Henry Flagler not only brought luxury tourism to the Ancient City, he also brought America’s favorite pastime – baseball. Teams made up mostly of players who worked for Flagler’s hotels would take to the field and compete against local community teams as a way of keeping up employee morale and entertaining guests at his many hotels. During these early years, the game was played on a field in front of the Castillo, known at the time as Fort Marion. He eventually funded a stadium that was later demolished due to waning interest and to make room for other projects.
Henry Flagler encouraged the formation of what today might be considered “industry” baseball teams, a national phenomenon. Winter guests at the Ponce de Leon Hotel could cheer for one such team, the Cuban Giants. They were the first of several professional minority teams originating from these hotel teams. Players were compensated anywhere from $12 to $18 per week based on their field position. The Cuban Giants formed in 1885 with nine founding players sourced from the best teams around the country. They called the Argyle Hotel in Babylon, New York home. The team eventually moved to Trenton, New Jersey and adopted the name Cuban Giants – though none of the players were actually of Cuban descent. This barnstorming team could be found in the winters working in St. Augustine’s hotels and playing baseball up the east coast, eventually making their way back to the Northeast in time for the spring/summer ball season. There was no offseason at the time, as baseball was a year-round sport. The Cuban Giants laid the foundation for what would later become the Professional Negro Leagues, where some of the greats like Jackie Robinson began their careers. The Cuban Giants were disbanded in 1915, but not before an independent team called the Cuban X Giants was formed by players who defected from the original team.
Baseball was not just a winter sport here in the Sunshine State. In 1913, a prominent citizen by the name of Albert Lewis built a diamond at the end of Marine Street, but it wasn’t until 1917 that several business owners pulled together to form an independent minor league team called the St. Augustine Saints. They were such a prominent fixture around town that according to one local resident in a 1988 article for the St. Augustine Record, the stores would close on Wednesdays so the town could enjoy the games. The team was so much a part of the city that even when their stadium burned to the ground, the game still went on. The team took to the field in borrowed prison uniforms, and even used car headlights to light the field when the outdoor lighting stopped functioning for one game!
In the 1930s the team’s home field moved to Francis Field, where the stadium became the heart of the city. The field is named for a former player-turned-owner, Freddy Francis. Many towns around the area had teams, as they were a point of civic pride. The Saints’ biggest rivals were the Palatka Pals. During the 1934 season, they were pitted against each other in a seven-game series called the Cracker Little World Series. Francis told the team that if they won, he would take them on an all-expenses-paid trip to Cuba. Unfortunately, victory went to the Pals. Francis took the Saints to New York to watch the World Series as a consolation prize. The Saints took to the field as an independent minor league team for multiple seasons following their inaugural 1926 season, with periodic breaks during World War II. They finally disbanded in 1952 due to waning ticket sales. During their tenure in the Ancient City, they took home 2 titles. In 1936, their inaugural season with the Florida State League, the Saints took home the championship title. Their second title came thirteen years later in 1949, when they were briefly a farm team for the Chicago Cubs.
Written by Jenna Ricci, SAHSRL Intern
Edited by Robert Covert, Collections Manager & Editor-in-Chief
Bibliography
BlackPast. “The Cuban Giants (1885–1915).” BlackPast. Last modified February 12, 2007. https://blackpast.org/african-american-history/the-cuban-giants-1885-1915/.
Baseball Reference Bullpen. “St. Augustine Saints.” https://www.baseball-reference.com/bullpen/St._Augustine_Saints.
Historic City News. Historic City News. https://historiccity.com.
Major League Baseball. “Cuban X-Giants.” Negro Leagues History. https://www.mlb.com/history/negro-leagues/teams/cuban-x-giants.
Sheeley, Glenn. “St. Augustine History: World Series Pits Saints Against Palatka.” The St. Augustine Record, October 31, 2021. https://www.staugustine.com/story/news/history/2021/10/31/st-augustine-history-world-series-pits-saints-against-palatka/6197211001/.