The old expression about the St. Louis Browns was, "First in shoes, first in booze, and last in the American League." In their 52-year history, the Browns finished in the cellar 14 times, and seventh 12 times. They made only a dozen appearances in the first division. Once, in 1944, they treated their fans to a pennant.

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After the 1901 season, the Milwaukee Brewers, charter members of the American League, moved to St. Louis and became the Browns - a name that recalled the glorious history of Chris von der Ahe's Brown Stockings. In their first St. Louis season, the Browns finished second. After years of prosperity at the gate, in 1916 owner Robert Hedges sold the team to Philip Ball, who had owned the St. Louis Terriers of the defunct Federal League. Ball's tenure, lasting until 1933, was one of failure.

Ball's first major blunder was allowing Branch Rickey, the resident genius in the Browns' front office, to jump to the Cardinals because of a conflict of egos. In 1920 Sam Breadon, who had just purchased the Cardinals, beseeched Ball to allow his team to cohabit the Browns' home, Sportsman's Park. Breadon put the money from the sale of the Cardinals' Robison Field into the minor league system, which eventually produced a host of star players that brought the Cardinals far more drawing power than the Browns.

The 1922 Browns excited their owner by almost beating the Yankees to a pennant. The club was boasting the best players in franchise history, including future Hall of Famer George Sisler, and an outfield trio - Ken Williams, Baby Doll Jacobson, and Jack Tobin - that batted .300 or better in 1919-23 and in 1925. Ball confidently predicted that there would be a World Series in Sportsman's Park by 1926. In anticipation, he increased the capacity of his ballpark from 18,000 to 30,000. There was a World Series in Sportsman's Park in 1926 - with the Cardinals upsetting the Yankees. St. Louis had been considered a "Browns' town" until then.

The Browns drew only 80,922 fans for the entire 1936 season - the first year of Donald Barnes' ownership. The downward spiral reached its nadir in 1939; from 1937 to 1939, the Browns compiled a 144-316 record. The franchise was developing a hard-luck aura; in 1941 Barnes tried to move his team to Los Angeles. The league meeting for approval was held in Chicago one day after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Understandably, Barnes was denied.

With the arrival of manager Luke Sewell in 1941, the Browns began a rebuilding program that culminated in their only World Series appearance, in 1944. It took two home runs by outfielder Chet Laabs against the Yankees on the final day of the season to clinch the pennant. After leading the Cardinals two games to one in the Trolley Series, the Browns lost the final three contests, and the World Championship. Due primarily to WWII, the 1940s have been described as a time when "even the Browns" won a pennant, demeaning their only legitimate success. One-armed Pete Gray was employed in their 1945 outfield, further enhancing their negative legacy.

The owners that followed the 1944 pennant, Richard Muckerman (1945-49), and Bill and Charlie DeWitt, were caught in a spiral of rising inflation and sagging expectation. The Browns had to sell off players to pay their bills; when attendance dropped as a result, they were forced to sell more talent.

