Early Years
The team was formed as part of the American Association in 1882 where they enjoyed great success under flamboyant owner Chris von der Ahe. Initially they were known as the "Brown Stockings", named for a previous professional team in the city, whose name was one of several "Stockings" teams inspired by the success of the Cincinnati Red Stockings. This new team's nickname was quickly shortened to "Browns". The Browns set up shop at Sportsman's Park. They won four American Association pennants in a row, 1885–88, and played in an early version of the World Series four times, twice against the National League's Chicago White Stockings (now the Cubs). The Series of 1885 ended in dispute and with no resolution. St. Louis won the 1886 Series outright, the only Series of that era that was won by the AA against the NL. The vigorous St. Louis-Chicago rivalry continues to this day.
During the mid-1880s, the National League also had a St. Louis entry, the Maroons, which had come in from the Union Association. The Maroons were by far the strongest entry in the UA, but they had the misfortune of arriving at the time when the Browns were in their glory. After the 1886 season, they were sold and moved to Indianapolis, becoming the Hoosiers.
The Browns joined the National League in 1892 following the bankruptcy of the American Association. The next year they opened a new ballpark, initially called "New Sportsman's Park", a few blocks north-northwest from their previous home field. They were briefly called the Perfectos in 1899 before settling on their present name, a name reportedly inspired by switching their uniform colors from brown to red. There was already a "Reds" team at Cincinnati, so the St. Louis team became "Cardinals" (reportedly because a woman spectator exclaimed that the uniform was "a lovely shade of Cardinal.")
Also in 1899, Chris von der Ahe was forced to sell the Cardinals due to financial troubles. The team was sold to Frank and Stanley Robison, who also owned the Cleveland Spiders. The new owners, dissatisfied with the Cardinals 1898 performance (twelfth place, 39 wins, 111 losses), and Cleveland's poor attendance, transferred much of the talent from the Spiders to the St. Louis franchise. This led to the spectacular demise of the Spiders, who fell to 20–134 (.130), along with significant improvement of the St. Louis club, which jumped from last (twelfth) place to fifth place. In effect, Cleveland and St. Louis switched places in the standings. The St. Louis-Cleveland chicanery destroyed the Spiders franchise and helped lead to contraction of the National League, which opened the door to the establishment of the American League as a rival to the National.
The change of name led to the adoption of the "St. Louis Browns" moniker by the American League franchise formerly known as the Milwaukee Brewers (the future Baltimore Orioles) upon their move to St. Louis in 1902. The Browns acquired the old Sportsman's Park property, creating a direct rivalry with the Cardinals, whose ballpark (now called Robison Field) was within walking distance of Sportsman's Park.
Read more about this topic: History Of The St. Louis Cardinals
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