James Christopher Dunn (September 11, 1866 – June 9, 1922), also known as "Sunny Jim" Dunn, was a businessman and

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding ...

team 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 ...

from

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that had been stored and cooled. * ...

until his death in

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éireann, the day after Éamon de Valera ...

, during which time the team won its first World Series in 1920.

Biography

Dunn was born in

Marshalltown, Iowa Marshalltown is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Iowa, United States, located along the Iowa River. It is the seat and most populous settlement of Marshall County and the 16th largest city in Iowa, with a population of 27,591 at ...

and became wealthy through his partnership in a railroad construction firm. In 1916 he was recruited by

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 ...

president

Ban Johnson Byron Bancroft Johnson (January 5, 1864 – March 28, 1931) was an American executive in professional baseball who served as the founder and first president of the American League (AL). Johnson developed the AL—a descendant of the mino ...

and his secretary, Bob McRoy, to head up a syndicate to buy the

baseball team from

Charles Somers Charles W. Somers (October 13, 1868 – June 29, 1934) was an American executive in the coal industry in Cleveland, Ohio, who also achieved prominence in professional baseball. The financial resources from his business interests allowed Somers to ...

for $500,000. During his tenure the team's ballpark

League Park League Park was a baseball park located in Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It was situated at the northeast corner of Dunham Street (now known as East 66th Street) and Lexington Avenue in the Hough neighborhood. It was built in 1891 as a wood ...

was renamed "Dunn Field" and in 1920 the Indians won their first

World Series The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, contested since 1903 World Series, 1903 between the champion teams of the American League (AL) and the National League (NL). The ...

. At his death at Chicago in 1922 at age 57, control of the team passed to his surviving spouse, Edith Dunn, and his estate, thus making Mrs. Dunn one of the first women to own a major league baseball team. In 1927 ownership of the Indians changed hands when Dunn's widow Edith, by then known as Mrs. George Pross, sold the franchise for $1 million to a group headed by Alva Bradley.Lewis, op cit, pp. 153-156

References

Baseball executives Cleveland Indians executives People from Marshalltown, Iowa 1865 births 1922 deaths American sports businesspeople {{baseball-business-bio-stub