Quote:
Originally Posted by kq76
- I can't imagine the Cardinals being anywhere but St. Louis. They're so successful now it's difficult to imagine them not always having been.
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Bill Veeck had some very interesting things to say about the St. Louis situation in his book
Veeck, as in Wreck. When he bought the Browns in 1951, he realized that St. Louis couldn't support two major league teams, so he set out to drive the Cardinals out of town. The owner of the Cards, Fred Saigh, was having problems with the feds that would later lead to his conviction on tax evasion charges. Veeck hoped that Saigh would sell the Cards and the new owners would move the team. He was right about the first part - Saigh sold the team, but he sold it to Gussie Busch. At that point, Veeck knew that "the jig was up." He couldn't compete with Busch in St. Louis, so that spelled curtains for the Browns.