Recently, I became aware of a most interesting article by fellow SABR member Gordon Hylton that is especially topical given the current Milwaukee at St. Louis series. The subject is the potential risk of Major League Baseball losing its antitrust exemption within the context of the sale of the St. Louis Cardinals prior to the 1953 season.
Specifically, at least one set of interested buyers from Milwaukee, Hylton’s current home, actually outbid August Busch in their attempt to purchase the Cardinals from Fred Saigh (pictured). That group, also led by a beer baron, Fredrick C. Miller of the Miller Brewing Company, appeared to have won at one point during the early months of 1953.
The Cardinals owner had been convicted of tax evasion in Federal court and sentenced to prison time. As such, he was being forced to divest his 90 percent interest in the team, but when push came to shove, Saigh took $450,000 less to keep the Cardinals in St. Louis.
Though history has painted Saigh positively due to his willingness to take less money to avoid moving the Cards, Hylton suggests there may have been another motive – the move to Milwaukee may have been turned down by the other owners. A possible by-product could have been a court test of Major League Baseball’s important antitrust exemption.
At the same time, Bill Veeck’s St. Louis Browns were in serious financial difficulty. Hylton considers how the baseball landscape might have looked had the Browns stayed, the Cardinals left and the Braves didn’t leave Boston for Milwaukee. The impact may have been wide-spread, including how baseball eventually annexed the West Coast.
The article ends with the open question of whether the Milwaukee Cardinals would have moved to Atlanta in 1966 as the Braves did.
For all the fascinating details, check out the link below.
Milwaukee Cardinals Baseball Team v. Major League Baseball (1953): The Antitrust Case That Might Have Changed the Face of the National Pastime
As an aside, Hylton taught at Washington University in the early 1990s and became hooked on the Cardinals during the Joe Torre era. He is now on the faculty of Marquette University’s law school.
Interesting. As a native Californian, I wonder what team would have been my favorite team. I started following baseball as a Cardinal fan in 1956 when there were no teams west of Kansas City. I became a fanatical Cardinal fan in 1957 when we challenged the Braves for the pennant. My grandfather had conditioned me to hate the Dodgers so I don’t know if I could’ve ever rooted for them.
Oh well, if Hitler’s scientists had been a little quicker with jet aircraft the atomic bomb, we’d all be speaking German and following soccer.
I’m happy with the way things turned out. Go Redbirds!
jet aircraft AND the atomic bomb.
Can you imagine the negative Nancys’ reaction to the Selig family running the Cardinals instead of DeWitt?
Changing topic: Joe Williams is like the knuckleballing southpaw last spring or the natural pitching motion painter guy: a low cost experiment.
Mike Marshall himself racked up freaky numbers in MLB. If there is something to learn, it would be closed-minded not to learn it. Luhnow is open-minded. Just because a guy is a crackpot does not mean he is 100 percent wrong.
He is focusing on pitching, not a bad place to focus.
Since Mark Attanasio purchased the Brewers in 2005, the club has played .513 baseball and has one playoff appearance. At the time of the sale, the Brewers’ payroll at $27.5 million was last in MLB and is now 2 ½ times higher at around $80 million, putting them in the middle of the pack.
Under Selig for 35 years, the Brewers made the playoffs just twice and posted a .472 winning mark. He sure didn’t get the commissioner’s job over his acumen for putting good teams on the field.
Referencing Jumbo’s comment #4, for those who are not aware, I am running an article on Scout.com about new Springfield reliever Joe Williams. While the audio interview is subscriber-only, the detailed article is free. I encourage you to check it out. It is an interesting story and I enjoyed putting it together.
Update: Coincidentally, the Springfield paper ran an article on the same subject on the same day.
Thanks for clarifying my topic. The Springfield article is good.
Maybe Williams appeals to the Cards, because he has been training to become a Navy SEAL (Navy Special Forces). Maybe that appeals to the team that inked Ensign Harris.
It is sometimes said the most devout are the newly converted. Many of us humans look for things in which to believe. Williams found Mike Marshall. Dr. Mike healed his shoulder pain with a new delivery.
