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MO. St. Louis. National Base Ball Association. 1887. VG-F, note originally spli

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:500.00 - 1,000.00 USD
MO. St. Louis. National Base Ball Association. 1887. VG-F, note originally spli
<B>MO. </B><I>St. Louis. </I>National Base Ball Association. 1887. Christ. Von der Ahe in oval at left; Wiman Trophy (Solid Silver / Won Oct. 1886), right. Small seal at bottom reads: "St. Louis Team / Champions of America". This may have been the ultimate advertising note for the Schingoethes who had a love for paper money, and a strong passion for anything to do with Native Americans. <B>VG-F,</B> note originally split into four quarters, however deftly and neatly repaired, and still quite attractive. <BR>    Christian Friedrich Wilhelm von der Ahe (1851-1913), a German-American entrepreneur, was the owner of the St. Louis Browns baseball team from 1882 to 1898. He was the first baseball owner with a significant public persona.
Originally a grocery store owner, he expanded the business by establishing a saloon in the back of the store. Von der Ahe noticed that a number of his patrons visited the saloon after a baseball game, so in 1882, he bought the bankrupt and scandal-ridden St. Louis baseball franchise for $1,800 and joined the American Association baseball league. He named the team the Browns and hired future Chicago White Sox owner Charles Comiskey to manage the team and play first base.
The Browns were successful, winning four straight league championships starting in 1885, and the baseball, beer, and other investments made von der Ahe wealthy.
Although eccentric, von der Ahe made a number of innovations, operating a farm club called the St. Louis Whites, and inventing the World Series, initially just to raise more money at the end of the season. Also, tradition holds that von der Ahe was the first to sell hot dogs at the ballpark, although some historians dispute this.