William R. Daley (September 26, 1892 – October 21, 1971) was a businessman and owner of two franchises in

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), ...

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 ...

. He was born in

Ashtabula, Ohio Ashtabula ( ) is a city in Ashtabula County, Ohio, Ashtabula County, Ohio, United States, and the center of the United States micropolitan area, Ashtabula micropolitan area. It is located at the mouth of the Ashtabula River on Lake Erie, nort ...

in 1892. Daley was the principal owner of the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) Central division. Since , they have played at Progressive F ...

from through . In 1956, Daley purchased Myron H. Wilson's share of the franchise to become principal owner. He headed a syndicate that included general manager

Hank Greenberg Henry Benjamin Greenberg (born Hyman Greenberg; January 1, 1911 – September 4, 1986), nicknamed "Hammerin' Hank", "Hankus Pankus", or "The Hebrew Hammer", was an American professional baseball player and team executive. He played in Major Leagu ...

, who had been operating head of the franchise for most of the 1950s. However, Greenberg was pushed out as general manager in 1957, and sold his stake in the team a year later after an unsuccessful attempt to wrest control from Daley. Amid sluggish attendance in , Daley hinted in August that he was considering moving the team. However, after a "Back the Indians Night" drew 50,000 fans to Municipal Stadium despite dreadful weather, as well as a season ticket drive, Daley announced the Indians would stay in Cleveland indefinitely. A number of sources say that in 1962, Daley sold the Indians to a group headed by

Gabe Paul Gabriel Howard Paul (January 4, 1910 – April 26, 1998) was an American executive in Major League Baseball who, between 1951 and 1984, served as general manager of the Cincinnati Reds, Houston Colt .45s, Cleveland Indians and New York Yanke ...

, who had arrived as general manager only a year earlier. However, when Paul bought into the team, Daley remained chairman, and brought in a number of new investors who looked to him as head of the franchise. While Paul was the largest single shareholder, with a 20 percent stake, Daley and his bloc retained 70 percent of the team. In 1966, he sold the Indians to one member of that bloc,

Vernon Stouffer Vernon Bigelow Stouffer (August 22, 1901 – July 26, 1974) was an American entrepreneur, philanthropist & businessman. Stouffer graduated from The Wharton School in 1923. He was the founder and president of the Stouffer Hotels Co., Stouffer Fr ...

. In , Daley resurfaced when

Dewey Soriano Dewey Soriano (February 8, 1920 – April 6, 1998) was the part-owner of the Seattle Pilots baseball team of the American League in 1969, the franchise's only year in Seattle. Born in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, Soriano moved to Seattle with ...

asked him to help pay the expansion fee to start the expansion

Seattle Pilots The Seattle Pilots were an American professional baseball, professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington during the 1969 Major League Baseball season. During their single-season existence, the Pilots played their ho ...

. In return for paying most of the fee, Daley bought a 47 percent stake in the new team, becoming the largest shareholder and chairman of the board. He had considered moving the Indians to Seattle in the early 1960s. However, his return to baseball was short-lived; the Pilots went bankrupt after only one season and moved to

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

as the Brewers. Daley died at Cleveland in 1971 after a long illness."Milwaukee Baseball Owner, Daley, Dies", ''Manitowoc Herald-Times'', Saturday, October 23, 1971, Manitowoc, Wisconsin, United States Of America

References

Cleveland Indians owners
Baseball executives Cleveland Indians owners Cleveland Indians executives 1892 births 1971 deaths Sportspeople from Ashtabula, Ohio {{baseball-business-bio-stub