The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1920-01-22
KNOT -HOLE KID
NOW LEADEROF
ST.L0U|S TEAM
Samuel Braedon Has Great
Experience in Baseball
World.

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 21-From a soap
box seat peeking through q knot hole
in the Polo grounds fence watching
the Giants in action on the inside to
the presidency Of the st. Louis Car
dinals is the leap in the life of Samuel
Breadon. Once knot-hole kiddie him.
self and now head of the club which
has plugged the knotholes in the fence
and permits youngsters to sit inside
with the paid customers is the strange
turn of the Cardinals new executive.
Samuel Breadon, while not an exper
fenced baseball magnate knows thing
or two about the game-about - the
playing end at least, for in his younger
days he was semi-pro tosser, a bas-
ketoall shooter and gridder OF note.
Breadon is not Misourian-not a
home-bred product. On the other hand
he is one of the few New Workers. who
played Horace Greely's tip and hit the
Western trail. He was born on Man
hatan Island in 1880, which makes him
stepping into his fortieth year.
He arrived in st. Louis in 1902, and
to use his own words, .'penniless. I" He
was bank clerk in the Seaman Bank
in New York when he quit his athletic
career but the gingling OF gold and
silver was not attractive to him. He
saw depositors throw in large sums,
';ut he could not see where he would
ever branch out in the business world
on clerks salary.
st. Louis was producing a worlds
fair and the field should be fertile out
theresa Samuel Breadon arrived l..
st. Louis. The automobile field was
On its infancy. He saw bright flu.
ture, but the game was new. There
was only one way for him to master it
right from the bottom, so he tackled
the extreme bottom as a machinist in
an auto repair shop.
The weekly salary was saved, dollar
after dollar was saved, snug sum
was accumulated and finally he branch
ed out as u repair magnate, later
garage owner, then the agent for car
and finally the president of the Yves
tern Automobile Company Of st. Louis
distributor for the Pierce Arrow car.
In Is years Samuel Breadon became
millionaire and as he started out
WiIuOuJ d uluue ne Is eIlLlLlGQ. 10 De
known as one OF the self-made style.
Breadon always was a baseball fan,
but he did not become Interested as z
magnate until the Cardinals were pur.
chased from the Britton inte q; in
January, 1917. When the deal was ar
ranged local capitalists were invited
to purchase-not in large sums, but in
small blocks, as 1t was the desire to
have the National league club owned
by stockholders.
Breadon dnbbed in small bits like
hundreds and hundreds. With the club
drifting down in the second division in
1888 and 1919, though many of the in
vaders developed cold feet, and they
offered their stock for sale at a finan-
cial sacrifice. Breadon was one ofi.he
few to plunge during the last two years
and today probably is the leading stock
holder.
The chief duties for the new presi-
dent of the Cardinals will be to lift it
out of the financial holes it has been
in almost since the day Frank de Hass
Robinson died. The club has been un.
able to bid for minor league stars ow-
ing 10 the lack of funds, but now, "
cording to Breadon, the Cardinals will
rub elbows with the other brokers and
auctioneers.