ipl-logo

Impact Of Christian Von Der Ahe

1126 Words5 Pages

Introduction

Christian Von Der Ahe helped create the team that is today the St Louis Cardinals. As a German immigrant, he flipped the script on baseball up to that time period by bringing it to the working class people of the United States. His contributions to baseball include that his league was the first to start playing Sunday games. Which was previously not allowed in AG Spalding’s National League. Von Der Ahe also was the first person to promote alcohol sales at baseball games and changed the game into a commercial enterprise. In 1881 Von Der Ahe went toe to toe with the National League, with his creation of the American Baseball Association.
As a German immigrant Christian Von Der did not back down to the NL and promoted Baseball to …show more content…

The National League had a difficult time in maintaining its “gentlemen’s game” heritage. This is the result of a talent pool comprised of urban poor being forced to play for high society. The customs of these poor players did not match the sophistication of their wealthy patrons. Alcohol misuse was seen as a badge of the urban poor immigrants, mostly the German and Irish, brought drinking habits with them to America. It was assumed that unruly fans from immigrant backgrounds where driving off upright customers. Nativists turned fear of immigrants into anti-alcohol sentiments. This played out in the restrictions placed on alcoholic consumption within National League …show more content…

In 1880 the Chicago tribune et al Abrams reported that the captain of the Cincinnati Red Stockings was ordered to, “slow-up play between innings so as to allow the crowd to drink more beer,” the profit which was important source of revenue for the club. In 1881 Hulbert, the NL commissioner, kicked the club from Cincinnati out of the league for violating the NL’s alcohol ban, annual revenue of three-thousand dollars for the club, and renting out its stadium on Sundays. The Cincinnati club’s expulsion helped lead to the creation of an alcohol friendly league that would come to be known as the “whiskey and beer” league. Cincinnati’s 1881 expulsion from the National League opened the door for the creation of the American Association, a league that was to become the NL’s greatest rival, and was given the nickname “The Beer and Whiskey League”. The nickname was appropriate considering many of the team owners businesses were involved in alcohol sales, the owners sought out the patronage of the working class masses. Six of eight original owners were brewers or owned saloons. The most famous of these owners was Christian Von Der Ahe, who bought the St. Louis Browns even though he knew nothing about baseball. But he knew that hardworking immigrants and the lower class in general would want to drink at the

Show More
Related
282 Words | 2 Pages

The St. Louis Cardinals are arguably one of the best franchises in MLB history. The team was officially founded in 1882. Before 1882, the team was called the St. Louis Brown Stockings and played in a charter league in the National League in 1876. John Lucas the team's owner at the time took the team out of the league though due to a pitching scandal. The Cardinals were originally called the Perfectos until 1900.

Read More
802 Words | 4 Pages

He soon enlisted White Sox pitchers Eddie Cicotte and Claude “Lefty” Williams, shortstop Charles “Swede” Risberg and outfielder Oscar “Happy” Felsch into the scheme (Andrews). He had also recruited other players and while some of them had stayed, a few had pulled out of the deal. Several bookies had the White Sox winning the World Series over the

Read More
961 Words | 4 Pages

A year after the defeat of the White Sox in a World Series battle against the Reds, eight players of the Chicago team enlightened the American public of their prior involvement in illegal graft (Carnes & Garraty, 1999). According to the American National Biography, Chick Gandil—first baseman for the Sox—brought together a collation of teammates in the year 1919 with aspirations to collect bonus cash for aiding a major betting scandal (1999). The Black Sox—Cicotte, Felsch, Gandil, Jackson, McMullin, Risberg, Weaver, and Williams—intentionally abetted in Chicago’s loss of the 1919 World Series despite their present fame while seeking to earn a larger fortune (LeBoutillier, 2012). The year 1919 marked the beginning of the postwar season. Anderson—author

Read More
877 Words | 4 Pages

When he began to pitch it was obvious he had a tremendous gift and soon he merged with the Cuban X-Giants, where he became their ace pitcher. That season they won forty-four games in a row. Prior to so many victories he decided to join the team that he defeated known as the Philadelphia Giants and began to gain a reputation for his skills. Foster soon became a legend after an astonishing season in 1905 where word spread that he had a mind blowing record of 51-4, eventually Foster’s passion and success on the mound moved him to high positions in baseball. In a team known as the Leland Giants in 1907 Foster became their star pitcher and player-manager which helped them win an astonishing 110 games as well as capturing the Chicago City League Title.

Read More
1223 Words | 5 Pages

Pass figured a Chicago victory was worth a $3,000 investment.” (Asinof 41) What the White Sox did to their fans was something that will haunt fans forever. Back in the early 1900s (1910-1930) when baseball was starting to produce stars and attract fans it was a huge part of American life. Baseball was one of the only things in an Americans life that was consistent.

