The St. Paul Saints were an early minor league baseball team based in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. The "Saints" franchise played as members of the Western League in 1892 and from 1895 to 1899. The St. Paul Saints were owned and managed by Charles Comiskey, who moved the team to become the Chicago White Sox of the American League following the 1899 season.

Prior to their Western League tenure, St. Paul teams played as a member of the League Alliance (1877), Northwestern League (1884, 1886–1887) and Western Association (1888–1891). After the end of the 1884 Northwestern League season, on September 8, 1884, the St Paul Saints joined the major league Union Association to complete the 1884 season, replacing a team that had folded.

St. Paul teams hosted minor league home games at West Seventh Street Park and Dale and Aurora Grounds, before moving to Lexington Park which was newly constructed in 1897. Lexington Park was built and owned by Comiskey.

The Saints played the 1901 season in the reformed Western League, and the 1902 St. Paul Saints continued play after joining the newly formed American Association, beginning a tenure in the league that lasted until 1960. Today, the Saints nickname is used by the St. Paul Saints of the Class AAA level International League.

History Baseball beginnings in St. Paul Organized baseball games in St. Paul were reported in local newspapers as early as 1859.

Minor league baseball in St. Paul began in 1877, when the St. Paul "Red Caps" team became members of the League Alliance. The league was an early minor league that loosely organized numerous teams playing some common opponents. The "alliance" was an early attempt to organize local professional teams against more quality competition.

The league was mainly regional and had no set league schedule or calendar and teams would play games against other local teams outside of the league alliance. On February 4, 1877, the Indianapolis Blues and the Milwaukee team joined the alliance by signing an agreement. In February, the St. Paul Red Caps, Memphis Red Stockings, Chicago Fairbanks and Brooklyn Chelseas joined. Other teams subsequently signing the League Alliance agreement were the Binghamton Crickets, Syracuse Stars, Lowell, Minneapolis Browns, Philadelphia Athletics, the Janesville Mutuals of Janesville, Wisconsin; and Fall River, Massachusetts. In total, thirteen clubs are generally recognized as members of the League Alliance. Another 15 locally based teams were affiliated with their regions' League Alliance team.

With scheduling being local, just five alliance members played as many as thirty games against each other: St. Paul, Minneapolis, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Syracuse. St. Paul and Minneapolis played against each other in 36 games, with St. Paul winning 19 of the 36 contests.Arpi, Rich, “Professional Base Ball Debuts in Minnesota: The St. Paul Red Caps, Minneapolis Brown Stockings and Winona Clippers of 1875-1877,” National Pastime (Phoenix: Society for American baseball Research, 2012), 17

St. Paul also won the most total games against League Alliance opponents, 28. The League Alliance structure was abandoned after the 1877 season.

1884 season: Two leagues / Major League status The 1884 St. Paul Apostles of the Northwestern League resumed play. The "Apostles" and "Saints" nicknames were used interchangeably in the era. The team began the 1884 season as members of the 14-team Northwestern League. At age 37, St Paul owner and manager Andrew Thompson began a tenure with the team that continued through 1892. There were 14 members of the Northwestern League. In September 1884, after compiling a 29–54 record in Northwestern League play, St. Paul stood 30.0 games behind First place Grand Rapids. The Northwestern League season ended on September 8, 1884, due to financial difficulties within the league. Shortly after the Northwestern League folded, the St. Paul team was invited to join a major league, with Andrew Thompson remaining as manager. St. Paul ended the Northwestern League season in ninth place of the 12 league teams, playing under managers Lem Hunter and Andrew Thompson.

Outfielder Frank Olin played for St. Paul in the Northwestern League, batting .269 in 32 games at age 24. Before the 1884 season concluded, Olin played in the major leagues with both the Washington Nationals (AA) and Toledo Blue Stockings. Olin then played for the Detroit Wolverines in the season. Following the conclusion of his baseball career, Olin became a notable businessman, founding the Western Cartridge Company and owning the Winchester Repeating Arms Company among others. Olin is the namesake of the Olin Corporation in business as well as the Franklin W. Olin Foundation and the Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering.

On September 27, 1884, after the folding of the Northwestern League, the St. Paul team resumed play in the major league Union Association. Their fellow Northwestern League rival, the Milwaukee Brewers also joined the Union Association to finish the season. The St. Paul team resumed play in the major league Union Association known as the St. Paul Saints or "White Caps." In joining the league, St. Paul replaced the folded Chicago Browns/Pittsburgh Stogies franchise in the league, while Milwaukee finished the schedule of the folded Philadelphia Keystones / Wilmington Quicksteps franchise.

Playing in the major League, St. Paul finished the remainder of the Union Association season by compiling a record of 2–6–1 while playing strictly road games. In the process, the 1884 St. Paul Saints became the only major league team to never host a single home game. The 1884 Union Association folded after playing its only season of play.

When the Northwestern League folded following the completion of its 1884 season and the Northwestern League did not reform, St. Paul did not host a minor league or major league team in 1885.

