Bill DeWitt

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_DeWitt

William Orville DeWitt Sr. (August 3, 1902 — March 4, 1982) was an American professional baseball executive and club owner whose career in Major League Baseball spanned more than 60 years. His son William DeWitt, Jr. is currently the principal owner and managing partner of the St. Louis Cardinals, while grandson William O. DeWitt III is the Redbirds' president.

The senior DeWitt grew up in St. Louis. He began his baseball career with the Cardinals as a protégé of Branch Rickey, legendary business manager (later general manager) of the club from 1916 to 1942. One of DeWitt's first jobs, in 1916, was selling soda pop at the Cardinals' park; as a young man, he received a law degree from Washington University in St. Louis and became treasurer of the Redbirds.

But DeWitt ultimately joined the city's underdog American League team, the St. Louis Browns, in November 1936 as minority owner (initially in partnership with majority stockholder Donald Lee Barnes) and general manager.