In 1951 Bill Veeck bought the noncontending Browns with the expressed purpose of driving the Cardinals out of town. Cardinals owner Fred Saight had income tax troubles that resulted in a prison term, but August Busch restored order by purchasing the team. To draw fans, Veeck gave them "fun 'n' games," including midget Eddie Gaedel. The stunts so angered the other owners that Veeck was forced to sell the club to Baltimore interests in 1953, putting an end to the St. Louis Browns. (WAB)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » January 30, 1884: Tony Mullane, ace of the 1883 St. Louis Browns (AA), and who signed for 1884 with the rival St. Louis Unions (UA), repudiates his UA contract and signs with the AA Toledo club. When Mullane signed with the UA, he was the first player to violate the National Agreement's reserve clause. » December 24, 1885: The St. Louis Browns agree to sell the reserve rights to infielder Sam Barkley to Baltimore for $1,000. » March 13, 1886: Via a transatlantic telegraph from Paris, 40-game winner Bob Caruthers agrees to terms with St. Louis Browns owner Von der Ahe. Caruther's well-publicized holdout will earn him the nickname "Parisian Bob." » November 21, 1887: The St. Louis Browns announce a trade with the Athletics that ships Bill Gleason and Curt Welch to Philadelphia for Fred Mann, Chippy McGarr, and Jocko Milligan, plus $3,000. This is the first of a number of trades or sales, mostly to Brooklyn. » January 15, 1888: In San Francisco, George Van Haltran, pitching for the Giants, tosses a no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns in an exhibition game. The only solidly hit ball is a Tip O'Neill line drive caught by 1B Buck Ewing. » March 25, 1888: The St. Louis Browns open the training season with an exhibition game versus the St. Louis Whites, a new Western Association team. The WA will have clubs in four cities that also have NL clubs. » May 29, 1892: A benefit All-Star game for Hub Collins, who died of typhoid fever on May 21st, is played at Brooklyn's Eastern Park. The game between the Collins' Brooklyn Bridegrooms and the St. Louis Browns (AA) raises $2804.90 for Collins' widow. » May 15, 1893: After tagging out St. Louis Browns OF Steve Brodie in a collision at the plate, Cincinnati Reds C Harry "Farmer" Vaughn throws a bat at Brodie, hitting him on the shoulder. Vaughn is ejected and fined $25 as St. Louis wins 10–6 and moves past the Cleveland Spiders and the Pittsburgh Pirates into first place » June 7, 1894: On a rainy day St. Louis Browns southpaw Ted Breitenstein walks 13 men as Boston avenges a humiliating loss the previous day with a 19–8 rout. » May 8, 1896: The St. Louis Browns dismiss manager Harry Diddlebock for intoxication. Player Arlie Latham and owner Chris Von der Ahe manage two games apiece before Von der Ahe settles on Roger Connor. » March 2, 1899: At the league meeting in New York, an attempt to expel the St. Louis Browns, who had a 39-111 record in 1898, fails by a 7–4 margin. It is also decided that no club may hold more than 18 players on its reserve list. » December 3, 1901: At the league meeting, the Milwaukee franchise is officially dropped from the American League and is replaced by the St. Louis Browns. » September 29, 1902: The AL season ends with the Athletics five games in front of St. Louis Browns. Philadelphia's Socks Seybold hits 16 HRs for the highest total to lead the AL until Babe Ruth's 29 in 1919. » May 8, 1903: White Stockings pitcher Nixey Callahan gets five hits for the 3rd time in his career (also June 29, 1897 and May 18, 1902), but the 11-inning loss to the St. Louis Browns is the final game he will pitch in the major leagues. He will play other positions until 1913. Nixey is the only pitcher ever to garner five hits three times. » October 6, 1903: The Highlanders trade vet C Jack O'Connor to his hometown St. Louis Browns for another veteran, Norwegian born John Anderson. » August 24, 1904: The Highlanders Willie Keeler collects two home runs against the St. Louis Browns in a 9–1 win at New York. Both drives are inside the