Editorial

WHEN THE ST. LOUIS BROWNS CAME TO CAPE GIRARDEAU

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A popular video about major league baseball, "When It Was a Game," looks back at the heroes and characters of a professional sport who seemed to take more interest in playing ball than making money. Certainly, there is nothing wrong with making money, a principle obviously embraced by owners and players in major league baseball today. But when money takes precedence over the game itself, the charm leaks dry.

Thankfully, lovers of the game have ample opportunity in this area to watch baseball as it was meant to be played: for fun and glory, camaraderie, competition and sport.

Today, a few milestones in area baseball history will be commemorated at Capaha Park. The first milestone is the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the St. Louis Browns' spring training here. Second, is the 101st anniversary of the Capaha baseball team, highlighted by an old-timers game featuring Capaha veterans of several eras. The festivities and old-timers game kick off at 6 p.m., followed by the state champion Kohlfield Capahas at 7:30 p.m. in a tune-up before next week's national tournament in Wichita, Kan. As an added bonus, memorabilia of both the Browns and the Capahas will be on display today from 1 to 3 p.m. at Drury Lodge.

For those who don't know the history, the St. Louis Browns -- now the Baltimore Orioles -- trained in Cape Girardeau for three consecutive springs during World War II. Wartime travel restrictions forced the Browns to find a training ground closer to home than Florida, and the Browns chose Cape Girardeau. They were joined here for two of the three years by the Toledo Mudhens. The Cardinals trained farther downriver at Cairo, Ill.

During those springs, Cape Girardeau became the site of much baseball revelry, creating a special bond with the Browns. Bands greeted the players at the Frisco passenger train station. Grandstands were painted for the first time by volunteers. Fences, heretofore unseen, were put up. The Arena building was filled with dirt for indoor practice, and Houck Field House changed into a pitchers bullpen and team locker room.

The Browns didn't disappoint. They started each day -- when it wasn't raining -- in Houck and trotted to what was then called Fairground Park, some singing along the way. They brought the first electric pitching machine to Cape Girardeau, not to mention the famous Paul and "Dizzy" Dean. Dizzy, not a Brown, came to umpire a game and watch his brother. The day he was here turned into a spectacle as a cigarette was dropped through a crack, catching the grandstand on fire. Thankfully, the fire was put out quickly with a few pails of water.

Another big hit among the fans, along with the Dean brothers, was "the one-armed sensation," outfielder Pete Gray. Gray's grit, determination and graceful skill were an inspiration to all who watched him play.

Besides games and pepper on the field, the Browns delighted the town in other ways. One example is how each year players and manager donned aprons to "pass the flapjacks" at the annual Lions Club "pancake feast". Their presence also lit up the rooms and lobby of the Marquette Hotel.

When the Browns left for St. Louis at the end of the first spring, Cape Girardeau's mayor Beckman reported, "The city was reimbursed $481.35 and we now have a fine baseball field and painted grandstand without cost to taxpayers. Merchants were not given a shakedown nor were we obliged to beg to make up a deficit."

The Browns, meanwhile, with expenses and receipts both totalling just over $2,000, made a profit of $44.76 while here. In today's major league disputes over hundreds of millions of dollars, this is an incredible figure.

More rewarding to the Browns, though, was how they went on in 1944 to win the American League pennant in thrilling fashion against the New York Yankees, the first time in franchise history and the only time they did it while in St. Louis. While they later lost the World Series to the Cardinals in what was dubbed the "trolleycar series," the Browns' American League championship was voted the biggest sports surprise of the year by the Associated Press. Asked what the key ingredient to their season was, manager Luke Sewell responded, "the quick start our pitchers had thanks to fine conditioning in spring training."

With major league players who make millions of dollars deciding Thursday to go on strike Aug. 12, the contrast with professional baseball then and now could not be more stark. Thank goodness, "When It Was a Game" can be seen almost daily on the baseball and softball diamonds of Capaha and Arena parks, in Jackson, Sikeston and throughout Southeast Missouri. Today, the Capaha old-timers game starts at 6 p.m., with our own Browns team of today, the state champion Capahas, to follow.