History of The St. Louis Cardinals - 1950s: Anheuser-Busch Takes Over

1950s: Anheuser-Busch Takes Over

Rickey had a falling-out with longtime owner Sam Breadon, and left the team to become general manager and part-owner of the Dodgers in 1942. With Breadon as effectively a one-man band, the Cardinals faded into the pack after their 1946 Series victory.

In the early 1940s, Breadon had made plans to build a new park for the Cardinals. The Cardinals had been the Browns' tenants at Sportsman's Park since 1920, even though the Cardinals had long since passed the Browns as the city's dominant team. He set aside $5 million to pay for a new park, but was unable to find land for it, and faced a five-year deadline to start construction without having to pay taxes on it. Between this dilemma and the discovery that he had terminal prostate cancer, Breadon looked to sell.

Prominent tax attorney and real estate investor Fred Saigh got word that the Cardinals were on the market. He came to Breadon with an unusual proposal — if Breadon sold the Cardinals to him, he wouldn't have to pay taxes on his $5 million fund. To put Breadon at ease, Saigh brought in former Postmaster General Robert Hannegan as a minority partner. In late 1947, Breadon sold the Cardinals to the Saigh-Hannegan group for $4 million.

Hannegan died in 1949, leaving Saigh as sole owner. Although the Cardinals remained competitive and were well-outdrawing the Browns, they were on shaky financial ground. Meanwhile, the Browns, under new owner Bill Veeck, began a concerted effort to drive the Cardinals out of town. Veeck was convinced that St. Louis was not big enough for two teams. Although the 1951 Cardinals had outdrawn the Browns nearly fourfold, Veeck thought that through persistence the Browns would eventually pass the Cardinals as the city's favorite team.

In April 1952, however, Saigh was indicted for tax evasion after several questionable practices on his part, including the tax dodge he used to buy the Cardinals, came to light. He pleaded no contest to two lesser counts in January 1953. Facing almost certain banishment from baseball, Saigh put the Cardinals up for sale. For awhile, it looked like the Cardinals would in fact be leaving town. However, Saigh turned down higher bids from out-of-town interests in favor of an offer from the St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch brewery. Brewery head August "Gussie" Busch took over as team president.

Realizing the Cardinals now had more resources than he could possibly match, Veeck decided to move the Browns elsewhere. As a first step, he sold Sportsman's Park to the Cardinals. He would have probably had to sell the park in any case; the park had fallen into disrepair over the years, and the city had threatened to have it condemned. With the Browns' declining revenues (despite collecting rent from the Cardinals), Veeck could not afford to bring it up to code. Busch heavily renovated the 44-year-old park, renaming it Busch Stadium. Within a year, Veeck was forced to sell the Browns, and the new owners moved them to Baltimore as the Orioles.