[Tay1038]

1898 Detroit Tigers vs. St. Paul Apostles/Saints Western League Baseball Program

This particular Saints team was part of the second incarnation that was active in the Western League from 1894-1899. The Western League, was a minor league baseball league founded in 1885 and included the Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, Kansas City Blues, Minneapolis Millers, Indianapolis Indians, and the Buffalo Bisons.

In 1900, the Western League changed its name to the American League. It was still officially a minor league, a part of the National Agreement and an underling of the National League. The NL actually gave permission to the AL to put a team in Chicago, and on March 21, 1900, Charles Comiskey moved his St. Paul club to the South Side, where they became the Chicago White Sox.

This particular program dates to the 1898 season, 120 years old! Although absent from this program, the Detroit Tigers held future Hall of Fame (Introduction 1946) Pitcher Rube Waddell and Kid Elberfield, known as one of the best shortstops in the early years of the twentieth century. The Detroit Tigers defeated the St. Paul Apostles/Saints 4-3 that day.

This is the earliest Saints related program I have ever come across, and likely one of the earliest Detroit Tigers programs to exist today.