31 Facts About Frank Navin

Francis Joseph Navin was the president of the Detroit Tigers in Major League Baseball for 27 years, from 1908 to 1935.

Frank Navin was part-owner from 1908 to 1919, and principal owner from 1919 to 1935.

Frank Navin served as vice president and, in 1927, as acting president of the American League.

Frank Navin attended the Detroit College of Law and worked as both a lawyer and accountant.

In 1902, Navin was a bookkeeper at the insurance offices of Samuel F Angus when Angus led a syndicate that purchased the Detroit Tigers.

Frank Navin had an eye for talent, and he built a team that won three straight pennants from 1907 to 1909.

Frank Navin's signing of Ty Cobb and Hughie Jennings was instrumental in the development of the Tigers championship teams.

Frank Navin quickly cut a deal with the richest man in Michigan, lumber baron William Clyman Yawkey.

However, Yawkey died before the deal closed, and Frank Navin persuaded his son, Bill Yawkey, to complete the deal.

Frank Navin then became team president in name as well as in fact.

In 1919, after Yawkey's death, Frank Navin bought 15 shares from the Yawkey estate to become half-owner of the Tigers.

However, without Yawkey's fortune to fall back on, Frank Navin had to take on additional investors to keep afloat.

Frank Navin figured out what Fothergill was up to and turned the heat way up in his office.

Frank Navin then sat back and engaged Fothergill in a long, drawn-out conversation about his family, hunting, and anything but the contract.

In 1925, the Tigers were offered an opportunity to purchase a young Paul Waner from the San Francisco Seals, but Frank Navin was not willing to pay the $40,000 asking price.

In 1911, Frank Navin tore down the Tigers' longtime home, Bennett Park, and built a new concrete-and-steel facility on the same site with a seating capacity of 23,000.

The new park, named "Frank Navin Field", opened on April 20,1912.

In 1924, as Detroit grew, Frank Navin built a second deck on his stadium, increasing the seating capacity to 30,000.

In May 1912, Frank Navin found himself embroiled in the first player strike in American League history.

In 1920 Frank Navin played a key role in the dissolution of the National Baseball Commission and the creation of the office of Commissioner of Baseball and the appointment of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis as the first commissioner.

However, Frank Navin was in no mood for another war and persuaded the other five clubs to agree to appoint a new National Commission of non-baseball men.

Frank Navin developed a close relationship with Landis, and Landis reportedly called Frank Navin as many as 20 times a day for advice.

Johnson returned in time for the start of the 1927 season, but was forced out entirely after the season, and Frank Navin served as acting president until Ernest Barnard was elected as permanent successor.

In 1931, Frank Navin was nearly ruined by the Great Depression and by his losses betting on horse racing.

Frank Navin had a lifelong love of gambling on horse races, a quirk that was overlooked by his friend, Judge Landis.

Frank Navin worked for a time as a croupier at a turn of the century gambling house in Detroit.

Frank Navin was thus forced to rely more and more on Briggs' money to keep the Tigers competitive.

Frank Navin contemplated selling the franchise and even entertained an offer from Ty Cobb.

However, Ruth was unwilling to postpone a planned trip to Hawaii, and in any event his asking price was well beyond what Frank Navin was willing to pay.

Frank Navin immediately installed Cochrane as player-manager, and Cochrane proved to be the sparkplug that helped the Tigers win two consecutive pennants in 1934 and 1935.

Frank Navin was buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield, Michigan where the family mausoleum was decorated by Corrado Parducci and is guarded by two tigers by American animalier Frederick Roth.