by Joan M. Thomas (Author)
Baseball came to St. Louis before the dawn of the major leagues. It was a gentleman's game, a simple summer pastime, and its popularity grew as the city evolved. Local amateur teams proliferated, and interest in forming a team of professionals resulted in two such St. Louis teams in 1875, the Brown Stockings and the Red Stockings. The Browns and Reds played their home games at separate parks, the Grand Avenue Grounds and Red Stockings Park. The first fully professional game of baseball held in St. Louis took place at the latter. Very few modern fans are aware of this, or of these parks' locations. Moreover, there was a time early in the twentieth century when St. Louis supported not just two, but three major league teams, each with its own ballpark. This book is intended as a keepsake of the stadiums and playing fields of St. Louis' baseball past.