park. » July 22, 1905: Weldon Henley of the Athletics, who will win four games all year, fires a no-hitter against the 7th place St. Louis Browns 6-0. Harry Davis and Lave Cross each have three hits off Barney Pelty. St. Louis cops a split by defeating Rube Waddell, 3-2, in the nitecap. » May 11, 1906: Tom Jones, St. Louis Browns 1B, has 22 putouts-an AL record that will be tied by the Highlanders' Hal Chase on September 21, and not again until July 20, 1987, by Don Mattingly. » August 3, 1906: Tom Hughes of the Washington Nationals and Fred Glade of the St. Louis Browns enter the 10th inning with a scoreless tie. Hughes decides he will have to do it on his own and goes long for a 1-0 victory. He is the first pitcher to win a 1-0 extra-inning game with his own home run. » April 9, 1907: The St. Louis Cardinals whip the St. Louis Browns 9-1 to take the City series four games to 3. The two teams will reprise the rivalry in the fall, and the Cards will also take that one, 5-2. » February 7, 1908: Exasperated Connie Mack sells his talented but eccentric, unreliable hurler Rube Waddell to the St. Louis Browns for $5,000. » June 11, 1908: In his first start since his February operation, Walter Johnson is hammered by the St. Louis Browns in leaves in the 4th inning. He won't pitch again until the 23rd. » January 27, 1909: Lou Criger sends a telegram to Boston fans expressing his regrets on being traded by the Beaneaters to the St. Louis Browns. » September 9, 1909: Bill Dinneen, winner of three games in the first World Series, is released by the St. Louis Browns and becomes an AL umpire, a position he will hold through 1937. » August 25, 1911: Red Sox lefty Smoky Joe Wood tops the St. Louis Browns, 3–2, for his 20th win. » March 28, 1913: St. Louis Browns infielder Buzzy Wares is "traded" to the Montgomery, AL, team in exchange for use of the minor league stadium by the Browns for spring training. Wares led the PCL shortstops in errors in 1911-12 with a total of 199. » April 10, 1913: President Woodrow Wilson, who receives a gold pass from Ban Johnson, throws out the first ball at Washington's home opener at National Park. Under new manager Frank Chance, New York is playing its first official game as Yankees. New York starter George McConnell, 8–12 last year as a 35-year-old rookie, allows just six hits but loses to Walter Johnson 2–1. Danny Moeller drives in both Nat runs with a single. After giving up an unearned run in the first, Johnson begins a string of shutout innings that will reach a record 55 2/3 before the St. Louis Browns score in the 4th on May 14th. Johnson scatters eight hits today, including one by 1B Charlie Sterrett. Regular first sacker Hal Chase, though left-handed, fills in at second base for injured player/manager Frank Chance. » June 5, 1913: Chris Von der Ahe, 65, owner of the champion St. Louis Browns in the 1880s and 1890s, dies of cirrhosis of the liver. » November 2, 1913: Former St. Louis Browns manager George Stovall is the first ML player to jump to the Federal League, signing to manage Kansas City. With glib salesman Jim Gilmore as its president, and backed by several millionaires, including oil magnate Harry Sinclair and Brooklyn baker Robert Ward, the Feds declare open war two weeks later by announcing they will not honor the ML's reserve clause. It will prove a long, costly struggle, similar to the American League's beginnings, but with more losers than winners. » January 9, 1915: The National Commission declares University of Michigan senior George Sisler a free agent after a 2-year fight. The Pirates' owner Barney Dreyfuss claimed rights to Sisler, who had signed a contract as a minor but never played pro ball. After graduating, Sisler will sign with the St. Louis Browns, managed by his former college coach, Branch Rickey. » June 23, 1915: For the 5th time this month, and 6th time this year, Ty Cobb steals home, doing it in a 4–2 Tiger win over the St. Louis Browns. Cobb scores another run when Sam Crawford hits back to Browns P Grover Lowdermilk, who somersaults after catching the grounder and sits