League Park (Indians) was renamed Dunn Field as of the1916 season. This card was probably given at the ballpark in honor of that. Strange thing about this card is that it has some kind of metallic coating (definitely period) that it was made with and it's sort of oxidizing, but not too bad. And from our friends at Wiki here is a blurb on the new owner of the Indians in 1916.
Jim Dunn (1865 - June 1922), aka James Christopher Dunn, aka "Sunny Jim" Dunn, was a businessman and
baseball team owner.
1. Biography
Dunn was born in
Marshalltown, Iowa and became wealthy through his partnership in a railroad construction firm. In 1916 he was recruited by
American League president
Ban Johnson to head up a syndicate to buy the
Cleveland Indians baseball team from
Charles Somers for $500,000.
[1] During his tenure the team's ballpark League Park was renamed "Dunn Field" and in 1920 the Indians won their first
World Series. At his death in 1922 at age 57, control of the team passed to his surviving spouse and his estate, thus making Mrs. Dunn one of the first women to own a major league baseball team.
[2] In 1927 ownership of the Indians changed hands when Dunn’s widow, by then known as Mrs. George Pross, sold the franchise for $1 million to a group headed by Alva Bradley.
[3]
05-20-2009, 01:06 PM
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