The St. Joseph Cardinals were a minor league baseball team based in St. Joseph, Missouri. St. Joseph teams played as member of the Class C level Western Association between 1939 and 1954, winning league championships in 1940, 1947 and 1948.
The St. Joseph Cardinals were a minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1946 to 1953 and adopted the "Cardinals" nickname in those affiliate seasons. In 1939 and 1940, St. Joseph was a Chicago Cubs affiliate, thenbecame a St. Louis Browns affiliate for the 1941 season. The team was a New York Yankees affiliate in its final season of 1954.
The St. Joseph Western Association league teams hosted home minor league games at Phil Welch Stadium, which was called City Stadium in the era. Opened in 1939 for the Cardinals' first season, the ballpark is still in use today.
Baseball Hall of Fame member Earl Weaver played for St. Joseph in 1949.
History Early St. Joseph teams
Minor league baseball began St. Joseph in 1886 when the St. Joseph Reds began play as members of the first incarnation of the Western League. The St. Joseph Saints began membership in the Western Association in the 1889 season.
Previous to the 1939 season, the city last hosted a minor league team in 1935, when the St. Joseph Saints ended a 29-year tenure of league play as members of the Western League. In 1936, the Class A level Western League reduced from an eight-team league to a six-team league, contracting the St. Joseph Saints and Keokuk Indians franchises from the league. St. Joseph was without a minor league team for the next three seasons. The Western League folded following the 1937 season and did not play in 1938.
1939: St. Joseph joins Western Association After not playing a 1938 season schedule, a new Western League reformed in 1939. The new Western League reorganized as a six-team, Class D level league. The league reformed in name only, as the Nebraska State League changed names. Transforming from the Nebraska State League, the new Western League did not include longtime member St. Joseph or any of the 1937 Western League member teams. St. Joseph instead resumed minor league play in a different league for the 1939 season.
St. Joseph regained a minor league franchise when the 1938 Western Association league champion Ponca City Angels of Ponca City, Oklahoma, moved to St. Joseph for the 1939 season. The Ponca City Angels were a minor league affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, beginning as an affiliate in 1935. With Ponca City, Goldie Holt had managed the Angels to an 84–54 record to win the pennant before sweeping the playoffs. Holt remained with the franchise after the relocation and became the St. Joseph player/manager.
The new St. Joseph franchise remained as a Cubs affiliate after the move from Ponca City. St. Joseph also kept the "Angels" nickname in beginning league play in the eight-team Class D level league. St. Joseph joined the Fort Smith Giants (New York Giants minor league affiliate), Hutchinson Pirates (Pittsburgh Pirates), Joplin Miners (New York Yankees), Muskogee Reds (Cincinnati Reds), Salina Millers, Springfield Cardinals (St. Louis Cardinals) and Topeka Owls (St. Louis Browns) teams in Western Association play. The Western Association began its season schedule with opening games held on April 27, 1939.
With a new league and a new nickname, the St. Joseph Angels began play in a new ballpark for their return to baseball during the 1939 season. St. Joseph hosted their home minor games at a newly constructed ballpark called City Stadium in the era, known today as Phil Welch Stadium. The ballpark opened in the 1939 Western Association season, built for estimated $100,000 as a Works Progress Administration project. The newly relocated St. Joseph Angels hosted their first home game at the newly built ballpark on June 23, 1939.
The St. Joseph Angels ended the regular season with a record of 66–72 and in fifth place in the final league standings. The Angels continued the Cubs' affiliation in St. Joseph. The Angels finished 19 games behind the first place Fort Smith Giants in the eight-team Class C league, playing the season under manager Goldie Holt. With their fifth-place finish in the regular season, the Angels did not qualify for the four-team playoffs. The 1939 Western Association playoffs were won by the Springfield Cardinals, who defeated Topeka in the finals.
Goldie Holt had the dual role of player/manager and played second base for St. Joseph at age 37. Holt batted .291 with 11 home runs while playing 127 games for the Angels. Overall, Holt played in 23 seasons in the minor leagues (1924–1942; 1944–1947) without reaching the major leagues as a player. In 1948, Holt became a coach in the major leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1948–1950) and later coached with the Chicago Cubs (1961–1965). Holt had two separate terms serving as a scout for the Dodgers in both Brooklyn and Los Angeles, a position he held into the 1980's.
Harry "Peanuts" Lowery played in the outfield for the Angels in 1939. Lowery had a strong season for St. Joseph at age 21, batting .344 with 15 home runs and 39 doubles in 137 games. Lowery came to St. Joseph after the Chicago Cubs signed him out of Hamilton High School in Los Angeles, California and assigned him to the Moline Plow Boys of the Three-I League for the 1937 season at age 18. Lowery reportedly gained his "Peanuts" nickname in Los Angeles when he was a childhood actor on the Our Gang comedy set. Actress Thelma Todd gained his good behavior on set by to buying him peanuts. Lowery played the 1938 season with the Ponca City Angels and remained with the Angles franchise in St. Joseph in 1939. Lowrey had a lengthy major league career with the Chicago Cubs (1942–1943, 1945–1949), Cincinnati Reds (1949–1950), St. Louis Cardinals (1950–1954) and Philadelphia Phillies (1955), making the 1946 All-star team.
