Edward Steininger

Edward A. Steininger

• Born January 5, 1868 in St. Louis, MO USA
• Died May 10, 1943 in St. Louis, MO USA

Biographical Information

Edward Steininger was a minority stockholder of the St. Louis Cardinals who served as team President in 1911 and 1912. In 1914, he became one of the leading figures in the upstart Federal League as president of the St. Louis Terriers franchise.

The son of German immigrants from Bavaria, he was a contractor who owned a construction company and took part in a number of large building projects around St. Louis, MO. He was a close friend of Cardinals majority owner Stanley Robison. When Robison died in 1911, his niece, Helene Robison Britton, inherited his shares and decided to run the team herself. However, as it would be an uphill battle to gain acceptance from fellow owners who were all male, she had Steininger named as team President and at the major league meetings that December, which she attended, he was the one who spoke on the Cardinals' behalf. However, as Ms. Britton gained confidence, she no longer needed him, and in any case accused him of not always casting his votes following her orders and lacking transparency about the team's financial dealings. She obtained an injunction to stop him from acting on her behalf and had him replaced. He decided to sell his shares and start his own team as one of the original investors in the Federal League.

After the collapse of the Federal League, there is no indication that Steininger was again involved in baseball. He died in St. Louis in 1943.