St. Paul Saints

From BR Bullpen

Location: St. Paul, MN

League: Northwestern League 1887; Western League 1892, 1897, 1899, 1901; American Association 1902-1960; Northern League 1993-2005; American Association 2006-

Affiliation: Chicago White Sox 1936-1942; Brooklyn Dodgers 1944-1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958-1960

Ballpark: Lexington Park 1910-1956; Midway Stadium

The St. Paul Saints were members of the American Association from 1902 to 1960 For some reason people confuse the Saints with the Apostles who played during the 19th Century in St. Paul in a completely different league. While they were referred to in the press as the Apostles as an informal name, the official team name of the American Association's St. Paul club was the Saints. The long-time rivals of the Minneapolis Millers, they often played home-and-road doubleheaders with their twin city. The rivalry was especially heated when the Saints were a Brooklyn Dodgers farm club and the Millers were allied with Brooklyn's rival, the New York Giants. They finished first nine times, but won only one Little World Series, in 1924.

Three Saints clubs are considered among the greatest minor league teams of all time:

• 1920 St. Paul Saints
• 1922 St. Paul Saints
• 1923 St. Paul Saints

The name was revived by the independent Northern League in 1993 and drew some of the biggest names in that league's first decade, including J.D. Drew, Darryl Strawberry, Ila Borders and Jack Morris. The team's 1996 season was chronicled for the documentary series Baseball, Minnesota, which aired on FX. After the 2005 season, the Saints announced they were leaving the Northern League for the following season.

In 2006, the newly formed American Association included the Saints.

[edit] Year-by-Year Record

[edit] Further Reading

• Roger A. Godin: "The 1924 Junior World Series: The St. Paul Saints' Magnificent Comeback", in The National Pastime, SABR, Volume 28 (2008), pp. 119-128.
• Dick Harris: The St. Paul Saints Baseball Club, 1902-1961: A Historical Chronicle, Bookhouse Fulflimment, Beaver's Pond Press, Edina, MN, 2008.

[edit] Related Sites

• Official site of the St. Paul Saints
• [1] website dedicated to the first 61 seasons of the original minor league American Association, including the eight original teams: the Columbus Senators, Columbus Red Birds, Indianapolis Indians, Kansas City Blues, Louisville Colonels, Milwaukee Brewers, Minneapolis Millers, St. Paul Saints and Toledo Mud Hens. This website is an off-shoot of the hard copy publication The American Association Almanac which has been in circulation since 2001.