Wednesday, January 9, 2008

To Be A Fly On The Wall


This is a picture of a National League owners meeting in 1897. In the back row is Edward Becker (far left), Chris Von der Ahe (second from left), and Frank De Hass Robison (fourth from left). In 1899, Becker, one of Von der Ahe's many creditors, would buy the Browns out of receivership and then sell the majority interest to Robison and his brother Stanley.

Von der Ahe had almost sold the Browns to Frank Robison prior to the 1898 season but the deal fell through because Robison would not allow Von der Ahe to keep the beer concessions at Sportsman's Park. In March of 1899, after Becker had purchased the Browns, Von der Ahe was quoted as saying "I don't care who got the property, just so that...Robison did not."

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