Robert Earl Short was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
sport teams owner and politician.
Biography
A native of
Minneapolis, MinnesotaMinneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...
, Short bought the Minneapolis Lakers of the
National Basketball AssociationThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
in the late 1950s and moved the team to
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in 1960. He later sold the team in 1965 to Canadian magnate
Jack Kent CookeJack Kent Cooke was a Canadian entrepreneur and former owner of the Washington Redskins , the Los Angeles Lakers , and the Los Angeles Kings , and built The Forum in Inglewood, California and FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland.-Early career:Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Cooke moved with his family to...
.
Outbidding comedian
Bob HopeBob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
, Short then bought the
Washington SenatorsThe Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
franchise in the autumn of 1968. The Senators had just finished in the
American LeagueThe American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
basement and were last in the majors in attendance. Short immediately installed himself as the team's
general managerIn Major League Baseball, the general manager of a team typically controls player transactions and bears the primary responsibility on behalf of the ballclub during contract discussions with players....
and hired Hall of Famer
Ted WilliamsTheodore Samuel "Ted" Williams was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played his entire 21-year Major League Baseball career as the left fielder for the Boston Red Sox...
— the major leagues' last .400 hitter — as its
field managerIn baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized...
for
1969-Expansion:Four expansion teams joined Major League Baseball for this season: the San Diego Padres, the Kansas City Royals, the Seattle Pilots, and the first MLB team in Canada, the Montreal Expos. To accommodate the additional teams, the two leagues were split into two divisions of East and West...
.
Miraculously, the '69 Senators improved by 21 games and posted 86 victories en route to the only winning season the expansion-era version of the club would experience in its 11-year lifespan. Williams coaxed career-best
batting averageBatting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...
s out of a number of Washington hitters. With a winning team, Williams as a drawing card, and the
1969 Major League Baseball All-Star GameThe 1969 Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the 40th midseason exhibition between the all-stars of the American League and the National League , the two leagues comprising Major League Baseball. The game was played on July 23, 1969 at RFK Memorial Stadium in Washington, DC. The game resulted...
at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium, the Senators almost doubled their 1968 attendance, to over 918,000 paid spectators.
But it was a one-year wonder. The
1970-Major Leagues:*World Series MVP: Brooks Robinson*All-Star Game, July 14 at Riverfront Stadium: National League, 5-4 ; Carl Yastrzemski, MVP-Other champions:*Caribbean World Series: Navegantes del Magallanes *College World Series: USC...
edition won only 70 games and fell into the basement of the American League East Division. Players began to complain about Williams's approach to managing — and batting. At season's end, Short dealt his best starting
pitcherIn baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the...
and the left side of his
infieldAn infielder is a baseball player stationed at one of four defensive "infield" positions on the baseball field.-Standard arrangement of positions:In a game of baseball, two teams of nine players take turns playing offensive and defensive roles...
to the
Detroit TigersThe Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
for erstwhile 30-game-winner
Denny McLainDennis Dale "Denny" McLain is a former American professional baseball player, and the last major league pitcher to win 30 or more games during a season —a feat accomplished by only thirteen players in the 20th century....
, who had spent most of the 1970 campaign suspended because of gambling allegations. The deal--alleged by onetime Senators broadcaster Shelby Whitfield to have been made in order to secure the Tigers' vote in favor of the Senators' eventual move to Texas--turned Detroit back into contenders, while McLain was a monumental bust, losing a league-worst 22 games.
The Senators' attendance sunk back to near-1968 levels and Short successfully petitioned the AL to move the franchise to
Arlington, TexasArlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex...
, where it became the
Texas RangersThe Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...
in
1972-Labor strife and more moving:1972 was tainted by a players' strike over pension and salary arbitration. The strike erased the first week and a half of the season, and the Leagues decided to just excise the lost portion of the season with no makeups. As a result, an uneven number of games were...
.
The Senators' move to Texas would make Short one of the most reviled figures in Washington sports. During the final Senators game at RFK Stadium on September 30, 1971, the fans let their feelings known about Short, unfurling two giant vertical banners that read "Short Stinks". Fans would later storm the field near the end of the game, resulting in a Senators forfeit. During the
Washington NationalsThe Washington Nationals are a professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C. The Nationals are a member of the Eastern Division of the National League of Major League Baseball . The team moved into the newly built Nationals Park in 2008, after playing their first three seasons in RFK Stadium...
' final game at RFK Stadium on September 23, 2007, a similar scene unfolded. Nationals' fans unrolled a series of three banners vertically spelling out "Short Still Stinks", in nearly the same place in the stadium that the two banners hung 36 years earlier. Luckily the game otherwise finished without major incident and unlike the infamous 1971 game, did not need to be forfeited.
In Texas, Short is infamously remembered for drafting high school phenom
David ClydeDavid Eugene Clyde is a former left-handed Major League Baseball pitcher who played all or part of five seasons for the Texas Rangers and Cleveland Indians...
and rushing him into the majors to sell tickets, blowing out Clyde's arm within two years. The Rangers remained a cellar-dwelling unit and did not begin to win consistently until he sold them to a new local ownership group headed by
Brad CorbettBradford G. Corbett was the owner of the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball's American League from 1974 to 1980. He is currently part owner of S&B Technical Products, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. Originally from Long Island, New York, Corbett had made a fortune in the oil business by...
in
1974-Major League Baseball:*1974 World Series: Oakland Athletics over Los Angeles Dodgers ; Rollie Fingers, MVP*All-Star Game, July 23 at Three Rivers Stadium: National League, 7-2; Steve Garvey, MVP-Other champions:...
.
Short then returned to Minnesota, where he had run unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 1966. He was the Democratic candidate for one of two
United States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
seats up in 1978. In the Democratic primary, he narrowly upset Congressman
Donald M. FraserDonald MacKay Fraser is an American politician from Minneapolis, Minnesota.-Early life:Donald Fraser played a critical role in making human rights an important part of U.S. policy. Fraser was born on 20 February 1924 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Everett and Lois Fraser. His parents were émigrés...
, but soundly lost the general election with 35% of the vote against Republican
David DurenbergerDavid Ferdinand Durenberger is an American politician and a former Republican member of the U.S. Senate from Minnesota.- Early life :...
. During the campaign, his anti-abortion position led to strife within the traditionally strong state party. He was a longtime member of the
Democratic National CommitteeThe Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
.
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