Phil Ball (baseball)
American baseball businessperson (1864–1933)
Philip De Catesby Ball (October 22, 1864 – October 22, 1933) was the owner of the St. Louis Terriers of the Federal League from 1914 through 1915 and the St. Louis Browns of the American League from 1916 through 1933.
Biography
Phil Ball was born in Keokuk, Iowa. He became wealthy through the ownership of the Federal Cold Storage Company refrigeration company in St. Louis; he expanded his holdings to include oil wells, ranch lands, and urban commercial real estate. He was considered the Federal League owner most committed to the development of a permanent third major league.
As the Federal League's bidding war with the established clubs took a financial toll on its owners, Ball remained committed to stocking a competitive roster. His strategy undermined the bottom line of the Terriers, Browns, and St. Louis Cardinals.
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This entry incorporates text from “Phil Ball (baseball)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.