IIRC, Marshall, like Lou Piniella, appeared, pre-fame, in Jim Bouton’s Ball Four. Bouton’s own career was drastically changed by a shoulder injury. He cleverly extended it by adopting a knuckler. If I am recalling rightly, and I am unsure, it would make sense that an injured pitcher like Bouton would have been intrigued by Marshall.
IIRC, the distinguished southpaw Jim Kaat used a no windup approach.
Luhnow is open to giving many a hearing. Last years experiment was Joe Rogers, could he go from Harlingen Texas indy obscurity to become the new Wilbur Wood? It turned out, no. Yet nothing ventured, nothing gained. Someone once gave Wood a first chance.
Another experiment was the painter who had theories of natural body movements in pitchers, having studied their motions in the context of painting some portraits of painters. Its good to be open to new ideas that might come from a different perspective and artists are all about persepctive.
I can understand how this open-ness to ideas could have rubbed some traditionalists the wrong way. They could see it as naive. But what they may have missed is that trials are experimental and non-committal. The Cards are not going to ask all their pitchers to throw according to the gospel of Dr. Mike. They are just letting one of his disciples throw and see how he performs. If he pitches his way into special forces, so be it.
Pitching rules the game. Since the 1960s, the Cards have not home-grown enough starting pitchers. So its good to think hard and openly about all ways for pitchers to succeed, including ideas out of the mainstream of conventional thought, even within a tradition-revering game.
I’ve seen the films on this technique. They’re probably on line somewhere.
IIRC, there was also a Houston group that was interested in buying the team from Saigh – and the Cardinals already had territorial rights to Houston, having had a Texas League team there (the Buffaloes) for many years.
When Busch bought the team, Bill Veeck (according to his autobiography) knew the jig was up in St. Louis, and attempted to move the Browns to Milwaukee (ironically, the Browns had come to St. Louis *from* Milwaukee in 1902) but the commissioner at the time wanted to leave Milwaukee open for the Braves’ move there. Veeck then set his sights on Baltimore, but the AL voted against him (they were trying to drive him out of the game), forcing him to play one last season in St. Louis as a lame-duck team. Finally, Veeck sold out to Hoffberger and the Browns moved to Baltimore.
This sort of historical stuff is very interesting, of course – it’s hard to believe the city came that close to losing the Cards. Saigh was, from most accounts, rather overmatched as a team owner and as Veeck owned the ballpark (Sportsmans Park was owned by the Browns from the very beginning) he held a lot of control over the marketing and the like, which is why the park was festooned with pictures of Brownie players rather than Cards’ stars. Another technique Veeck used was the use of the waiver wire; whenever the Cards would try to send a player down or pass him through waivers, Veeck would put in a claim – he did this with guys like Marion and Breechen, for instance.
But once Busch bought the team, Veeck knew he couldn’t compete with the big bucks – he sold the park to Busch and made his plans to leave.
Ironically, Busch tried, early on, to buy championships for St. Louis, offering the Giants a million dollars for Willie Mays and the Cubs a half-million for Ernie Banks. He was rebuffed, of course, which led to the famous line from one of the financial people who, when asked why the Cubs would turn down such an offer, “Mr. Busch, Mr. Wrigley said to tell you he needs a half-million dollars about as much as you do.”
WC, the films are in the Williams story on the Scout Cardinals home page.
Just read where R. Weeks is through for the year. Also did you notice Tony’s comment on Greene not looking too happy. I hope he doesn’t go postal.
2 scoreless. Cards are flat. Whimps. Lohse’s back is stiffening.
How is it that these threads get turned into a game thread?
Westie needs a place to vent.
Greene went postal for the Padres last year. We hope he learned not to do so anymore.
Like this……………. Lohse works fast, he is working slow. He is managing pain is my guess. If this gets uglier than 4/0 he will come out and likely go on the 15 day.
Now he’s behind, Lohse should come out. We should save him for the next start. I’d like to see Blaine Boyer and Brad Thompson back in there for some innings.
