James Rogers Badgett Sr. (July 27, 1917 – June 6, 2005), sometimes spelled as ''Rodgers'' Badgett, was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

philanthropist and businessman involved in the

construction Construction is a general term meaning the art and science to form objects, systems, or organizations,"Construction" def. 1.a. 1.b. and 1.c. ''Oxford English Dictionary'' Second Edition on CD-ROM (v. 4.0) Oxford University Press 2009 and com ...

coal mining Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

oil and gas A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ...

exploration,

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

aviation Aviation includes the activities surrounding mechanical flight and the aircraft industry. ''Aircraft'' includes fixed-wing and rotary-wing types, morphable wings, wing-less lifting bodies, as well as lighter-than-air craft such as hot air ...

, and automotive sales industries, and a key minority partner in the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

from 1978 through 1985.Loving Honors.com, Obituary of J. Rogers Badgett Sr.
/ref> Born in Pettus, Arkansas, he graduated from Memphis'

Messick High School Messick High School was a public high school in Memphis, Tennessee, established in 1908 and operated from 1909 to 1981.Vance Lauderdale. The Messick school mascot is the Golden WildcatElizabeth Messick and Messick High School ''Memphis Flyer'', Oct ...

and attended the

University of Tennessee The University of Tennessee (officially The University of Tennessee, Knoxville; or UT Knoxville; UTK; or UT) is a public land-grant research university in Knoxville, Tennessee. Founded in 1794, two years before Tennessee became the 16th state, ...

. He was a longtime resident of

Madisonville, Kentucky Madisonville is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of Hopkins County, Kentucky, United States, located along Interstate 69 in the state's Western Coal Fields region. The population was 19,591 at the 2010 census. Madisonville is a com ...

. He owned and operated Badgett Construction Company before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and during the war he founded Badgett Mine Stripping Corporation, which mined

bauxite Bauxite is a sedimentary rock with a relatively high aluminium content. It is the world's main source of aluminium and gallium. Bauxite consists mostly of the aluminium minerals gibbsite (Al(OH)3), boehmite (γ-AlO(OH)) and diaspore (α-AlO(O ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

, then moved into the

strip mining Surface mining, including strip mining, open-pit mining and mountaintop removal mining, is a broad category of mining in which soil and rock overlying the mineral deposit (the overburden) are removed, in contrast to underground mining, in which ...

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

Hopkins Hopkins is an English, Welsh and Irish patronymic surname. The English name means "son of Hob". ''Hob'' was a diminutive of ''Robert'', itself deriving from the Germanic warrior name ''Hrod-berht'', translated as "renowned-fame". The Robert spell ...

and

Muhlenberg Muhlenberg may refer to: People * Muhlenberg (surname) * The Muhlenberg family, American political, religious, and military dynasty Places * Muhlenberg County, Kentucky * Muhlenberg College, in Allentown, Pennsylvania * Muhlenberg School Distr ...

counties. After the war, his construction and dredging company was involved in major projects throughout

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

, such as the

St. Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway (french: la Voie Maritime du Saint-Laurent) is a system of locks, canals, and channels in Canada and the United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North Americ ...

, and globally, in

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

and the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

.Muhlenberg County, Ky., Death Notices, Genealogy Buff.com
/ref>

Backed 1977 Red Sox ownership bid

In 1977, Badgett teamed with former Red Sox

athletic trainer Athletic training is an allied health care profession recognized by the American Medical Association (AMA)"What is an Athletic Trainer?". The Board of Certification Website. 2003. Athletic training is also recognized by the Health Resources Serv ...

Buddy LeRoux Edward Guy "Buddy" LeRoux Jr. (August 17, 1930 – January 7, 2008) was an American businessman, best known for his time as a general partner of the Boston Red Sox from May 1978 through March 1987. Early life A native of Woburn, Massachusett ...

—and, eventually, club vice president

Haywood Sullivan Haywood Cooper Sullivan (December 15, 1930 – February 12, 2003) was an American college and professional baseball player who was a catcher, manager, general manager and club owner in Major League Baseball. From May 23, 1978, through Novembe ...

—to create an ownership syndicate seeking to purchase the team from the estate of late owner

Tom Yawkey Thomas Austin Yawkey, born Thomas Yawkey Austin (February 21, 1903 – July 9, 1976), was an American industrialist, philanthropist, conservationist and Major League Baseball executive. Born in Detroit, Yawkey became president of the Boston Red S ...

. The LeRoux–Sullivan bid was successful, although the sale was not approved by the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

until May 23, 1978, when Yawkey's widow,

Jean Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

, joined the group herself.Gammons, Peter, "Red Sox Sold to Group Headed by Jean Yawkey,"

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

, 24 May 1978 LeRoux, Sullivan and Mrs. Yawkey became

general partner General partner is a person who joins with at least one other person to form a business. A general partner has responsibility for the actions of the business, can legally bind the business and is personally liable for all the partnership's debts an ...

s under the terms of the sale, with Badgett remaining a

limited partner A limited partnership (LP) is a form of partnership similar to a general partnership except that while a general partnership must have at least two general partners (GPs), a limited partnership must have at least one GP and at least one limited p ...

. However, he held 12 of the team's 30 limited partner sharesGammons, Peter, "Red Sox Owners Start a Civil War,"

, 7 June 1983 and at one point he and LeRoux combined controlled 42 percent of Red Sox stock."Buddy LeRoux Heads BoSox Coup,"

The Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

, 7 June 1983 The ownership group soon clashed over the Red Sox' operating and fiscal policy, and ruptured publicly on June 6, 1983, when LeRoux (with Badgett's support) attempted to unseat Yawkey and Sullivan and take control of the team, a gambit nicknamed the "Coup LeRoux". After a year-long legal battle, Yawkey and Sullivan prevailed in June 1984. In the autumn of 1985, Yawkey acquired the limited partner shares held by Badgett and the LeRoux faction.

Honors

Badgett received numerous honors and awards recognizing his business career and philanthropy, including "Coal Miner of the Year" from the Western Kentucky Coal Producers' Association, "Man of the Year" from the Lions Club and "Distinguished Eagle Scout" from the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

. He died in Madisonville at age 87.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badgett, Rogers 1917 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American businesspeople in the coal industry American Presbyterians Boston Red Sox owners Businesspeople from Arkansas Businesspeople from Kentucky People from Lonoke County, Arkansas People from Madisonville, Kentucky Businesspeople from Memphis, Tennessee