St. Louis Cardinals Stadiums' History: Sportsman's Park (Busch Stadium 1)

Sportsman's Park (1920-1966): Photo credit cardcow.com

The St. Louis Cardinals moved into Sportsman's Park after St. Louis Browns' owner Phil Ball decided to let the Cardinals be stadium tenants. In 1922, the Browns almost won the American League Pennant. Ball went on record to say that there would be a World Series at Sportsman's Park by 1926. He increased the seating capacity of Sportsman's Park from 18,000 to 34,023. Then 1926 came. There was a World Series at Sportsman's Park, but it wasn't the Browns in the series. The 1926 World Series was the St. Louis Cardinals vs New York Yankees. The Cardinals would beat the Yankees in seven games in the best of seven. The World Series title was the Cardinals' first one. To get the last out of game seven in the World Series, Cardinals catcher Bob O'Farrell threw out New York Yankees' outfielder Babe Ruth trying to steal second base. Bob O'Farrell won NL MVP for the 1926 season. O'Farrell hit .293 with 63 runs, 144 hits, 30 doubles, 9 triples 7 home runs, 68 RBI's, 1 stolen base, and 61 walks.

Sportsman's Park wouldn't see the Browns in the World Series until 1944. The 44 World Series happened to be the St. Louis Browns vs St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals would win in six games in the best of seven. The series was known as three different names: "Trolley Series", "Streetcar Series", and the "St. Louis Showdown." It became the first World Series where no team had a stolen base, even to this day. The 44 World Series was the third and final in World Series history where two teams from the same city and the same stadium faced each other. The other two times were in the 1921 and 1922 World Series. The New York Giants and New York Yankees faced each other in both the 1921 and 1922 World Series. Cardinals shortstop Marty Marion was named MVP for the 1944 season. Marion hit .263 with 50 runs, 135 hits, 26 doubles, 2 triples, 6 home runs, 63 RBI's, 1 stolen base, and 43 walks.

Overall, the Cardinals won seven World Series titles in Sportsman's Park: 1926, 1931, 1934, 1942, 1944, 1946, and 1964. There were a total of ten World Series played, all of them being the Cardinals. The Cardinals lost three of them: 1928, 1930, and 1943.

Sportman's Park hosted three All-Star games: 1940, 1948, and 1957. The 1940 All-Star game was played on July 9th. The National League beat the American League 4-0. In the 48 All-Star game, the AL won 5-2. In the 57 All-Star game, the AL won 6-5.

The St. Louis Browns would leave Sportman's Park and move to Baltimore, becoming the Baltimore Orioles, after the 1953 season. The Cardinals then played in Sportsman's Park until May 8, 1966. The San Francisco Giants beat the Cardinals 10-5. Mike Shannon hit the last Cardinals home run in the bottom 5th to tie the game 5-5. San Francisco Giants' center fielder Willie Mays hit the last home run in the top 9th. Cardinals' pinch hitter Alex Johnson would hit into a game ending double play to end the game in the bottom 9th.

Official Site Of Sportman's Park

Sportsman's Park was located at Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street. It was on the north side of St. Louis city. The site now belongs to the Herbert Hoover Boys & Girls Club. They have a sign to mark where Sportman's Park was. They list former greats who played there. A some players who appear on the list are: Babe Ruth, Bill Sherdel, Bob Gibson, Dizzy Dean, Enos Slaughter, Frankie Frisch, George Sisler, Goose Goslin, Grover Alexander, Joe Medwick, Jim Bottomley, Johnny Mize, Ken Boyer, Ken Williams, Lou Brock, Lou Gehrig, Red Schoendienst, Rogers Hornsby, Satchel Paige, Stan Musial, Ty Cobb, and Urban Shocker.

Official Site Of Sportsman's Park from Flickr

Sportsman's Park cartoon

Other sports

Sportsman's Park was primarily used for baseball, but it did host soccer games too. The St. Louis Soccer League played games at Sportsman's Park. In 1948, it played host for the National Challenge Cup. St. Louis Simpkins-Ford beat New York Bookhattan 3-2.

Interesting trivia

May 24, 1940 the St. Louis Browns played the first night game at Sportsman's Park against the Cleveland Indians. The Indians won 3-2 in 9 innings. Bob Feller took the win for the Indians, and the loss went to Elden Auker. The Cardinals played their first night game at Sportsman's Park on June 4, 1940 against the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Dodgers beat the Cardinals 10-1.

Pete Gray became the first baseball player to play with one arm. Gray lost his right arm when he was a child, after having an accident with a wagon. The arm was amputated above his elbow. Gray had to learn to learn to play left-handed. Gray tried to enroll into the Army, but was denied due to having one arm. In 1944, one of Gray's minor league seasons, he hit .333 with 63 stolen bases. The 63 stolen bases was a record for minor league baseball. Gray won the Southern Association's Most Valuable Player for 1944. Lots of players went to war in 1945. Teams didn't have all of their star players that season. Gray, after having a good minor league career, got a chance with the St. Louis Browns.

In 1945, Gray played in 77 games with 26 runs, 51 hits, 6 doubles, 2 triples, 0 home runs, 13 RBI's, 5 stolen bases, 13 walks, and a .218 batting average. After the 45 season was finished, Gray went back the minor leagues and never was in the MLB again.

On August 19, 1951 the Browns in a second game of a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers sent up the smallest player ever to bat in a MLB game. His name was Eddie Gaedel. Gaedel at the time was 26 years old. He was 3 feet and 7 inches, and 109 centimeters tall. He wore the number 1-eighth. The jersey belonged to Bill DeWitt Jr. (now the Cardinals' owner). At the time DeWitt Jr. was the bat boy for the Browns. Gaedel walked on four consecutive pitches in his only at bat.

Feelings about Sportman's Park

Read first-person accounts. People reminisced and described their experience of Sportsman's Park. First interview: Mr. Gene Rauscher, longtime music teacher and band director, first attended Sportsman's Park when he was 10 and describes the stadium now lost.

The second interview: Mr. George H. Johnson, who with his mother attended games at Sportsman's Park, recalls Stan Musial's last game.