Sportsman's Park
Following the 1901 inaugural American League season the Milwaukee Brewers,
one of the original Charter Franchises, moved to St Louis and taking the name “St. Louis Browns”.
Not only did the new St. Louis Browns appropriate the original name of the St. Louis Cardinals they also set-up for business on Grand Avenue and Dodier Street in Sportsman’s Park, the original name and site of the Cardinals ballpark.
In 1909 a refurbished Sportsman’s Park opened with the infield relocated from the northwest to the southwest corner with a new steel and concrete double deck roofed grandstand built around it. The original single deck grandstands around the infield now became the left field pavilion and single deck bleachers that bordered the entire outfield.
Another renovation after the 1925 season increased the seating capacity to 34,000. From1920 until 1953 the Browns and Cardinals shared Sportsman’s Park with the Cardinals paying rent to the Browns. In1953, Browns’ owner Bill Veeck, unable to afford renovations to Sportsman’s Park, sold the park to the new Cardinals’ owners Anheuser-Busch. With the Busch family owning both the Cardinals and the park, it was renamed Busch Stadium. Before 3.174 fans the Browns played their final game in Sportsman’s Park/Busch Stadium on September 27, 1953 losing 2-1 to the Chicago White Sox; it was the teams100th loss of the season. Following the 1953 season Veeck sold the Browns, which were then relocated to Baltimore, becoming the Orioles.
On May 8, 1966, with the new Busch Stadium completed, the final game was played at Sportsman’s Park/Busch Stadium, with the Cardinals losing to the Giants 10-5 before 17,503 fans, bringing an end to professional baseball at this site.
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