Most destructive team owners

[Jake from State Farm]

What about Ford, who kept a horrible GM like Russ Thomas, not because of his NFL acumen but because he helped Ford get through his drinking problem

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

Every damn Pirates owner since the 1970s.

When the Galbreath family owned the team they won the World Series in 1960, 1971 and 1979 and had one of the most explosive teams of the decade with the Lumber Company. When they sold the team in the 1985s to a conglomerate of locals, they won three straight national league east pennants. Since Nutting has owned the team they've had two playoff appearances and a handful of 100 loss seasons.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Speaking of destructive, how about Harry Frazee?

The man literally sold one of the greatest players of all time and the franchise didn't win another World Series for 80+ years.

 

[2muchcoffeeman]

Beverley didn't destroy anything. Darrell Waltrip did that quite well.

Darrell was doing fine until Speedblock suddenly decided it wanted all of the benefits of NASCAR sponsorship without niggling details like making payments for that sponsorship.

 

[BYH 2: Electric Boogaloo]

On the broader point - there are owners who meddle who are terrible, there are those who seem disinterested - and the third category is owners who meddle just enough to make sure the front office never is quite sure if they should pull the trigger on something and the franchise languishes.

This is Woody Johnson w/the Jets. Stumbled his way into the family fortune, fancies himself an expert, is a complete idiot. Doesn't interfere like classic Steinbrenner, but just enough to ruin everything.

 

[DanOregon]

Speaking of destructive, how about Harry Frazee?

The man literally sold one of the greatest players of all time and the franchise didn't win another World Series for 80+ years.

But's it not like No, No Nanette wasn't a decent Broadway show. It wasn't Hamilton - but wasn't a flash in the pan.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

But's it not like No, No Nanette wasn't a decent Broadway show. It wasn't Hamilton - but wasn't a flash in the pan.

How many home runs did Nanette hit?

 

[BTExpress]

If she did hit any, it couldn't have been until six years after the trade, because that's when the musical opened.

Did Harry Frazee Really Sell Babe Ruth to Finance a Musical That Then Flopped?

 

[Tarheel316]

In baseball it's John Fisher. No one else comes close.

 

[outofplace]

When the Galbreath family owned the team they won the World Series in 1960, 1971 and 1979 and had one of the most explosive teams of the decade with the Lumber Company. When they sold the team in the 1985s to a conglomerate of locals, they won three straight national league east pennants. Since Nutting has owned the team they've had two playoff appearances and a handful of 100 loss seasons.

It is important to put those numbers in context. The Galbreath family owned the team for over 40 years, but they did win championships and had strong teams throughout the '70s.

Nutting's ownership is murky, which I believe is intentional. I believe he was part of the group that bought the team in 1996, though I could be wrong about that. Though Kevin McClatchy was listed as the owner from 1996-2007, Nutting took over as chairman of the team in 2002. At the very least, he has been in charge since then, though the team lists the beginning of his tenure as 2007. I believe that is to take some heat off him, to create the illusion that it hasn't been quite as long that he has been squeezing the life out of that franchise to pad his profit margin.

McClatchy was terrible, but not all of it was his fault. He actually made public statements about the need to cut payroll, which made it easier for other teams to fleece the Pirates in trades. The thing is, I believe Nutting was telling him to do it. The low point of that era was the trade that sent Kenny Lofton and Aramis Ramirez to the Cubs for scrubs. If I remember correctly, Cubs GM Jim Hendry openly mocked the Pirates for that one. Lofton was still a quality leadoff man, but that wasn't the real killer. Ramirez was just entering his prime. He was a middle-of-the-order thumper in the heart of the Cubs' order for the next five years.

 

[Cosmo]

One of Angelos' kids came out the other day and said the Orioles overachieved last year and that was his reasoning for not actually putting money back into the team in the offseason. They weren't ready to invest. That whole family can go sit on a pike.

 

[outofplace]

One of Angelos' kids came out the other day and said the Orioles overachieved last year and that was his reasoning for not actually putting money back into the team in the offseason. They weren't ready to invest. That whole family can go sit on a pike.

Owners like that always have an excuse. That they remained in contention a while even after being sellers rather than buyers should have proven it was time to add some help, even if it was just mid-level pitching help, but they are going to waste a year of Rutschman, Henderson, and company.