Dan Moore

"Here's how Von der Ahe was crazy: He didn't understand baseball, but he installed himself as manager on multiple occasions. He built a giant statue of himself in front of the Browns' ballpark that was ridiculous enough that one unknown sportswriter's barb—he called it Von der Ahe Discovers the West—has been passed down through history to explain it. He had the idea for the first mallpark, building an amusement park beyond the outfield with water flumes, an artificial lake, and a horse-racing track." Anyone who's interested in 1880s baseball, crazy owners, and pitchers who can hit might like this Viva El Birdos post about the Cardinals' first owner and superstar.