Its strange TLR telling K. Greene he is in a utility role and leaving him out against Looper, who K. Greene has hit hard in the past. Either K Greene’s arm is hurting. Or his composure. It did not take long for the Cards to get Felipe Lopez turned around. KG seems another story.
JMo, thanks for the additional details on the Cardinals sale in 1953. Regarding game threads, there aren’t any here, at least not yet, so I don’t mind if readers choose to comment here. Or in this case, perhaps vent as the Cardinals are as flat as a pancake. Looper has a one-hitter through five. Ugh.
TLR and his colleagues have a good record of renovating vets and getting them playing solidly. K Greene is a prime candidate for them to revive. He has experienced a lot of success in the past. He’s only 29 years old, he should not be post-prime. Jumbo will have to trust to Tony to figure out how to get it out of him.
K Greene is about where he was last year. That may be a good thing, because its not new territory for him, a new low. He struggled last season. He just needs to keep his composure and work through it. When the team starts hitting more, he will find it easier. Its a humbling game.
Thats an unlikely scenario Jumbo. At some point if they can’t get anything for him, he will just be released.
ADULT CONTENT BELOW
(He has always been a payroll ploy anyway. There are extenuating circumstances. He will be released if BD wants a sympathy reaction from the fans for some reason. This is exactly the way it will come down.)
Puh-leeeeze
DeWitt is NOT going to get sympathy from fans if the SS getting paid north of $6MM is ineffective. A bunch of second guessers will say they told him so, since hind sight is 10/10.
What does “payroll ploy” mean? A team spends money for results, not for XXXXX (self edited to comply with the finer sensibilities of sensitive fans).
Given WC’s focus on the mental frailties of players, I am wondering if he is a shrink himself or has just spent a great deal of time chatting with one.
Well its out of the closet in this morning paper anyway so why not talk about it? I’ll let Brian take the lead. For Mo to suggest that they weren’t aware is like the doctors examining Frankenstein at his physical and saying they don’t see anything unusual. I’ve been talking about it for 2 weeks. I will point out the issues if our moderator thinks its appropriate. I really am not sure it could help except in exposing BD, and I’m not sure that will help either.
Sigmund Fraud?
I dont understand Mo admitting, according to Strauss, trading for a guy, K Greene, without knowing he injured himself last year owing to self-destructive frustration. I knew K Greene hurt himself; it was all over the media, because the Padres tried to stop payments under his contract, because of a self-inflicted injury, however unintended. Maybe Mo really meant to say players have ups and downs and there was no reason to think K Greene could not get his game headed upwards. That would seem fair.
Mental aspects of the game are important. Rick Ankiel had to give up pitching, despite a great arm. Mike Ivie had to give up catching because he could not throw the ball back to the pitcher. So if Greene’s spirits are down, then its good for Tony to take pressure off him. We were able to turn around Felipe’s hitting astoundingly fast, but Khalil is a different person and has different outlooks.
Khalil has been an offensively-oriented SS. If dis-spirited, it makes sense that it is eating into his defense too. We seem to have a host of infielders, but nobody seems full-time. T Greene should be at AAA as a hitter, because he needs the foundation, but he is probably the best suited as a fielder. Ryan is intense, but injury prone and maybe not an everyday guy.
Sigmund Fraud is a good one. And this issue has nothing to do with DeWitt.
In a way I am sad to see the details of K Greene’s situation reach the papers, though given the extent it is affecting his ability to perform in a very public role, it was inevitable, I guess. Just not somewhere I wanted to go as it is hard for me to envision that having to answer hundreds of media questions about his mental state will help K Greene play better. Here is hoping he is getting professional assistance that will be effective. This may be a qualify of life issue for him as much as a baseball one.
The more money a guy makes, after he spends time in the game, then the higher the expectations either of others or himself. It could be a feeling of dread. He could take the burden of the entire team on his shoulders. If the team hits a flat spell, then a guy who takes it to heart could blame himself, start to press and play outside his abilities.
