1914 Spring Training, Let the Games Begin!
The schedule would feature 20 games with 10 being played at Coffee Pot. The Cubs in Tampa were scheduled for six games, three at each venue. Connie Mack’s Athletics were also scheduled for six games, three in St. Pete and three in Jacksonville. The cross-town Cardinals training in St. Augustine were scheduled for two games in each city. The A’s and Cards games are arranged as “B” games though. Each league has a rule preventing their teams from playing one another outside of regular season games, so the A’s/Browns series are supposed to be subs only. However, when the Browns took the first game in Jacksonville 11 – 1, Mack started one of his regular pitchers to ensure a win in game 2. The Browns and Cards will play the city series once both teams get back to St. Louis, so neither manager wants to show their hands in Florida.
February 27 was the opening day of the exhibition season. The Browns sailed over to play the Cubs at Plant Field in Tampa dropping the game 3 – 2. The day after, the 28th, the Cubs boarded the steamer for the dock at Coffee Pot. Businesses closed for the afternoon, streetcar service to the park was increased, five rail cars of passengers came to St. Pete from as far away as Tarpon Springs, two of which were from the Belleview hotel in Belleair. In all, it was calculated as 4,000 spectators witnessing the first ever spring training game in St. Pete. The home team rooters left disappointed as the Brownies dropped that game 3 – 2. That game marked the last Cub victory in the series.
The season on the whole was successful for the Browns going 12 – 4 – 3 in games against professionals. They even won three games in one day. The top squad beat the Louisville Colonels AAA team 3 – 2. The 2nd team in Jacksonville beat the A’s 8 – 7. The third group beat the semi-pro St. Pete Saints squad by the count of 11 – 1. Overall, the Browns won the Cub series 3 – 2 – 1 tie, the A’s series 4 – 2, took the Cards winning 3 games and tying 1 as well as defeating Louisville 2 games to 1. The biggest plus aside from working in a fine facility was only losing one day to the weather. It was estimated the previous spring in Texas that they were only able to get work in three days per week.
As far as players go, the only Hall-of-Famer to appear for the Brown’s was 40-year-old back-up shortstop Bobby Wallace. When Wallace arrived, he declared Coffee Pot the finest facility he had seen in the South. The best Browns player likely with the best story to tell was Del Pratt. Pratt, a college graduate, almost 27 years old, met a 17-year-old young lady residing in St. Pete during the winters. She was an aspiring musician. Pratt comes back in the winter and marries her. Together they had four children, and the marriage lasted until she died in 1963. Another highlight was on the trip back to St. Louis, the Browns stopped in Pratt’s hometown of Birmingham, AL., to play an exhibition. The event was titled Del Pratt Day. The third most prominent player was the centerfielder. Although a fine player, Burt Shotton became more well known as being Jackie Robinson’s first manager in Brooklyn.
Another player of interest had some local ties to St. Pete. Ray Stringer, a former college pitcher, came from his home in Ohio to work as a carpenter constructing the new ballpark. The Times said he likely put a nail in every board along the outfield fence. He soon was promoted foreman over the colored laborers. Once the construction concluded he stayed on as a groundskeeper and overseer. Joe Sugden was a very early arrival in trying to work his way back to the major leagues and Stringer threw batting practice to him. Sugden liked what he saw and spoke to Rickey about him. Rickey let Stringer dress for practice, and he threw well enough in a scrimmage game that Rickey got him a contract with Dubuque of the Three I League.
By mid-March the St. Petersburg side of things were boasting their success with hosting Spring Training. Some had suggested bringing the Cubs over from Tampa to share Coffee Pot. There were two locker room’s which could likely accommodate nearly 100 people. Another idea was to build a second ballpark for a National League team (the Cards who not happy with St. Augustine). On the Browns’ end, they were not very pleased with the accommodations and Rickey was not happy sharing control with the baseball company. So, Hedges came to St. Pete to see if he could make a deal with the company to buy the ballpark and he boasted that he would control all the accommodations for the team in St. Pete, which I take to mean including the food and housing. The baseball company would then have the financial ability to build another ballpark.
The Browns departed St. Pete on March 22 with Rickey saying he hoped they would be back. During the spring, the baseball company realized their financial projections were falling way short in addition to the team being unhappy with the lodging situation. Hedges did not pull the trigger on buying the ballpark and controlling the accommodations himself. Although the baseball company held the lease on the ground for six years at no cost, the agreement they made with Hedges should they come back in ‘15 was for the Browns to pay $3,000 upfront and $8,000 total to buy the complex from the company. Baker would still have to acquire through lease from or sale of the property from Snell & Hamlett. The asking price was $25,000 according to Rickey in 1949. That turned out to be where negotiations ultimately fell through.
The Browns who finished in last place in 1913 came out of Spring Training as the team that got the most work due to great baseball weather. They were considered by sportswriters to be in the best condition of any team. Although not very talented as a team and predictions had them still finishing last (8th) or perhaps as high as 6th, the Browns finished 5th only one spot out of the first division. For a team that only finished in the first division twice in their existence, this was quite a showing and a source of optimism. In ’15, they trained out in Texas. St. Pete baseball people were quite delighted to hear how bad the weather was out there as the Phillies only missed one workout all spring at Coffee Pot. The Browns slipped back into 6th that season.