1877 Baseball - St. Louis Cardinals in Chicago, Illinois For Sale

Serial-numbered authentic xxxx St. Louis (Brown Stockings) Baseball Association stock certificate which measures 7 1/4 X 10 3/4 inches and is hand-signed at the bottom by the Team Secretary as well as by Organization President John Lucas, whose Brown Stockings team was one of the eight founding teams in professional baseball, which began in xxxx. Evidence implicated the Brown Stockings in a fixed-game scandal during the xxxx season, and Lucas reluctantly withdrew his team from the league to become an independent team for the next four full seasons rather than face the possibility of disbanding the team and being expelled from the league. In xxxx, the league allowed the Brown Stockings to re-enter the American Association as the St. Louis Browns and use their original Brown Stockings uniform colors and design. The Browns years later would eventually evolve into the St. Louis Cardinals.
The top-center of the document contains a graphic scene of a game in action. The catcher is in a standing position as the pitcher readies his wind-up to deliver the ball. The umpire stands off to one side instead of directly behind the catcher. I see only one umpire and wonder if only one umpire was used when the league first began. All three outfielders appear to be playing very shallow.
The lower left corner of the document contains an embossed seal stating the name of the organization. Directly above the embossed seal, two large grizzly bears hold up a giant shield of armor with a knight's armored headgear attached to the shield's top and fancy feather plumage rising up from the headgear. The outer border of the oval-shaped giant shield bears the message "United We Stand, Divided We Fall". The entire right side of the giant shield contains an American bald eagle with wings upraised and surrounded by thirteen stars presumably representing the original thirteen states. The upper left quadrant of the giant shield contains a crescent moon lying flat so that its points face upward against a background of stripes presumably to mimic the American flag. The lower left quadrant of the giant shield contains an image of a grizzly bear on the prowl.
This document is in Excellent condition except for two folds and contains no flaws or imperfections except that the centering is biased to the left. The certificate still has most of its original crispness and was produced by the St. Louis Bank Note Company.