Indians' Dick Jacobs Remembered For Saving Baseball In Cleveland

Dick Jacobs Dies At Age 83 Following Long Illness

Former Indians Owner DICK JACOBS, who passed away Friday at the age of 83 following a "long illness," helped "refurbish downtown Cleveland and turned its baseball team into a winner," according to Bill Lubinger of the Cleveland PLAIN DEALER. Though Jacobs "made his fortune in real estate, he went from mainly playing behind the scenes to center stage" when he and his brother, DAVID, bought the Indians for $40M in '86. Dick Jacobs had "promised to run the club with sound business fundamentals." He aimed to "'stay out of the way' and hire baseball experts to direct the team." Jacobs "never told them what to do, only that they keep him informed, operate within the parameters of the budget and be successful." While Jacobs "attended most Indians games," he was "about as reluctant a public figure as the city has ever seen." He "seemed to be uninterested in seeing his picture in the paper or in being interviewed," and on the "rare occasions when he was interviewed, he spoke briefly, often deferring questions to publicists or team officials." Lubinger noted the Indians prior to Jacobs' acquisition "fielded one of the weakest teams in baseball over the previous 30 years," but the franchise was "restored during the Jacobs regime," winning two AL pennants in '95 and '97, the team's first since '54 (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 6/6). Funeral services for Jacobs will be held Wednesday at 10:30am ET at Rocky River United Methodist Church, prior to a private interment at Lakewood Park Cemetery. Calling hours will be from 1:00-3:00pm and 6:00-8:00pm tomorrow at Busch Funeral Home in Farview Park, Ohio (NEWSNET5.com, 6/5).

CLEVELAND ROCKS: In Cleveland, Terry Pluto wrote the reason the Indians "remain in Cleveland is because Dick Jacobs bought the franchise." Jacobs "always wanted to be the first in line to get the best deal, and he did that with the Indians." As the Indians moved into the newly-constructed Jacobs Field in '94, Cleveland was "beginning one of its most prosperous economic periods," and that made the ballpark "very attractive to corporations to buy suites and luxury seats." After the Browns moved in '95 and the Cavaliers became "mired in mediocrity," the Indians "suddenly emerged as the only real sports show in town." Pluto noted Jacobs "made sure his team had a profit margin" of at least 8%, and he was "willing to pay for stars, but not spend wildly." The bottom line was "part of the man," but that aspect of Jacobs' personality is "why the Indians were revived under him." Pluto added, "It's why I consider him the best owner in the history of Cleveland sports" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 6/6). MLB.com's Castrovince & Hill noted Jacobs in '98 "made history by turning the Indians into the first publicly traded team" in MLB, as stock in the Indians opened on NASDAQ at $15 a share (MLB.com, 6/5). In Cleveland, Bill Livingston wrote, "Every brick of what is now called Progressive Field was his, every part of the rebuilding process of the Indians bore his imprint. The glory years of the 1990s came from the new foundation he and his brother David laid on the rubble of a franchise that had almost become irrelevant" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 6/6).

Writer Says Indians Remained In Cleveland Because Jacobs Bought Franchise

LEAVING HIS LEGACY: In Akron, Sheldon Ocker noted Jacobs "bought low and sold high," passing the team off to Larry Dolan in '01 for $323M. Jacobs also was "able to coax the city into erecting a ballpark that ensured the club's continued presence in Cleveland." Former Indians GM John Hart, when asked why Jacobs assumed financial losses the first several years he owned the team, said, "Dick talked a lot about loving the community. He's a Northeast Ohio guy." Hart added, "He was tough, but he was a great guy. He grasped things (quickly), and he realized risk but understood." Ocker noted Jacobs in the early '90s allowed Hart to sign "young players to multi-year contracts, thus bypassing years of arbitration hearings." Hart: "This had never been done and there was a lot of risk. But it was so typical of Dick. He would hear you out, ask pointed questions and here we go. He just made things happen" (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 6/6). Ocker added Jacobs was "smart, rich, had a knack for hiring competent people and was not weighed down with a demanding ego that drove him to micromanage the team and seek every ounce of credit." Jacobs also "knew what he didn't know," which in this case was baseball (AKRON BEACON JOURNAL, 6/7). Former Indians manager MIKE HARGROVE in a statement said Jacobs "always had the last call, but let John Hart, (former assistant GM) DAN O'DOWD and myself do our jobs, which I will always be grateful for" (MLB.com, 6/5).

BEYOND BASEBALL: PLAIN DEALER architecture critic Steven Litt wrote while Jacobs "certainly deserves credit for keeping the team in town and helping it reach" two World Series, he "also should be remembered as something rare in Cleveland: a patron of architecture." Jacobs in '91 constructed Key Tower, the tallest building in Ohio, that has a "graceful spire with a gleaming metal cap that recalls the Art Deco spires of New York" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 6/6). Former Cleveland Economic Development Dir Andis Udris said that Key Tower "helped symbolically preserve the city's status as a major city" (CRAINSCLEVELAND.com, 6/5). A PLAIN DEALER editorial stated as Cleveland "strives to reinvent itself, the vision and drive of Dick Jacobs will be missed" (Cleveland PLAIN DEALER, 6/6).