MLB Redux 1952-Present Day

[LetsGoMocs]

MONDAY, APRIL 28, 1952

SAIGH INDICTED ON TAX EVASION

St. Louis Cardinals owner Fred Saigh has been indicted on five counts of income tax evasion. Saigh reportedly owes at least $50,000 in federal income taxes. Saigh's indictment comes just weeks following the beginning of the 1952 baseball season.

"We are aware of the situation involving Mr. Saigh," commissioner of baseball Ford Frick said. "We will continue to pay attention to developments in his court case and we will act within the best interests of our great sport."

Saigh's arrest comes as a blow to the Cardinals, who are off to a blistering 11-1 start to the 1952 season, good enough for first place in the National League. It isn't hard to imagine the Cardinals as a pennant contender, especially if Stan Musial turns around his early season struggles. Musial, 31, is only batting .267 with one home run through 12 games.


St. Louis Cardinals owner Fred Saigh was indicted on tax evasion

[LetsGoMocs]

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1953

SAIGH-ONARA

St. Louis Cardinals owner Fred Saigh has sold the Cardinals to a consortium of Houston businessmen that plan to move the Cardinals to their hometown of Houston, effective immediately. Three Houston businessmen, Joseph Cullinan II, R.E. "Bob" Smith, and George Kirksey funded the $4.5M purchase. Houston mayor Roy Hofheinz also played a vital role in bringing the Cardinals to Houston.

$4.5M is a record sale for a professional sports franchise. The bid was approximately $750K more than Annheuser-Busch owner Gussie Busch, who would've kept the team in St. Louis if he had won the bid.

"It's a shame Mr. Saigh chose money over civic duty and allowed our beloved Cardinals to leave St. Louis," Busch said.

Commissioner of baseball Ford Frick sang a different tune.

"We feel like we are adding a very dependable ownership group to the fray," Frick said. "Houston is a great city that is growing fast and will support a baseball franchise for the long term."

The Cardinals already owned the territorial rights to Houston, as their AA Texas League franchise, the Houston Buffaloes, reside in the area. The Houston ownership group will move the Buffaloes to Oklahoma City, and the Cardinals will move into Buffaloes Stadium in the short term while Houston works on a long term stadium plan.

"We will add 8,000 seats to the stadium before the 1954 season starts, bringing the capacity to 22,000. We think the city of Houston can keep that full all season long while we work on building a state-of-the-art stadium that the rest of the country will envy," minority owner George Kirksey said.

The Cardinals end their tenure in St. Louis as one of baseball's model franchises, and Houston fans will surely be looking forward to cheering on the likes of Stan Musial and Enos Slaughter.

The Browns remain as St. Louis' only professional baseball team, a city that had as many as three teams in 1915 during the time period of the short lived Federal League.