According to the book description of Misfits! Baseball's Worst Ever
Team, "The tragicomic story of the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, baseballs
futility leaders and winners of only 20 out of 154 games that season. Meet some
of the most colorful men ever to wear a major league uniform. Follow their
unfortunate train-travel odyssey through the National League and straight into
obscurity. Marvel at the real desperation of a team forced to turn a cigar store
clerk into a starting pitcher. Anecdotes galore."
According to the book description Chris Von der Ahe and the St. Louis
Browns, "Chris Von der Ahe emigrated from Germany to the United States
in 1867 and settled in St. Louis, Missouri. Starting out as a clerk in a grocery
store, he soon suceeded in buying the grocery store and establishing a saloon in
the back. Although Von der Ahe had no special interest in sports, he did notice
that fans like to drop by after a ball game and have a beer. Seeing a natural
link between baseball and his saloon, Von der Ahe sponsored an American
Association baseball team called the St. Louis Browns, head of a lineage that
includes the present-day St. Louis Cardinals. Although the American Association
lasted for only ten years, Von der Ahes Browns captured the pennant four years
in a row. Possessing an iron-willed persona similar to contemporary baseball
owners like Marge Schott and George Steinbrenner, Von der Ahe was embroiled in
legal battles and baseball disputes throughout the 1880s and 1890s. These
struggles culminated in Von der Ahes kidnapping and his stadium being burned to
the ground. Such financial disasters are only some of the many bizarre events
discussed in this insightful and evocative biography of one of Americas early
baseball owners. This roller-coaster ride through early American baseball makes
for a story of luck, pluck, and bravado."
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