St. Paul Saints

Location: St. Paul, MN

League: Northwestern League 1887; Western League 1892, 1897, 1899, 1901; American Association 1902-1960; Northern League 1993-2005; American Association 2006-2019; Triple-A East 2021; International League 2022-

Affiliation: Chicago White Sox 1936-1942; Brooklyn Dodgers 1944-1957; Los Angeles Dodgers 1958-1960; Minnesota Twins 2021-

Ballpark: Lexington Park 1897-1956; Midway Stadium 1957-1960 and 1993-2014; CHS Field 2015-

Team History

The St. Paul Saints, of the Triple-A International League, briefly in Triple-A East, and formerly of the independent American Association, are widely known for offbeat promotions and hilarious non-conformity. The Minnesota Twins' farmhands play their home games at CHS Field in St. Paul, MN.

MLB's 2021 Minor League Reorganization pulled the Saints from independent baseball - one of three such teams - to become the nearby Twins' top affiliate.

The Saints debuted in the indy Northern League in 1993, then in 2006 chartered what would become the larger but also-indy Association. At the time, being an indy so close to a big-league club was thought risky. However, team promotions - under long-time co-owner Mike Veeck, son of legendary baseball team owner and promoter Bill Veeck - fit Veeck's genealogy and out-drew other indies. Veeck's gems included having a pig for a mascot, playing a game without umpires (don't ask!), and hosting Atheists Night as the St. Paul Aints.

In March 2023, Saints' ownership sold the club to Diamond Baseball Holdings, the entity created by entertainment giant Endeavor Group Holdings but later sold to Silver Lake Partners. The Saints became DBH's 14th team, with two more under purchase contract at the time.

They continue poking fun, even at postponements. After an April blizzard dumped nine inches of snow, the Saints were forced to postpone their 2023 home opener not once but twice. When a reporter asked via Twitter if the first postponement was because of the recent snow or because of rain in the opening-day forecast, the Saints' account replied, "Because...Minnesota."

The Saints play Copa de la Diversión Hispanic engagement campaign games as Los Santos de St. Paul, a literal translation of their brand.

City Baseball History

St. Paul had a long history in the original American Association, from 1902 to 1960 - as did Minneapolis. For some reason people confuse the Saints with the Apostles, who played during the 19th Century in St. Paul in a completely different league. While they were referred to in the press as the Apostles as an informal name, the official team name of the American Association's St. Paul club was the Saints.

The long-time rivals of the Minneapolis Millers, they often played home-and-road doubleheaders with their twin city on holidays, with the first game would be played in one city in the morning and the second in the other in the afternoon. The rivalry was especially heated when the Saints were a Brooklyn Dodgers farm club and the Millers were allied with Brooklyn's rival, the New York Giants.

The Saints finished first nine times, but won only one Little World Series, in 1924. In 1925, they were bought by Bob Connery, formerly the chief scout for the New York Yankees, with Yankees manager Miller Huggins as a minority owner (although the fact was not publicized at the time). From that year until 1932, St. Paul acted as a quasi-farm team for the Yankees, as the club would regularly sell players to the Bronx Bombers (an estimated 29 players were transferred between the two teams during the period), with the Yankees sending around $300,000 to St. Paul in total for these purchases. Most prominent among those players were Mark Koenig and Fred Heimach. Connery sold the team to St. Paul investors after the 1934 season.

Roy Campanella played for the Saints in 1948 prior to making his major league debut.

Three Saints clubs are considered among the greatest minor league teams of all time:

• 1920 St. Paul Saints
• 1922 St. Paul Saints
• 1923 St. Paul Saints

The Northern League entry of 1993 drew some of the biggest names in that circuit's first decade, including J.D. Drew, Darryl Strawberry, Ila Borders and Jack Morris. The team's 1996 season was chronicled for the documentary series Baseball, Minnesota, which aired on FX. After the 2005 season, the Saints announced they were leaving the Northern League for the following season, and the next season they chartered the new American Association.

