ST. LOUIS • It was a blustery 47 degrees at 8 a.m., when barely 250 hardy fans gathered outside the gate for $1.25 bleacher tickets. The preferred drink was coffee.
Inside Sportsman's Park, an usher mistakenly tried to eject a few fellow employees relaxing on break. One barked back, "In this weather, we should be beside a stove in some saloon."
The final game of the 1944 World Series — the only Series played entirely in St. Louis — was contested on a chilly Oct. 9 before only 31,630 fans, almost 3,000 fewer than a full house.