combining two teams into one
The Cardinal owners, Frank and Stanley Robison, owned the Cleveland Spiders and the St. Louis Perfectos/Cardinals at the same time. In order to make one of the teams better, they took all the best players and put them on one team in St. Louis.
Here is an excerpt from wikipedia:
Prior to the 1899 season, Frank Robison, the Spiders owner, bought the St. Louis Browns, thus owning two clubs simultaneously. The Browns were renamed the “Perfectos”, and restocked with Cleveland talent. Just weeks before the season opener, most of the better Spiders players were transferred to St. Louis, including fellow pitcher Pete McBride and three future Hall of Famers: Young, Jesse Burkett, and Bobby Wallace. The roster maneuvers failed to create a powerhouse Perfectos team, as St. Louis finished fifth in both 1899 and 1900. Meanwhile, the depleted Spiders lost 134 games, the most in MLB history, before folding. Young spent two years with St. Louis, which is where he found his favorite catcher, Lou Criger. The two men were teammates for a decade.
Cy Young was one of those players. Although he wasn’t in St. Louis any more than two seasons, he is part of their history.
St. louis numbers
- 85 Games
- 45-35 record
- 2.78 ERA
- 226 strikeouts
- 80 walks
- 72 complete games
career numbers
- 511 wins – most in MLB history
- 7356 innings pitched- most in MLB history
- 815 games started – most in MLB history
- 749 complete games – most in MLB history
- 316 losses – most in MLB history
- 76 shutouts – 4th most in MLB history
- won 30 games in season five times
- 3-no-hitters
- 1- perfect game
One year after his death the Cy Young Award was given out to the most outstanding pitcher for the season.