Quote:
Originally Posted by Syd Thrift
Has von der Ahe ever been seriously considered? He turned the area around Sportsman’s Park into an amusement park, which was definitely controversial at the time, but he lost his fortune and had to sell the team within a couple years of buying them. IIRC from his entry in the Baseball Hall of Shame series, he died broke. One should mention, too, that the Brown Stockings team he owned were the future Cardinals, not the team that relocated to Baltimore in the 1950s. Also, it was I believe his brother who founded the Von’s supermarket chain that is still owned by the von der Ahe family today.
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Controversial? He was in his time, if you put him in today's context, probably not. I admit - I like him as a historical figure so I just wanted to bring him up.
HOF wise, yes, he made the final ballot for the pre-integration HOF in 2016. From the HOF website, "Von der Ahe, owner of the original St. Louis Browns franchise from 1881 to 1899, is one of 10 finalists on this year’s Pre-Integration Committee ballot at the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum." He got less than 4 votes, so he was in the also-rans at the end. Doc Adams came the closest to enshrinement (62.5%) but fell short.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Syd Thrift
For athletes we should add:
Bill Laimbeer (I mean, less “controversial” and more “universally hated”, but still)
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