In the winter of 1943–44, Lowrey was one of 12 major league leaguers placed under investigation by Baseball Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis in the era of baseball segregation. The 12 players were under investigation for supposedly violating their major-league contract by appearing in off-season games playing alongside black players. Landis died in 1944, and the investigation was ended. Lowery entered the U.S. Army on April 15, 1944. He was honorably discharged after six months due to knee issues, missing the 1945 major league season.
In his major league career, Lowery batted .273 with 37 career home runs in 1,401 career games. Following his playing career, Lowrey served as a major league coach between 1960 and 1981. He was a notable coach for the Philadelphia Phillies (1960–1966), San Francisco Giants (1967–1968), Montreal Expos (1969), Chicago Cubs (1970–1971), California Angels (1972) and Chicago Cubs (1977–1981). As an actor, Lowery appeared in The Winning Team (1952) and Strategic Air Command (1955).
First baseman John Scolinos played for St. Joseph in 1939 at age 21. Following his tenure with St. Joseph, he served in the Army Air Force during World War II from 1942 to 1945 in the Pacific Theater. Following the war, Scolinos did not resume his minor league playing career. Scolinos remained in baseball and became a long-time collegiate baseball coach, coaching in five different decades and also coaching in the Olympics. From 1946 to 1960, Scolinos served as the Pepperdine Waves baseball coach at Pepperdine University. From 1962 to 1991, he was the head coach of the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos baseball team at Cal Poly Pomona University. His teams won he won three NCAA Division II national championships and he totaled 1,198 career collegiate victories. He was the pitching coach for the 1984 U.S. Olympic Baseball team. He is the namesake of Scolinos Field, the home ballpark of the Cal Poly Pomona baseball team. The ballpark was constructed in 1968 and re-named honoring Scolinos in 1980.
1940 & 1941: Western Association title / franchise move The team became known as the St. Joseph "Saints" for the 1940 season. St. Joseph qualified for the Western Association four-team playoffs and won the 1940 Western Association championship in the Class C level league. The St. Joseph Saints, continuing as a minor league affiliate of the Chicago Cubs, ended the Western Association regular season in fourth place. With a record of 69–63 under player/manager Keith Frazier, St. Joseph ended the regular season 17½ games behind the first place Muskogee Reds (90–49), who dominated in winning the league by 14 games over second place Topeka. With their fourth-place finish, the Saints secured the final spot and qualified for the four-team playoffs.
The Saints entered the Western Association playoffs and began by defeated the defending league champion Topeka Owls (St. Louis Browns affiliate). St. Joseph defeated Topeka in the first round of the playoffs 3 games to 1 to advance to the finals. The St. Joseph Saints then met the third place Fort Smith Giants in the championship series, after Fort Smith swept pennant winning Muskogee in three games in their series. St. Joseph dominated the finals as they swept the Giants 3 games to 0 to win their first Western Association title.
Frank Houska of St. Joseph won the Western Association batting title in 1940, hitting .379 on the season. Playing first base at age 27, Houska had 198 total hits on the 1940 season, with 30 doubles, 15 triples and 6 home runs. His minor league career ended following the 1941 season. St, Joseph player/manager Keith Frazier played in 116 games as an outfielder for the Saints and batted .343 with 6 home runs, 28 doubles and 13 triples in his dual role.
In 1941, the St. Joseph team became a minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Browns and St. Joseph became known as the "Ponies" for the 1941 Western Association season. The league continued play as a six-team Class C level league.
The "Ponies" nickname used by St. Joseph in 1941 ties to local history. The nationwide Pony Express began in St. Joseph on April 3, 1860. Today, the city is the home to the Pony Express National Museum. The museum is located at 914 Penn Street in St. Joseph.
Topeka, the former Browns affiliate remained in the league, but played the season as the only unaffiliated team in the eight-team league. The Muskogee Reds became the Chicago Cubs affiliate in the Western Association. The Ponies began league play in defense of their title in the Class C level Western Association. It was a tumultuous season for the franchise, which relocated during the season. On June 1, 1941, the St. Joseph Ponies had compiled a record of 10–22 to that point in the season, when the team moved south to Carthage, Missouri, and became the Carthage Browns. The team proceeded to finish in last place in the eight-team league, playing under managers Gus Albright and Dennis Burns. The team compiled a record of 30–74 while based in Carthage and ended the season in eighth place. St. Joseph/Carthage finished a distant 54 games behind the first place Joplin Miners in the final regular season standings. Joplin went on to sweep the four-team playoffs and capture the league title.
At age 26, Gus Albright played second base in his player/manager role with St. Joseph. He played in 45 games for the Cardinals and batted .276. To finish the season, Albright also playing in 51 games for the Paragould Browns after leaving the St. Joseph/Carthage team in 1941,. At age 43, player/manager Dennis Burns pitched in 7 games and had a record of 1–2 with a 9.41 ERA in 22 innings. It was his final season in professional baseball. Burns first joined the team in August 1941.
After the 1941 season, the Carthage Browns and the Salina Millers franchises both folded, as the Western Association reduced to a six–team league for the 1942 season. The 1942 Western Association played as a six-team league Class C level league without St. Joseph, Carthage or Salina as members.