By: Ian Curtis February 14, 2019

As “America’s Pastime,” baseball is full of exciting and well-known teams, players, and managers. But it does have its fair share of forgotten franchises, one of the most notable being the St. Louis Browns.

The Browns were founded in the late 19th century in Milwaukee as the Milwaukee Brewers, playing in the Western League. In 1900, the Western League became the American League that exists today. In 1902, owner Ben Johnson sold the team to an owner in St. Louis, moved the Brewers there, and renamed them the Browns. There they built Sportsmen’s Park, which would later house both the Browns and the St. Louis Cardinals.

Over the years, the Browns weren’t the best team in the Major Leagues. In over half a century spent in St. Louis, they only made one World Series. That would be in 1944, a season in which the Leagues were depleted due to World War II. They would face their cross-town rivals, the Cardinals, in the last World Series to be played entirely in one stadium (Sportsmen’s Park).

As (un)successful as the Browns were on the field, they still won favor in the hearts of many St. Louis fans. They managed to top the Cardinals in attendance ratings throughout most of the ’20s and beyond, until the Cardinals began winning multiple pennants and championships. With a mentality of “losers, but our losers,” they still were a team that fans still loved and enjoyed up until their last day in St. Louis.

In 1951, Bill Veeck bought the franchise. He intended to raise the Browns to contenders for the pennant and drive the Cardinals out of St. Louis. This dream was dashed when the Cardinals were purchased by the Busch family in 1952. Realizing he could no longer compete with the Buschs and the Cardinals, he elected to move the Browns. He originally planned to settle in Milwaukee and then LA, until finally being forced to sell the franchise to an owner in Baltimore.

Renamed the Baltimore Orioles, the team soon traded away the majority of the old Browns players, seeking to set themselves apart from their former identity. The Orioles rarely mention their heritage, wearing throwbacks to St. Louis only once, in 2003.

Although they may not have been winners, the Browns still are remembered by a few in their former home. Several organizations are committed to preserving the team’s history. The Cardinals themselves have also been the unlikely hosts of much of the Browns history in St. Louis. They erected a commemorative statue for George Sisler (one of the Browns all-time greats) outside Busch Stadium, and generally take responsibility for remembering and honoring the Browns around St. Louis.

Many teams moved during that era, and most are remembered in both their current and former cities. But sadly, the Browns have been largely forgotten amongst most fans, and are now nothing but a relic of baseball history.