purchased st. louis franchise
In 1899, the Robison brothers were responsible for the worst Major League Baseball team in history, the 1899 Cleveland Spiders. Before the season, the Robisons purchased the bankrupt St. Louis Browns from Chris von der Ahe and renamed them the Perfectos.
owned two teams
During the single season in which they owned both the Spiders and Perfectos, the brothers transferred the best players of both franchises to St. Louis, leaving the Spiders with a team that finished with a record of 20-134, the worst full-season record ever for a major league baseball team.
mlb outlawed owning two teams
Following this debacle (and a similar one involving the Baltimore Orioles and Brooklyn Superbas), the practice of allowing the same owners to run multiple teams was outlawed.
Ownership stays in the family
In 1908, Frank Robison died and his brother, Stanley Robison, took over the ownership of the Cardinals. In 1911, he died and the team was given to Stanley’s daughter Helene Hathaway Britton.