Had St. Paul officials had their way, the city would have become the Twin Cities' home to major league baseball. In fact, the original Midway Stadium — a larger version of the one that became the quaint home of the Saints — was built to house a big league ballclub. But St. Paul lost out to Minneapolis/Bloomington when Calvin Griffith opted to move his Washington Senators to Metropolitan Stadium in 1961. That chapter is part of the rich competitive history of St. Paul professional baseball, which like Minneapolis was a charter member of the Class AAA American Association in 1902. Here's a look at that history:
Timeline
The professional history of the Saints dates to joining the Western League in 1894. The franchise and its crosstown rivals, the Minneapolis Millers, were best known as members of the Class AAA American Association for 59 seasons, from 1902 through 1960.
mLB affiliations
1902-34, 1940-43: None
1935: Chicago White Sox
1936: Boston Braves
1937-49: Chicago White Sox
1944-60: Brooklyn Dodgers
Past Stadiums
Lexington Park (1897-1956): Located on the southwest corner of University and Lexington avenues.
Midway Stadium (1957-1960): Located east of Snelling Avenue in a former gravel pit just southeast of the State Fairgrounds.
Top players
Former Saints who are in the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown:
• Charles Comiskey
(1895-99)
• Miller Huggins (1901-03)
• Bill McKechnie (1912-13)
• Leo Durocher (1927)
• Lefty Gomez (1930)
• Duke Snider (1947)
• Roy Campanella (1948)
• Dick Williams (1954)
• Walter Alston (1948-49)
Dennis Brackin
