17 Facts About Gussie Busch

Gussie Busch became a prominent sportsman as owner of the St Louis Cardinals franchise in Major League Baseball from 1953 until his death.

Gussie Busch's paternal grandfather, Adolphus Busch, was the German-born founder of Anheuser-Busch.

August Gussie Busch led the company to become the largest brewery in the world by 1957, surpassing previous leaders Pabst Brewing Company and Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company.

Gussie Busch expanded from a single brewery in St Louis to nine nationwide.

Gussie Busch made their image part of the company logo and had them appear regularly at public events.

In May 1975, Gussie Busch was forced to step down as CEO and chairman of the company after a boardroom coup led by his son, August Gussie Busch III.

Gussie Busch was allowed to remain president of the Cardinals and use the company perks associated with that job only if he represented the move as voluntary on his part.

The extent to which Gussie Busch had been sidelined was not publicly known during his lifetime.

Divisions in the Gussie Busch family resulting from the coup persisted for decades and played a part in InBev's 2008 takeover of the company.

When Gussie Busch got word that Saigh was considering selling the team to interests who would move the team to Houston, he decided to have Anheuser-Gussie Busch get into the bidding in order to keep the Cardinals in St Louis.

Gussie Busch had been the first credible buyer who was willing to keep the team in town.

Shortly after buying the Cardinals, Gussie Busch bought and extensively renovated the park, renaming it Gussie Busch Stadium.

Gussie Busch married four times, having a total of 11 children.

Gussie Busch's third wife, Gertrude Buholzer, a native of Switzerland, was a Roman Catholic.

Gussie Busch died in St Louis on September 29,1989, at age 90, of pneumonia.

Seven years later in 1996, Anheuser-Gussie Busch sold the Cardinals to a group of investors led by William DeWitt, Jr.

In 2014, the Cardinals announced Gussie Busch would be among 22 former players and personnel to be inducted into the St Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum for the inaugural class of 2014.