St. Paul Saints (Union Association)

The St. Paul Saints,[1][2] also known as the Apostles[3] or the White Caps,[4][5] were a replacement Major League Baseball team that represented St. Paul, Minnesota in the short-lived Union Association, which existed for the 1884 season only. The team began the 1884 season in the Northwestern League as the Apostles.[6] In September of that year, after compiling a 24–48 record, the team jumped to the Union Association along with the Milwaukee Brewers. The club finished its short stint in the Association with a 2-6-1 record in nine road games, earning the distinction of being the only major league team not to play a single home game.[6] The team was managed by Andrew Thompson.[7] Their normal home field was the Fort Road or Fort Street Grounds, also known as West Seventh Street Park (two names for the same street).

Their top-hitting regular was pitcher/outfielder Jim Brown, who had five hits in 16 at bats, for a batting average of .313, hit four doubles, and a slugging percentage of .563.[8] The team also included Charlie Ganzel, their catcher, who went on to play in 786 games in a 14-season career, most notably with the Detroit Wolverines and the Boston Beaneaters.[9]

  1. ^ "St. Paul Saints (1884)". retrosheet.org. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  2. ^ "St. Paul Saints' Sortable Player Stats". MLB.com. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  3. ^ "St. Paul Apostles History & Encyclopedia". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  4. ^ "Complete Baseball Team and Baseball Team Encyclopedias". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  5. ^ "1884 St. Paul White Caps Roster". baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  6. ^ a b Weiss, Bill; Marshall Wright. "Team # 91--1923 ST. PAUL SAINTS (111 –57)". minorleaguebaseball.com. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  7. ^ "Andrew Thompson". retrosheet.org. Retrosheet, Inc. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  8. ^ "1884 St. Paul Apostles statistics". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  9. ^ "Charlie Ganzel's career statistics". baseball-reference.com. Retrieved 2008-10-20.