1885: Potential Western League charter franchise fails In 1885, St. Paul attempted to continue minor league play. St. Paul was in line to become a charter member of the Western League, which was forming for the first time. St. Paul attempted to join the Cleveland Forest Citys, Indianapolis Hoosiers, Kansas City Blues, Milwaukee Brewers and Toledo Avengers in the newly formed league. However, Omaha, Nebraska gained the Omaha Omahogs franchise in the new league after St. Paul, Minnesota, withdrew their proposed team. St. Paul was replaced when the proposed franchise was unable to guarantee and secure the necessary funding for league membership.

The Western League was officially formed as a minor league on February 11, 1885, without St. Paul becoming a member. The meeting was held in Indianapolis with representatives from Kansas City, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Cleveland, St. Paul, Toledo, and Nashville being present. The 1885 Western League began play, on April 18, 1885, but folded on June 15, 1885.

1886 & 1887: Northwestern League After their attempt at forming a team in 1885 was unsuccessful, St. Paul next hosted minor league baseball in the 1886 season, when their former league reformed. The St. Paul team was called the St. Paul Freezers for that year and played the 1886 season as members of the six-team Independent level Northwestern League, which had reformed after not playing in 1885. The Duluth Jayhawks, Eau Claire Lumbermen, Milwaukee Brewers, Minneapolis Millers and Oshkosh teams joined St. Paul in league play. The Freezers were managed by John Barnes, who began a three-season managing tenure with St. Paul. In their return to the Northwestern League, St. Paul ended the 1886 with a record of 37–43. In the six-team league, the Freezers ended the season in fourth place, finishing the season 9½ games behind the first place Duluth Jayhawks.

In the early baseball era, baseball team nicknames were informal and most often derived from newspaper coverage. While the early St. Paul teams were called the "Apostles" in baseball publications, historians reviewing local newspapers found the "Saints" nickname was used most commonly for the early St. Paul teams and the two nicknames were interchangeable.

The 1887 St. Paul team again was known as the St. Paul Saints and St. Paul played the season under returning manager John Barnes. The franchise remained as members of the Northwestern League as the league expanded to eight teams. The "Saints" is a nickname that has remained in use by St. Paul minor league teams over one century of play. With the Northwestern League schedule beginning on April 30, 1887, St. Paul joined the Des Moines Hawkeyes, Duluth Freezers, Eau Claire, LaCrosse Freezers, Milwaukee Cream Citys, Minneapolis Millers and Oshkosh teams in league play.

The Saint Paul Saints finished the 1887 Northwestern League season in third place, compiling a 75–45 record manager under John Barnes. With their third-place finish, the Saints ended the season 2½ games behind first place Oshkosh in the final league standings. Oshkosh was managed by Baseball Hall of Fame member Frank Selee. St. Paul Saints pitcher Bill Sowders won 34 games and had 266 strikeouts to lead the Northwestern League pitchers in both categories. Sowers pitched in 52 games for the Saints and threw 48 complete games covering 441 innings with a 2.14 ERA. Saints players Clarence Murphy scored 142 runs and Walt Wilmot had 18 triples, to lead the league. St. Paul first baseman Al McCauley notably batted .401 for Saints, collecting 199 hits on the season while finishing third in the league in batting average.

Despite expanding to eight teams, the Northwestern League folded and did not return to play in 1888. St. Paul continued minor league play in a new league.

1888 to 1891: Western Association

After the folding of the Northwestern League following the 1887 season, St. Paul resumed professional baseball play in a newly formed minor league in the 1888 season. The Saint Paul Apostles became charter members of the Class A level Western Association. In forming the ten–team Western Association, St. Paul joined with the Chicago Maroons, Davenport Onion Weeders, Des Moines Prohibitionists, Kansas City Blues, Milwaukee Brewers, Minneapolis Millers, Omaha Omahogs, Sioux City Cornhuskers and St. Louis Whites franchises in the newly formed league.

St. Paul team owner Andrew Thompson retained all shares of stock in the organization after St. Paul manager John Barnes "politely" declined a co-ownership offer from Thompson for $10,000. Barnes first began his tenure with the St. Paul franchise in 1884 when he served as the secretary of the team. It was noted in the local newspaper that Barnes abstained "from tobacco and liquor in any form, thereby setting a good example for the players."

In returning to play, St. Paul had strong season, ending the 1888 season in third place in the ten-team Western Association season, finishing the season with a 61–38 record. No league playoffs were held. With their third-place finish, St. Paul finished the season 5½ games behind the first place Kansas City Blues in the final league standings. The League champion Kansas City team was led on the field by Baseball Hall of Fame member Kid Nichols, who had league best 16–2 record and 1.14 ERA age 18.Maddon, W.C. & Stewart, Patrick. (2002) The Western League: A baseball history 1885 through 1995. McFarland & Company St. Paul outfielder Scrappy Carroll hit 16 home runs to lead the Western Association.