Year-by-Year Record

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs
1887	75-45	3rd	John Barnes	none
1892	20-31 overall	--	A.M. Thompson / Billy Alvord	Team moved to Fort Wayne on May 25
1897	86-51	4th	Charles Comiskey	none
1899	57-69	5th	Charles Comiskey	none
1901	69-54	2nd	Jimmy Ryan	none
1915	90-63	2nd	Mike Kelley	none
1916	86-79	4th	Mike Kelley	none
1917	88-66	3rd	Mike Kelley	none
1918	39-38	6th	Mike Kelley	League suspended operations on July 21
1919	94-60	1st	Mike Kelley	none League Champs
1920	115-49	1st	Mike Kelley	none League Champs
1921	80-87	6th	Mike Kelley	none
1922	107-60	1st	Mike Kelley	none League Champs
1923	111-57	2nd	Mike Kelley	none
1924	96-70	1st	Nick Allen	none League Champs
1925	91-75	3rd	Nick Allen	none
1926	82-81	6th	Nick Allen	none
1927	90-78	4th	Nick Allen	none
1928	88-80	5th	Nick Allen	none
1929	102-64	2nd	Bubbles Hargrave	none
1930	91-63	2nd	Lefty Leifield	none
1931	104-63	1st	Lefty Leifield	none League Champs
1932	70-97	7th	Lefty Leifield	none
1933	78-75	4th	Emmett McCann (70-71) / Phil Todt (8-4)
1934	67-84	7th	Bob Coleman
1935	75-78	5th	Marty McManus	none
1936	84-68	2nd	Gabby Street	Lost in 1st round
1937	67-87	7th	Gabby Street (28-45) / Phil Todt (39-42)
1938	90-61	1st	Babe Ganzel	Lost League Finals
1939	73-81	5th	Babe Ganzel
1940	69-79	5th	Babe Ganzel
1941	61-92	7th	Red Kress
1942	57-97	8th	Truck Hannah (32-47) / interim (2-0) / Bob Tarleton (23-50)
1943	67-85	7th (t)	Salty Parker
1944	85-66	4th	Ray Blades	Lost League Finals
1945	75-76	4th	Ray Blades	Lost League Finals
1946	80-71	3rd	Ray Blades	Lost in 1st round
1947	69-85	7th	Herman Franks (52-74) / Curt Davis (17-11)
1948	86-68	3rd	Walter Alston	League Champs
1949	93-60	1st	Walter Alston	Lost in 1st round
1950	83-69	4th	Clay Hopper	Lost in 1st round
1951	85-66	2nd	Clay Hopper	Lost League Finals
1952	80-74	3rd	Clay Bryant	Lost in 1st round
1953	72-82	6th	Clay Bryant
1954	75-78	5th	Clay Bryant
1955	75-78	5th	Max Macon
1956	75-78	5th	Max Macon (66-66) / Roy Hartsfield (9-12)
1957	82-72	4th	Max Macon	Lost League Finals
1958	70-84	7th	Max Macon
1959	81-81	5th (t)	Max Macon
1960	83-71	4th	Danny Ozark	Lost in 1st round
1993	49-29	1st	Tim Blackwell	League Champs
1994	43-36	3rd	Tim Blackwell
1995	53-31	1st	Marty Scott	League Champs
1996	45-40	3rd	Marty Scott	League Champs
1997	45-39	4th	Marty Scott	Lost in 1st round
1998	40-46	4th (t)	Marty Scott	Lost League Finals
1999	38-47	5th	Marty Scott
2000	43-43	4th (t)	Marty Scott	Lost in 1st round
2001	37-53	6th (t)	Doug Sisson
2002	39-50	7th	Jimmy Johnson
2003	52-38	3rd	George Tsamis	Lost in 1st round
2004	61-34	1st	George Tsamis	League Champs
2005	55-40	2nd	George Tsamis	Lost in 1st round
2006	54-42	4th	George Tsamis	Lost League Finals
2007	57-39	2nd	George Tsamis	Lost League Finals
2008	42-54	9th	George Tsamis
2009	49-47	4th (t)	George Tsamis
2010	45-51	7th	George Tsamis
2011	56-44	3rd	George Tsamis	Lost League Finals
2012	52-48	6th	George Tsamis
2013	47-53	9th	George Tsamis
2014	48-52	6th (t)	George Tsamis
2015	74-26	2nd	George Tsamis	Lost in 1st round
2016	61-39	1st	George Tsamis	Lost in 1st round
2017	48-52	7th	George Tsamis
2018	59-41	1st	George Tsamis	Lost League Finals
2019	64-36	1st	George Tsamis	League Champs