on the mound holding the ball. Cobb scores all the way from 2B on the play. » July 21, 1915: Babe Ruth pitches and bats the Red Sox to a 4–2 win over the host St. Louis Browns. Ruth is 4-for-4 with a tremendous homer and two doubles, and knocks in three runs. He scatters five hits with the two St. Louis runs coming on Heinie Wagner errors. » September 27, 1915: St. Louis Browns 1B George Sisler makes his 2nd pitching start this month, and gets no decision despite giving up four runs in seven innings. The Red Sox beat St. Louis, 8–4. » January 4, 1916: The St. Louis Browns are the first of two ML franchises awarded to Federal League owners. Philip de Catesby Ball, ice-manufacturing tycoon and principal stockholder of the Feds' St. Louis Terriers, pays a reported $525,000 for the Browns and replaces manager Branch Rickey with his own Fielder Jones. » May 9, 1916: Thirty walks are allowed at Philadelphia as Detroit overwhelms the A's 16–2. Tiger rookie George Cunningham is lifted with one out in the 3rd inning after walking six batters. He is given the win, but leaves with a no hitter and leading 9–0. Eighteen of the walks are issued by the A's — 12 by reliever Carl Ray — on their way to a season total of 715. Not until 1938 will a team (the St. Louis Browns with 737) top that. Detroit will add another 11 walks against the A's tomorrow for a 2-game major-league record of 29. » July 14, 1916: At Boston, Carl Mays and the St. Louis Browns lefty Ernie Koob battle each other. After 17 innings, the game ends in a tie with the score 0–0. Koob pitches all 17 innings, while Mays lasts 15. » July 30, 1916: Carl Mays tops the St. Louis Browns, 9–3 for a Red Sox win. With the Browns sweeping the Yankees, Boston goes into first place. » August 4, 1916: The Browns Eddie Plank allows two hits and tops young Babe Ruth to give the Browns a 6–1 win over the first place Red Sox. For the hot St. Louis Browns, it is their 14th win in a row, but the streak still leaves them in 7th place. » September 17, 1916: St. Louis Browns P George Sisler wins 1–0 over Walter Johnson. It is his last win, as he soon becomes a regular 1B. He will also play two games as a left-handed 3B. » April 10, 1917: The U.S. entry into World War I and a cold, wet spring combine to put a damper on the start of the season; 48 NL games will be postponed in the first month. Half the ML clubs will show losses this year, and eight of the 20 minor leagues will fold before the season is over. The AL gets the Army to assign drill sergeants to each team for daily pregame drills. A final contest will be held for a $500 prize. The St. Louis Browns will take the money. » May 5, 1917: St. Louis Browns P Ernie Koob gets a 1–0 no-hitter over the White Sox' Ed Cicotte, and it's the last shutout the 24-year-old pitcher will toss. George Sisler drives in the Browns' run. A first-inning tainted hit by Buck Weaver is changed to an error after much discussion with umpires and players. Tomorrow, the writers' association will take a mail vote on a resolution that a scorer's decision can not be reversed. » August 21, 1917: Now with the Philadelphia Phils, Chief Bender, 34, pitches his 3rd straight shutout, winning 6–0 over the Cubs. In his last active season, Bender will turn in four shutouts and win eight with two losses and a 1.67 ERA. His mound partner from the glory days of the A's, Eddie Plank, will also close out his career, ending the season 5–6 for the St. Louis Browns with a 1.79 ERA. » September 1, 1920: With the White Sox makeshift lineup, they take a 3–0 lead, but the St. Louis Browns knock out Red Faber in the 3rd and wins, 8–6. the Tribe leads by two games with two remaining. » October 2, 1920: Dickie Kerr beats the St. Louis Browns 10-7, but Cleveland wins 10-1 to clinch the pennant. » August 8, 1921: In his first at bat, St. Louis Browns rookie Luke Stuart hits a home run, the first American League rookie to accomplish the feat. His 9th inning blast, good for two runs, comes off no less than Washington's Walter Johnson. Johnson, leading 16–3 at the time, cruises home with a 16–5 win. Stuart