Tribe Talk: The Perils of Playing In The Worst Division In Baseball

If you don't know what Mr. Jacobs did for the Cleveland Indians, my advice is to go pick up Dealing by Terry Pluto, and do it like, tomorrow. While the book is about the more recent Tribe, Pluto doesn't skip over the Dick Jacobs regime and what he did to bring the Indians back to being a respectable franchise. The man pretty much saved the team from being moved to Florida.

He is basically a savior to the franchise. Not only in that that he oversaw the run the Indians made and allowed it to happen, but also because we have a brand new stadium that is still getting kept up to date that will last us for a long time for which he is responsible. Words cannot do justice to how much Dick Jacobs did for this franchise. It only sucks that we couldn't get him the World Series trophy that he truly deserved.

Samantha Bunten: Cleveland, the Indians organization, and Indians fans were all tremendously fortunate to have Dick Jacobs as the team's owner. He possessed that rare, invaluable combination that makes the best owners: the ability to make decisions about the team based purely on business and the ability to also do the opposite and make decisions that are purely about baseball.

Jacobs cared enough about baseball to invest in a team and a ball park that would bring in fans and wins, but was enough of a business man to never allow sentimental leanings to cloud his judgment as to what was really best for the team, whether people got riled up about it or not.

I am sad that the team wasn't able to bring a world series’ victory to the man who did everything in his power to make that possible. R.I.P. Mr. Jacobs.

Dave Wiley: The Jacobs brothers saved the Indians’ bacon. I'm not sure we'd even have a pro baseball team without them. Did the Jacobs brothers’ save the Indians or did the new field save the Indians? You could declare it a toss-up, but my vote goes to the Jacobs’ brothers.

They went out and got quality players, signed key pieces long term, and made the Indians into a winner. New stadium / Old stadium, when teams win, people come to watch. The Jacobs built a winner and the people came to see it. The Jacobs pulled off such fundraisers as selling stock in the team, keeping it financially viable so they could sign big-names.

Additionally, Jacobs Field was the classiest baseball park name in baseball. Too bad it had to change. It would be nice to see the name return in some fashion, even it if were as ‘Jacobs Field sponsored by Progressive’. Sitting in the stands watching the Indians play the Atlanta Braves at Jacobs field in the World Series will go down as a high point in my spectating life. I have Mr. Jacobs to thank for that.

The Coop: I was very young when Mr. Jacobs bought the team. I can’t say that I have any specific memories of the man. But the imprint that he left on the organization and city will remain in my memory forever.

He bought a team that practically couldn’t be given away. And through persistence and dedication, he eventually built a winner (2 AL Pennants), a new home (The Jake), and a new, loyal fan base. Jacobs Field (and the amazingly entertaining team that played in it) was the first brick in the foundation that has turned Cleveland’s horrible national image as a Rust Belt ghost town into one of America’s most vibrant, up-and-coming cities.

 I guess my fondest memory of Dick Jacobs is the fact that I really have no specific memories of the man. Indeed, Richard Jacobs saved the team, worked to make the Indians relevant once again, and rejuvenated the city – all behind the scenes. Tribe fans didn’t have to put up with an egomaniacal owner but were blessed with a humble, genuine leader whose accomplishments are only now being appreciated the way they should. RIP.

 

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