Year	Record	Finish	Manager	Playoffs	Hitting coach	Pitching coach	Coach
2021	61-59	10th	Toby Gardenhire	6-4	Matt Borgschulte	Cibney Bello & Mike McCarthy	Tyler Smarslok
2022	74-75	10th (t)	Toby Gardenhire		Ryan Smith	Cibney Bello & Virgil Vasquez	Tyler Smarslok
2023	84-64	3rd	Toby Gardenhire		Nate Spears	Cibney Bello & Peter Larson	Tyler Smarslok
2024	70-79	13th	Toby Gardenhire		Shawn Schlechter	Dan Urbina & Peter Larson	Tyler Smarslok

Further Reading

• Anthony Castrovince: "The ragtag team that saved Darryl Strawberry’s career: Strawberry’s revival featured in new Netflix doc on the iconic Veeck family", mlb.com, September 20, 2023. [1]
• Alan Cohen: "Twin Cities Rivalry Feeds New York Rivalry, 1946-57", in Michael J. Haupert, ed.: Baseball in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, The National Pastime, 2024 Edition, pp. 44-46.
• Roger A. Godin: "The 1924 Junior World Series: The St. Paul Saints' Magnificent Comeback", in The National Pastime, SABR, Volume 28 (2008), pp. 119-128.
• Rex Hamann: "Baseball's Twin Towers in the Twin Cities: The Minneapolis Millers and the St. Paul Saints in the American Association, 1902-1960", in Daniel R. Levitt, ed.: Short but Wondrous Summers: Baseball in the North Star State, The National Pastime, Volume 42 (2012), pp. 29-37.
• Rex Hamann: The Millers and the Saints: Baseball Championships of the Twin Cities Rivals, 1903–1955, McFarland, Jefferson, NC, 2014. ISBN 978-1-4766-1599-8
• Dick Harris: The St. Paul Saints Baseball Club, 1902-1961: A Historical Chronicle, Bookhouse Fulfillment, Beaver's Pond Press, Edina, MN, 2008.
• Josh Jackson: "This Minor League mascot set the most adorable world record you've never heard of", mlb.com, April 28, 2024. [2]
• Neal Karlen: Slouching Towards Fargo, William Morrow, New York, NY, 1999. ISBN 978-0380974849
• Joe O'Connell: "The Saints-Millers Holiday Series", in Daniel R. Levitt, ed.: Short but Wondrous Summers: Baseball in the North Star State, The National Pastime, Volume 42 (2012), pp. 44-46
• Steve Steinberg: "The St. Paul-New York Underground Railroad", in Daniel R. Levitt, ed.: Short but Wondrous Summers: Baseball in the North Star State, The National Pastime, Volume 42 (2012), pp. 38-43.
• Stew Thornley: The St. Paul Saints: Baseball in the Capital City, Minnesota Historical Society Press, St. Paul, MN, 2015. ISBN 978-0-8735-1958-8
• Stew Thornley: "The Nights the Lights Went on in the Twin Cities", in Michael J. Haupert, ed.: Baseball in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, The National Pastime, 2024 Edition, pp. 36-39.

Related Sites

• Official site of the St. Paul Saints
• [3] website dedicated to the first 61 seasons of the original minor league American Association, including the eight original teams: the Columbus Senators, Columbus Red Birds, Indianapolis Indians, Kansas City Blues, Louisville Colonels, Milwaukee Brewers, Minneapolis Millers, St. Paul Saints and Toledo Mud Hens. This website is an off-shoot of the hard copy publication The American Association Almanac which has been in circulation since 2001.