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Before They Were Cardinals: Major League Baseball in Nineteenth-Century St. Louis (SPORTS & AMERICAN CULTURE)

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What did it mean to have a major league baseball team in the latter nineteenth century? How did the host city relate to it and what about its place in the life of the city's inhabitants? These are some of the questions explored in this excellent history of major league baseball (MLB) in St. Louis. Beginning as a dissertation at the University of Oregon, Cash has fashioned what is sure to become the standard work on the rise of MLB in the city that was at the time of the formation of the National League in 1876 the farthest west and south of any of the cities participating it. Cash spends considerable time on the excellent but short-lived Brown Stockings, the city's first entry into the National League; their namesake in the American Association in the 1880s, and the team that became the modern St. Louis Cardinals. Cash rightly notes that city rivalry between St. Louis and Chicago, including both prestige and economic factors, sparked much of the early interest by metropolitan leaders in MLB. He also suggests that in large measure the National League, and St. Louis's place in it, was possible because of the ability to travel between cities by rail. Without it these intercity leagues would not have been feasible.

The author also includes excellent discussions of Chris Von der Ahe and the origins of what became the Cardinals. Von der Ahe, a well-known St. Louis businessman, formed the St. Louis Brown Stockings in the American Association in 1880. He owned a beer garden and boardinghouse near a baseball field on Grand Avenue, and seeing that his bar always picked up before and after baseball games played there, he understood that baseball fans would be good patrons for his business. Mustachioed, Roman nosed, and speaking with thick accent, Von der Ahe was the prototype spotlight grabbing major league baseball team owner. He referred to himself, in his thick accent as "der poss bresident," and the fans loved it. He spent freely, indulged his players, and built an early baseball dynasty in the 1880s. Von der Ahe loved the celebrity his ownership brought him, for now he was not just a prosperous businessman but both a prosperous businessman and a public figure. It was an unbeatable combination, perhaps the real attraction for baseball ownership up to the present, and something repeated many times by many different owners since. In a city rich in baseball history, no one has been more significant in shaping the game in early St. Louis than Chris Von der Ahe.

Cash also details the collapse of the American Association in 1891 and the incorporation of the St. Louis franchise into the National League. Von der Ahe lost his fortune, had to sell the team, and it did poorly in the 1890s but eventually emerged as the fabled St. Louis Cardinals of the twentieth century, which has won more pennants and world championships than any other National League team.

This is an important study of baseball history, as well as in urban history. It is a decided cut above most other writing on the history of baseball, which concentrates on players and cute stories. Unlike so many works on the subject, it is firmly grounded in the documentary record and in the most recent historical thinking. Well done, Jon David Cash! "Before They Were Cardinals" is both a fine historical study and an entertaining reading experience.

Pesonally I really enjoy books about baseball before 1930. Back when baseball was more America's pastime.

The book itself was very well written and gave some real insight into the St. Louis-Chicago rivalary.

It was also interesting to read about the labor problems of baseball from 125 years ago. Odd to see really not much has changed just the dollar amounts the player's receive.

It was also neat to see how the beer makers of the 1800's were involved with the game and how without beer St. Louis probably doesn't have a team now.

This book documents the history of professional baseball in St. Louis, starting with the short-lived St. Louis Brown Stockings in 1875 through the fascinating history of the St. Louis Browns before they became what we know of today as the St. Louis Cardinals. As baseball historian Bill James has stated, "A very good baseball movie could be made about baseball in St. Louis, 1883-86. It's got everything - - great teams, unbelievable characters . . . pennant races, World Series. Best material for a baseball movie ever."

This is a superbly researched book. Nearly every fact is documented and footnoted, primarily from first-hand accounts published by various newspapers and journalists at the time. Reading the Notes at the end of the book is just as interesting as reading the book itself. Drunkards, cheaters, womanizers . . . baseball in its infancy makes today's issues (steroids, over-paid players) pale in comparison.

The casual baseball fan will most likely be bored by this book, but to those who love baseball history and lore (especially involving the historic St. Louis Cardinals), this is a must-read book.