There is a case to be made for shielding his privacy by making up a faux injury story. But that could imply that being anxious or disheartened is bad and should be covered up. This would seem questionable too. Players are people. They are entitled to have emotions, high, low, and in between. K Greene seems a quiet, stoic guy. Maybe it is better to talk about it, accept yourself as you are, and fight against your challenges. If he can muster honest effort when he plays, the fans should respect him.
A couple of years back, Grienke felt the weight of the world on his shoulders in Kansas City. A young guy supposed to lead a lousy team. He had to take a long break. In other words, K Greene is not alone with this. This has to have happenned to a lot of guys through the years, but the machismo culture of the game kept such cases hushed up.
Best of luck to K. Greene!!
Greinke is now a star pitcher. Ankiel made a rare transition to power hitter. Mike Ivie became a first baseman. No matter how gloomy things can seem, travails can be overcome.
Study the SD papers. Their original suit, which they abandoned, was based on the recognition of this syndrome. They could never have recouped his value in court against the players Union. They made the right play for financial reasons, and humanitarian reason. The question for some is what play have we made?
When I heard about Greene hurting himself off-field, I was elated San Diego tried a tough line, because players have a contractual responsibility to maintain themselves healthy. Injuries owing to the tantrums of a million dollar player are sure annoying to a team. This issue begins to sound more complicated than my superficial understanding last summer.
For his part, San Diego’s owner encountered a finanaially sapping divorce, requiring him to jettison players like Greene and Hoffman, and then sell the team. The Padres tried to sign Greene to a long term contract, so its not like they thought he was lousy.
Greene had a great season as recently as 2007. He can recover, just like Greinke. Now Greinke is one of the best in the game, but a couple of years ago, he was a basket case. It happens. And it can be worked through.
If this were a Monastery Jumbo, I can easily envision you in small cell, your robe hanging from a rope belt around your waist, flagellating your self senseless with a thorn embedded strap, just for thinking for a moment that there may be more than the obvious. (one sentence) Love WC
Westie, there is no need to resort to vulgar thoughts. Lift your mind and aim higher.
I’m will Jumbo. Right now I’m hoping Franklin is warm for the ninth, knock on wood. Just in case of course.
Praise be to Joel.
Its a good win for Pineiro. But TLR and Daddy Dunc have resusitated him. He was blind and lost, but now can see. Amazing grace.
Some pressure off Carpenter Wednesday. Probably good so he can relax first time back and not try to do too much.
Cubs are clearly flat. I can live with that. That pitch to Rasmus was arrogant. I wish he would take everything that deep. Take a guess on where Ankiel bats? I fear it will be 4th, and I don’t think thats the ticket.
Pineiro’s improvement this year is a huge testimony to Daddy Dunc. Pineiro’s performance peaked three+ years ago. His performance slipped and he became mediocre for the Mariners for a couple of years. He went to Boston in 07 and was blah. He was blah in 08 for the Cards. Just my opinion, but you don’t often see a guy like this then improve. He has kind of settled in as mediocre. He gets well paid anyway. Its hard to change. But Pineiro has done that.
He must be a proud man, in a good sense. They made him mad by not selecting him for the Puerto Rican team this spring. He has channelled his urge to excel and adopted new pitching methods. Maybe he is working out harder too. Its nice to see someone aim to improve, work hard at it, and then be rewarded with results.
In recent years, with emergence of more baseball web sites, everyone who can type is now an expert on baseball. Loads of fans decided Duncan was washed up, partly because of Anthony Reyes. But Duncan knows his stuff and reviving Pineiro is illustrative. It was hard to imagine that Joel could improve, based on his 2008.
I have to count the treatment and exposure of Greene a this point a win in my speculation about BD making a statement Brian. The current course and misdirection being leaked by the front office can only lead to one place. This is an insurmountable obstacle for Greene. They know this. He will be DL, if he has insurance. If not he will go 15 day and then released. SD’s slide and the resulting tensions was insurmountable for him. The unstable environment here presents similar difficulties. If you’ve done any research, you can see how SD management tried to approach the problem. We know his function in the long range plan is complete now. He likely could not out produce the younger player anyway. I said earlier that BD would play it for sympathy with all it angles. Its starting. The PR apparatus is at work.