Read More
1673 Words | 7 Pages

“In 1930 attendance in the majors reached an all time peak of about 10.1 million, but from then on the hard times that had already hit most other segments of the economy caught up with all of baseball. The early thirties brought sparse crowds, deficits, a dramatic contraction in major

Read More
959 Words | 4 Pages

Whether they were in Brooklyn cheering for the Dodgers or in Chicago cheering for the Cubs, there was a point of similarity where everyone of this era in American history could relate and conversate about. This point was baseball. They set aside the rivalries when talking, anxious to hear about stories and great players the other had to tell. It was like the country was revolving around this great pastime.

Read More
1214 Words | 5 Pages

When compared to the lyrics in “Three Cheers. Baseball is a Grand Old Game,” the lyrics used in this song have a deeper patriotic connotation. Nevertheless, the song indicates that baseball was a pastime that brought many Americans closer together through a common activity. The lyricist’s decision to add words, such as “yankee game”, creates a tight association between America and baseball. Throughout the early 19th century, as America was industrializing and developing into a modern nation state, the game of baseball was also evolving with the country.

Read More
1698 Words | 7 Pages

Many people didn’t think that African American’s should play sports or they could play sports but not with white men. In Kansas City, Missouri, Andrew “Rube” Foster organized the National Negro League. Foster is known as the father of Black Baseball. He became the first president of the league. The NNL consisted of teams from the South and the Midwest.

Read More
776 Words | 4 Pages

George Richards was a wealthy man looking for a team of his own when he brought the Detroit Lions to Detroit in 1934. With three failed attempts by owners to bring a professional football team to Detroit, Richards knew starting a franchise in the middle of the Great Depression would be difficult. Despite a hot 10-0 start, it was a baseball town, home to the Detroit Tigers, with little support for football. Richards knew he needed something unique to football. He and his team participated in the league’s first Thanksgiving game.

Read More
772 Words | 4 Pages

The late 1800’s was a time of mass progression for the United States. The west and east coast were finally connected through the completion of the railroad, making businesses and travel spread throughout the nation. Large corporations formed, the age of steel came about -- making cities more compact and vertical like the modern day, and there was a class breakdown economically making once lower-class individuals have a say in the market, forming the middle class. With all this new growth added to the economy, people finally could have leisure money to spend and some businessmen took notice and tried something that would later change the way Americans and soon the world consumed sports. If we look at the year 1859 we can see the pioneers of the professional baseball.

Read More
189 Words | 1 Pages

Between the National League and the emergence of the American League, baseball 's growing popularity helped introduce some of the game 's first stars, names that live on in baseball lore. When Hulbert formed the National League by poaching other players, one of those players was Cap Anson, still third on baseball 's all time Runs Batted In (RBI) list. One of the star pitchers in the first "World 's Series" in 1903 was a man named Denton True Young, though his nickname, "Cy," is more commonly known to fans today. Baseball 's all-time leader in wins, losses, games started, innings pitched and complete games has the annual award given to the best pitcher in each league named for him, the Cy Young award. It 's important to note, however,

Read More
882 Words | 4 Pages

Yenesis Murillo 16 December 2015 Professor Cummings RS 100 The Hidden Religious Significance of American Baseball Abstract I have reviewed the hidden religious significance in American Baseball, how similar the two matters tie together is remarkable. There is not one aspect of baseball that does not tie together with religion from the first pitch being thrown to the hot dog eating fan in the stand; the similarities are undeniable. I. Introduction

Read More
454 Words | 2 Pages

These teams would participate in traditionally unorganized games, otherwise known as barnstorming. In 1911, Andrew “Rube” Foster—a former player, manager, and owner for the Chicago American Giants partnered with John Schorling, son-in-law of Chicago White Sox owner Charles Comiskey, to form the Chicago American Giants. Andrew became frustrated with the fact that, while black baseball players drew crowds during the 1910s, their teams’ gate receipts were tightly controlled by white booking agents. The agents dictated when and where black teams could play, and they subsequently passed little of the games’ attendance revenues on to team owners (Kelly). In 1920 this frustration lead Andrew to construct a meeting in Kansas City, Mo. Andrew and a few other Midwestern team owners joined to form the Negro National League.

Read More
1050 Words | 5 Pages

Not only were they able to create a national league that would eventually go on to become the multibillion dollar enterprise that is the MLB, they were able to capitalize on the weakly regulated pay scale and reap the benefits of those looking to invest in the team by any means. This bureaucratic level of control and regulation within the league is why sponsors like Gatorade dominate the dugout and Rawling dominates the brand of baseball used. Yet the monopoly of the MLB is still adored across America, as fans of all walks of life continue to attend games and support the bureaucratic foundation it was built

Read More

More about Impact Of Christian Von Der Ahe

Related Topics

Open Document