will play two more games and then leave the majors with this home run as his only hit. The next AL rookie to connect for a homer on his first at bat will be Earl Averill in 1929. » May 12, 1926: Walter Johnson wins the 400th game of his career by defeating the St. Louis Browns, 7–4. He is now 6–1, but will lose his next seven in a row as the Senators go into a tailspin. » November 3, 1926: Dan Howley is named St. Louis Browns manager replacing George Sisler. » November 23, 1930: At the Polo Grounds, St. Louis Browns outfielder Red Badgro, playing for the NFL New York Giants, catches a TD pass against the Green Bay Packers. It is Badgro's 3rd TD catch of the season, all from Benny Friedman. In 1981, Badgro will be elected to the Hall of Fame—for football. » April 29, 1931: Wes Ferrell pitches a 9-0 no-hit game for Cleveland against the St. Louis Browns. His brother, Rick, almost gets a hit for the Browns when he beats out a grounder that is ruled an error. Ferrell strikes out 8 and bats in 4 runs with a HR and a double. » June 23, 1932: Goose Goslin of the St. Louis Browns hits three HRs in a game for the third time. » October 22, 1933: Phil Ball, millionaire owner of the St. Louis Browns, dies. Manager Rogers Hornsby will run the team. » June 3, 1934: The St. Louis Browns tie the AL record with nine consecutive hits in the 6th inning, all with two outs, to beat Cleveland, 12–8. The loss drops the Tribe out of 1st place. » July 17, 1934: Although Bob Johnson, Jimmie Foxx, and Pinky Higgins hit successive HRs in the fourth inning, St. Louis Browns P Jack Knott perseveres to beat the A's 7-4. » January 22, 1935: The Senators get Bump Hadley from the St. Louis Browns in a trade for Luke Sewell, who is passed on to the Chicago White Sox. » September 5, 1935: Trailing the St. Louis Browns, 5–1, Lefty Grove is lifted for pinch-hitter Wes Ferrell who hits an RBI single as Red Sox score six runs in the 6th inning enroute to 9-5 win. Grove is winning pitcher. » September 21, 1935: The Detroit Tigers clinch the pennant with a double win over the St. Louis Browns, winning 6–2 and 2–0. Eldon Auker wins the nitecap with a complete game shutout, while Tommy Bridges takes the opener. The Tigers will coast the rest of the way, going 1–6, while the Yankees go 6–1. » March 21, 1936: The Cincinnati Reds trade Jim Bottomley to the St. Louis Browns for Johnny Burnett. Sunny Jim will have a strong season in 1936 and, midway through the 1937 season, will be named manager. » May 6, 1936: Jimmie Foxx hits his 7th and 8th homers of the season as Wes Ferrell beats the St. Louis Browns, 9–6, to keep the Red Sox in first place. » November 12, 1936: Following the death of Phil Ball, wealthy owner of the St. Louis Browns, his estate sells the team to a syndicate headed by Donald L. Barnes and William O. DeWitt. As the new owners of Sportsman's Park, they announce their intention to install lights and bring night baseball to the American League, an idea endorsed by the Cardinals as well. » January 17, 1937: Cleveland gets Moose Solters, Ivy Andrews, and Lyn Lary from the St. Louis Browns for Joe Vosmik, Bill Knickerbocker, and Oral Hildebrand. The three departing Brownies are termed "real playboys" by manager Rogers Hornsby. Solters and Andrews were also the RBI and ERA leaders for the Brownies. » July 14, 1937: Boston's Fabian Gaffke ties the AL record by scoring 5 runs against the St. Louis Browns. » July 21, 1937: Rogers Hornsby is fired as manager of the St. Louis Browns for playing the horses; Jim Bottomley takes over. » August 25, 1938: St. Louis Browns' George McQuinn's 34-game hitting string is stopped seven short of George Sisler's AL record. » November 7, 1938: Fred Haney is signed to manage the St. Louis Browns. » May 13, 1939: In a 10-player deal, Bobo Newsom goes from the St. Louis Browns, along with Beau Bell, Red Kress, and Jim Walkup, to Detroit for Vern Kennedy, Bob Harris, George Gill, Roxie Lawson, Chet Laabs, and Mark Christman. It is one of the biggest trades of the 1930s. Newsom will rack up 17 wins this year as a Tiger to finish at 