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St. Louis Cardinals: Cardinals could have been in Houston or Milwaukee?!

By Benjamin Chase

ST LOUIS, MO - MAY 12: A detailed view of the signage in the St. Louis Cardinals dugout during the game against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium on May 12, 2014 in St Louis, Missouri. The Cubs defeated the Cardinals 17-5. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
ST LOUIS, MO - MAY 12: A detailed view of the signage in the St. Louis Cardinals dugout during the game against the Chicago Cubs at Busch Stadium on May 12, 2014 in St Louis, Missouri. The Cubs defeated the Cardinals 17-5. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images) /
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St. Louis Cardinals
(Original Caption) This is a Baseball owners’ meeting with the Screening Committee, Phil Wrigley of the Cubs; Lou Perini of the Braves; Del Webb of the Yankees; and Ellis Ryan of Cleveland. They met at the Waldorf to determine the new Baseball Commissioner. /

Where could the St. Louis Cardinals go?

There are two lines of thinking, depending on where you read. Most places list two minor league towns at the time, Houston and Milwaukee, as the finalists.

Most believe that Saigh had no intention of ever letting the team leave St. Louis, but according to rumors from both groups, their final offers were significantly more than what the final offer that Saigh ended up getting from Anheuser-Busch.

Houston had a team in the Texas League by the name of the Buffaloes at the time. With the way minor league and major league rights worked at the time, Houston (and Milwaukee) owned the rights to their market. If their stadium could be made major league ready, Houston was seen as a prime option.

Milwaukee’s market was dedicated to the minor league Milwaukee Brewers at the time, owned by Boston Braves owner Lou Perini. The crazy part of the Milwaukee bid is that Frederick C. Miller, of Miller Brewing Company, was the principal behind the Milwaukee group.

This is most ironic because the eventual purchase was done by the Auggie Busch, Anheuser-Busch group. The deal was for $3.7 million, which was significantly less than the $4 million-plus offers from both Houston and Milwaukee.

In the end, Saigh was able to make part of the deal with Busch a share in his company, allowing him to be part of the ownership group of his former club. Saigh passed away in 2000 with a worth of over $500 million from his businesses, though he was routinely critical of the way Busch managed the organization.

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