Chris Von der Ahe and the St. Louis Browns

Chris Von der Ahe emigrated from Germany to the United States in 1867 and settled in St. Louis, Missouri. Starting out as a clerk in a grocery store, he soon suceeded in buying the grocery store and establishing a saloon in the back. Although Von der Ahe had no special interest in sports, he did notice that fans like to drop by after a ball game and have a beer. Seeing a natural link between baseball and his saloon, Von der Ahe sponsored an American Association baseball team called the St. Louis Browns, head of a lineage that includes the present-day St. Louis Cardinals. Although the American Association lasted for only ten years, Von der Ahe’s Browns captured the pennant four years in a row. Possessing an iron-willed persona similar to contemporary baseball owners like Marge Schott and George Steinbrenner, Von der Ahe was embroiled in legal battles and baseball disputes throughout the 1880s and 1890s. These struggles culminated in Von der Ahe’s kidnapping and his stadium being burned to the ground. Such financial disasters are only some of the many bizarre events discussed in this insightful and evocative biography of one of America’s early baseball owners. This roller-coaster ride through early American baseball makes for a story of luck, pluck, and bravado.