWitt takes his role as a link to the Browns seriously, doing more than just finding a place for artifacts or statues.

 "I went to a funeral this morning of Babe Martin," DeWitt said. "Who was 93 years old, and I didn't even know this, but the head of the Browns' fan club was there, and he said, 'You know, he was the last player of either the Browns or the Cardinals of the '44 World Series."

Click here for the rest of the story:

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/56578066/

Babe Martin Died August 1

Babe Martin, former St. Louis Browns player, passed away on August 1, 2013 in Tucson, AZ. Babe lived in Tucson for the past several years.

Babe" Martin (March 28, 1920 – August 1, 2013) was an outfielder for the St. Louis Browns (1944–46 and 1953) and a catcher for the Boston Red Sox (1948–49).

Babe was born Boris Michael Martinovich in Seattle, Washington to Serbian immigrant parents. He started his professional baseball career in 1940 and had a breakout year in 1944 with the Toledo Mud Hens, batting .350 in 114 games. The following season, he joined the St. Louis Browns. He hit poorly and was sent back down to the minors. Martin retired in 1954. In 69 major league games, he had 2 home runs, 18 RBI, and a .214 batting average.

Martin was a popular figure at many of the Browns annual player/fan reunions in recent years.

L-R
Bill Rogers, Tommy Lasorda, Babe Martin
Click on photos to enlarge

Bob Savage Deceased at 91

Bob Savage passed away on July 26, 2013 at the age of 91. He played one year with the Browns in 1949 appearing in 4 games as a pitcher.  He started his major league career in 1942 with the Philadelphia Athletics playing with them from '42 through 1948. Savage was selected off waivers by the Browns on December 16, 1948.

Eddie Gaedel's bat, used in MLB's most famous stunt, readies for sale at Heritage Auctions

Consigned by Gaedel's nephew, Chicago-area resident Bob Gaedele; Used by "little person" Gaedel on Aug. 19, 1951, as MLB owner and showman Bill Veeck's St. Louis Browns played the Detroit Tigers; Gaedel batted once, with the number 1/8 on his jersey, walking on four pitches; Offered for the first time ever at auction.

 

 

 

 

It is, to this day, likely the most famous stunt in Major League Baseball history: On Aug. 19, 1951, as the anemic St. Louis Browns limped toward the fall of another failed season against the Detroit Tigers, owner Bill Veeck — a Hall of Fame owner and the greatest showman in the history of the game — sent 3' 7" tall Eddie Gaedel to the plate, with the number "1/8" on his jersey and to the hysterical laughter of fans.

It was the bottom of the first inning of the second game of a doubleheader and Gaedel took four straight balls and headed to first base and into baseball history.

On Aug. 1, as part of Heritage Auctions' Platinum Night Sports Auction in Rosemont, IL, taking place in conjunction with The National Sports Collector's Convention, the bat that sat perched atop Gaedel's shoulder for those four pitches will appear for the very first time at auction. It is expected to bring $100,000+.

"Veeck was behind some of the most famous, and infamous, ballpark stunts in the history of America's pastime," said Chris Ivy, Director of Sports at Heritage Auctions, "including Cleveland Municpal Stadium's disastrous 10 cent beer night in 1974. It was his 1951 stunt with Gaedel as the smallest batter in league history, however, that he is most remembered for."

The bat has been consigned to auction by Gaedel's nephew, Bob Gaedele, a Chicago-area resident who was given the bat by his father when he was around 10 years old. Bob's father, Eddie's younger brother, received the bat from Eddie after the game.

Read the rest of the story at: http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=63956#.UfFA-I0o7oo

Browns Fan Club Participates in Cardinals Reminisence League

By Art Holliday

ST. LOUIS (KSDK) - When a group of St. Louis Cardinals fans get together, the conversation is easy because they have shared memories. That's the idea behind the Cardinals Reminiscence League: sharing memories to preserve memories. Their guest speaker this month was Bill Rogers, President of the St. Louis Browns Fan Club. "While the Browns have been gone a long time, this group remembered quite a bit about the Browns players," according to Rogers. "The Browns Historical Society is pleased to offer support and participate in their programs."

Just like a baseball game, the Cardinals Reminiscence League begins with the national anthem. A difficult song is even more of a challenge for people with Alzheimer's; not everyone remembers the words. Twice a month at the Alzheimer's Association office, the Cardinals Reminiscence League meets. The participants have two things in common: love of baseball and early stage Alzheimer's disease. The program is inspired by a dementia support group in Scotland. Reminiscence therapy has several benefits. It improves memory and mood. It improves communication. And it gives the league participants a purpose, gathering every other week to talk about baseball memories.

Jim Muskopf is a regular at the twice monthly meetings.

"I have to be active. My lifestyle is been that way so many years," he said

.

The 69-year-old Muskopf was the director of graduate studies at Fontbonne University until retiring in 2011. He and his wife Ruth realized things were not right. It wasn't a total surprise that Muskopf has Alzheimer's because his mother had it.

"He knows he's got the disease," said Ruth Muskopf about her husband. "And he knows from his experience with his mother what's possible down the road. But being here and sharing with the other people it's like everybody's normal. They're all talking and doing the same thing and you forget about the Alzheimer's."

"It really is a very good way to trigger remembering and get people talking about something that they can all mutually remember," said Morley. "In St. Louis, the Cardinals belong to everyone. It makes people happy, not only the participants, but the caregivers, who get to see a loved one really excited about something." 

Click the link below to view Art Holliday's report.

http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/388980/3/Talking-baseball-is-a-hit-in-local-Alzheimers-program-

To participate or volunteer for the Cardinals Reminiscence League visit www.alz.org/stl.

Major League Baseball Relocation of the 1950s - 1960s

Major League Baseball

See also: Major League Baseball relocation of 1950s–1960s

• 1902: Milwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis, Missouri and became the St. Louis Browns.
• 1903: Baltimore Orioles moved to New York and became the Highlanders. The team was renamed the Yankees in 1913.
• 1953: Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee. This was the first relocation in 50 years. During those 50 years, there had also been no expansions or contractions—Major League Baseball had consisted of the same 16 teams, 8 in each league, playing in the same 10 cities without interruption for half a century.
• 1954: St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles.
• 1955: Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City, Missouri.
• 1958: Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles; New York Giants moved to San Francisco. These were the first major league teams on the West Coast; the teams moved simultaneously to facilitate travel for other National League (NL) teams.
• 1961: Washington Senators (original) moved to the Twin Cities area and became the Minnesota Twins. Not wishing to alienate Washington, D.C. and its powerful baseball fans, the American League (AL) granted the city a new expansion franchise, also called the Senators.
• 1966: Milwaukee Braves moved to Atlanta, Georgia.
• 1968: Kansas City Athletics moved to Oakland, California. Because Charles O. Finley broke a recently signed lease and public bonds were already issued for the building of what is now known as Kauffman Stadium, Major League Baseball was in danger of anti-trust legislation from Missouri Senator Stuart Symington. As a result, the AL granted Kansas City a new expansion franchise in 1969.
• 1970: Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee and became the Brewers. The AL would grant Seattle a new expansion franchise in 1977.
• 1972: Second Washington Senators moved to Arlington, Texas and became the Texas Rangers.
• 2005: Montreal Expos moved to Washington, D.C. and became the Washington Nationals. The Expos had split time between Montreal and San Juan, Puerto Rico in 2003 and 2004. This was the first relocation in 33 years.