<P> The St. Louis Cardinals, a professional baseball franchise based in St. Louis, Missouri, compete in the National League (NL) of Major League Baseball (MLB). An investment group consisting of William DeWitt, Jr., Fred Hanser, the Klingaman Group, and others, owns the St. Louis Cardinals, who bought the team from Anheuser - Busch (AB) in 1996 . </P> <P> Chris von der Ahe was the first owner of the Cardinals franchise, then known as the Brown Stockings and pioneered many of the elements commonly associated with the sport at the game . A German immigrant who made his way as a grocer and saloon owner, he saw potential in the sport without otherwise having any other background in it . He also became a polarizing figure with his employees and rivals: Von der Ahe was a flamboyant and magnanimous entrepreneur who gained enormous popularity in St. Louis and his team but was reviled by rival owners . He was marked by a willingness to charge lower admission rates, encouraging play on Sundays, and opening beer concessions at the stadium, a practice that the National League prohibited during Von der Ahe's time . He also was one of the few owners to make a profit during his time, in contrast with his rival owners, whose American Association eventually collapsed due to bankruptcy . National League owners such Albert Spalding bristled at his promotional techniques that became common to today's game . Charlie O. Finley, Larry McPhail, and Bill Veeck eventually employed sideshow attractions, like the "stadium club" and the shoot - the - chute . </P>

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