Chris Von Der Ahe

Von der Ahe arrived in New York City but quickly moved to St. Louis, where he worked as a clerk in a grocery store. Later, he bought out the store owner and expanded 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 baseball games, so in 1882, he bought the bankrupt and scandal-ridden St. Louis Brown Stockings 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 play first base and eventually manage the team.\n', '

Von der Ahe took a very active role in the team, even though he knew almost nothing about baseball. Other than player/manager/owner Albert Spalding, Von der Ahe was the first baseball owner with a significant public persona, the predecessor of Bill Veeck, Charlie Finley and…