St. Paul Apostles

From BR Bullpen

For more on the 1884 St. Paul Apostles, see 1884 Apostles, the team's only major league season.

The St. Paul Apostles were one of several named teams during the late 19th and early 20th century. The first Apostles team joined the Northwestern League in 1884 as an expansion team. Midway through the season, the league folded twice. After the second time, the Apostles became a barnstorming team, before they and the Milwaukee Cream Citys were invited to join the Union Association in late August. The Apostles played 9 games going 2-6-1 before folding. The second Apostles came when the Western Association was created in 1888 season. This Apostles team was a continuation of the St. Paul Saints which had played in other leagues in previous years; in fact, the two names would be used interchangeably until the early years of the 20th century, and it is purely a modern convention to use one name at the exclusion of the other. Thus, the Apostles are referred to as the Saints starting in 1892 when the Western League was reformed. That team would remain in St. Paul until May 25th when they moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana.

A third incarnation of the Apostles came into existence prior to the 1895 season, when new owner Charles Comiskey moved the Cornhuskers from Sioux City, Iowa to St. Paul, Minnesota. Following the 1899 season, Comiskey moved the team to Chicago where they became the White Stockings (now Chicago White Sox) and have remained ever since. St. Paul would get another team in 1901. Initially known as the Saints, the team were charter members in a short lived Western League. The following season the team joined the American Association. In 1915 the team changed its name to the Saints and would generally be called that from that point forward. This team would remain in the capital city until the 1961 season when the Washington Senators moved to Minneapolis and became the Minnesota Twins.

Like the Dodgers and Giants, Chicago Cubs and White Sox or New York Yankees and New York Mets, the team's cross-town rival, were the Minneapolis Millers. The Apostles/Saints-Millers rivalry lasted from 1884 to 1960. During those years the teams won a combined 18 league championships (10 for the Millers; 8 for the Apostles/Saints).

Year-by-Year Record[edit]

Year Record Finish Manager Playoffs
1884 24-48 9th Robert Hunter / A.M. Thompson Several teams disbanded causing a second season
7-7 3rd A.M. Thompson Minneapolis disbanded ending second season September 3
2-6-1 -- A.M. Thompson Joined Union Association September 27, replacing Wilmington
1888 61-38 3rd A.M. Thompson none
1889 74-46 2nd A.M. Thompson / John Barnes (minors) none
1890 37-84 8th A.M. Thompson none
1891 17-34 (39-61 overall) -- Bill Watkins / Jay Anderson Team moved to Duluth June 8
1895 74-50 2nd Charles Comiskey none
1896 73-63 4th Charles Comiskey none
1898 81-58 4th Charles Comiskey none
1902 72-66 3rd Mike Kelley none
1903 88-46 1st Mike Kelley none League Champs
1904 95-52 1st Mike Kelley none League Champs
1905 73-77 5th Mike Kelley none
1906 66-80 7th Dick Padden none
1907 58-96 8th Edward Ashenbach none
1908 48-104 8th Tim Flood (30-81) / Mike Kelley (18-23) none
1909 80-83 5th Mike Kelley none
1910 88-80 4th Mike Kelley none
1911 79-85 4th Mike Kelley none
1912 77-90 6th Mike Kelley none
1913 77-90 5th Bill Friel none
1914 56-111 8th Bill Friel none

Further Reading[edit]

  • Dennis Pajot: "Michael Kelley's 1906-08 Woes with Organized Baseball", The Baseball Research Journal, SABR, Vol. 44, Number 1 (Spring 2015), pp. 93-117.

Other sources:

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