20–11. Kennedy will be the reverse, finishing at 9–20, while Gill, 0-1 after two fine seasons with the Tigers, will be 1–12 with the Browns. » May 24, 1940: The Cleveland Indians edge the St. Louis Browns, 3–2, in the first night game at Sportsman's Park before 24,827, the biggest crowd since 1922. Bob Feller beats Eldon Auker and his first ML homer is the margin of victory. » August 1, 1941: Lefty Gomez of the New York Yankees pitches a 9-0 shutout over the St. Louis Browns despite walking 11 batters, the most ever issued in a shutout. Fifteen base runners are left stranded by the Browns. » December 8, 1941: A day after Pearl Harbor, American League owners deny permission to St. Louis Browns owner Don Barnes to move his failing franchise to Los Angeles. » June 17, 1943: Player-manager Joe Cronin of the Red Sox hits two 3-run pinch HRs, one in each game of a doubleheader, as Boston beats the St. Louis Browns 5-4 and loses 8-7. He had hit a 3-run pinch HR two nights before against the A's, three HRs in his last four ABs. He will pinch-hit 42 times this year with 18 hits, including an AL record five pinch-hit HRs. » July 4, 1944: Baltimore's Oriole Park, erected in 1914 for the Federal League, burns down. The team moves to the city's unroofed Municipal Stadium. It will be used this way until a second tier is added when the St. Louis Browns move in for the 1954 season. » April 17, 1945: Pete Gray, the one-armed OF, plays his ML debut game with the St. Louis Browns. He singles once, off Les Mueller, in four at bats, and handles no chances in the outfield. St. Louis beats the Tigers 7–1, for their 9th straight Opening Day win, a major-league record that the 1975-83 Mets will tie. » September 9, 1945: Dick Fowler of the Philadelphia Athletics returns from 3 years with the Canadian Army and pitches a no-hitter, walking 4 and beating the St. Louis Browns 1-0 in the 2nd game of a doubleheader. A triple by Hal Peck leads to the winning run in the 9th. It is Fowler's first start since his return and his first ML shutout. The no-hitter is the first by an Athletic since 1916. » July 13, 1946: Al Zarilla of the St. Louis Browns gets two triples in the fourth inning against the A's. The Browns win 11-4 at Shibe Park. » July 27, 1946: Rudy York of Boston hits grand-slam HRs in the second and fifth innings off Tex Shirley of the St. Louis Browns, as the Red Sox win 13-6. Only Tony Lazzeri and Jim Tabor have accomplished this feat before York. York also has a 2-run double to knock in 10 runs. He had five RBI against the Browns the day before. » May 17, 1947: A seagull flies over Fenway Park and pelts St. Louis Browns P Ellis Kinder with a 3-pound smelt, missing him by a gill. The unflappable Kinder holds on to top the Red Sox, 4–2, giving up six hits, including Eddie Pellagrini's 3rd homer of the year. Mel Parnell gives up three runs in four innings for the loss. » July 20, 1947: Hank Thompson plays 2B and Willard Brown CF for the St. Louis Browns against the Red Sox. It marks the first time that two black players appear in the same major-league lineup. » July 8, 1949: Monte Irvin and Hank Thompson, brought up from Jersey City three days earlier, are the first blacks to play for the Giants. Thompson, who was also the first black to play for the St. Louis Browns in 1947, starts at 2B, and Irvin pinch-hits in the eighth for Hartung. » April 10, 1950: Based on his 22 wins for Baltimore (IL) in 1949, St. Louis Browns P Al Widmar quits the team. He threatens a suit against baseball unless the team grants him a pay raise. He will sign within the week. » June 8, 1950: In the most lopsided score in history, the Boston Red Sox annihilate the St. Louis Browns at Fenway Park, 29–4. Bobby Doerr has three home runs and eight RBI; Walt Dropo, two home runs and seven RBI, and Ted Williams, two home runs and five RBI, all collecting a round tripper in the 8th inning. Pitcher Chuck Stobbs walks four times in four innings, Al Zarilla adds four doubles, including two in one inning, and a single—with no ribbies—as the Sox set a major-league record with 58 total bases. Another mark is set of most extra bases on long hits (32) in a game, and the most extra bases on long hits in consecutive games (51). The Red Sox have 28 hits, with four players collecting four hits apiece, to total a record 51 for two days against the woeful Browns. Leadoff batter Clyde Vollmer goes to the plate eight times in eight innings, the only time this has happened in history. Boston has now scored 104 runs in their last seven games and a record 49 in two straight games. » February 9, 1951: The St. Louis Browns sign Satchel Paige, 45. He had been out of ML baseball since last pitching for the Indians in 1949. » March 9, 1951: The St. Louis Browns seek a $600,000 loan to help them stay in St. Louis. » June 21, 1951: Bill Veeck gets an option to buy the St. Louis Browns from the DeWitts. » July 2, 1951: Bill Veeck gets the necessary 75 percent of outstanding stock on the last day of his option to buy the St. Louis Browns from Bill and Charlie DeWitt. » July 17, 1951: After pitching for Bill Veeck in Cleveland in 1948, Satchel Paige rejoins him with the St. Louis Browns. » October 16, 1951: In a letter written to ML officials, the St. Louis Browns P Ned Garver offers a pay plan that would ameliorate the ill effects of the reserve system he supports. He would have the salaries of players on consistent tail-enders be determined by a rating system by the owners. If the club does not match the "average" salary, then that player should be traded to some other club that can afford his services. Garver adds that he "doesn't care where I play, as long as I get a ‘fair' salary." » April 28, 1952: The St. Louis Browns lend 2 black minor league players, 3B John Britton and P Jim Newberry, to the Hankyu Braves of the Japanese Pacific League, making them the first team to send players outside of the U.S. Abe Saperstein, owner and coach of the world-famous Harlem Globetrotters, negotiates this special example in "lend-lease" for both sides. » June 10, 1952: The St. Louis Browns fire manager Rogers Hornsby in Boston. The players present owner Bill Veeck with a trophy for freeing them from Rajah's tyranny. The stunt was actually the work of Veeck and team traveling secretary Bill Durney. The Browns name Marty Marion as their player-manager. » July 28, 1952: Rogers Hornsby, after being fired by the St. Louis Browns, replaces another former Brownie manager, Luke Sewell, as manager of the Cincinnati Reds. » August 6, 1952: St. Louis Browns Satchel Paige, 46, beats Virgil "Fire" Trucks 1-0 in 12 innings. » August 14, 1952: The St. Louis Browns send Ned Garver to the Tigers for slugger Vic Wertz in a deal involving six other players. » May 6, 1953: Bobo Holloman of the St. Louis Browns pitches a no-hitter in his first ML start—his 5th appearance, only the 3rd rookie to do so, in a 6–0 win over the A's Morrie Martin. Bobo also drives home three runs on a pair of singles, his only two ML hits. Within three months he will be out of the majors for good, the winner of just three games, the fewest by a no-hit pitcher. » June 18, 1953: Ed Lopat and Jim McDonald of the Yanks shut out the hapless St. Louis Browns 5-0 and 3­0 in both ends of a doubleheader. » September 27, 1953: The St. Louis Browns play both their last game in Sportsman's Park and the last game in the franchise's 52-year history. Fittingly, they lose 2-1 to Billy Pierce and the Chicago White Sox in 10 innings for their 100th defeat of the season. Reserve 1B Ed Mickelson drives in Johnny Groth in the 4th inning for the last run of the Browns franchise. » November 17, 1953: The St. Louis Browns' name officially becomes the Baltimore Baseball Club Inc. The Baltimore franchise board officially changes its name to the "Orioles." » August 30, 1954: The Indians complete an 11-home-game sweep of the Red Sox, the first such sweep since the Yankees blanked St. Louis Browns in 1927. » June 18, 1961: St. Louis Browns midget Eddie Gaedel dies of a heart attack following a mugging in Chicago. He was 36. » April 5, 1966: Don Larsen, last active member of the old St. Louis Browns, is released by the Orioles.