Most Iconic Owners in Baseball History

In the history of MLB, who were the most iconic or recognizable baseball owners?

From Harry Frazee—the once owner of the Boston Red Sox—and his head-scratching decision to sell Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in order to finance his theatrical productions, to George Steinbrenner, the longtime owner of the New York Yankees who financially contributed whatever it took to win a championship, there are a myriad of baseball owners who have left their stamps on history.

Whether the owner brought shame to the franchise or gave reason to rejoice, all baseball owners are iconic due to the lasting impressions they left us with, regardless if they were good or bad.

Here's a look at the most iconic owners in the history of MLB.

No. 20: Mike Ilitch, Detroit Tigers

While Mike Ilitch isn't necessarily one of the most iconic owners in baseball history, he'll soon be recognized as one if he continues his recent track record of pumping large sums of money into the Detroit Tigers organization.

Ilitch isn't afraid to spend money to win, and that is the true mark of a great baseball owner.

He doesn't shy away from spending money in free agency or trading away prospects in order to receive star players like Miguel Cabrera.

Heck, he wasn't even afraid to spend the money to move the Tigers out of historic Tiger Stadium. While it was certainly a controversial move, Comerica Park is truly one of the more scenic parks in all of baseball.

No. 19: Bill DeWitt Jr., St. Louis Cardinals

Bill DeWitt Jr., the current owner of the St. Louis Cardinals, was at the head of the franchise during the team's two world championships in 2006 and 2011.

He also moved the team from their old home, Busch Memorial Stadium, to the new and improved Busch Stadium in 2006.

However, DeWitt will have his hands full this offseason in his attempt to re-sign Albert Pujols.

Will he be remembered for winning the World Series in 2011 and retaining Pujols or as the owner who let the best player of this era walk away?

That story alone will get DeWitt in the news on a consistent basis and make him one of the more recognizable owners in baseball.

No. 18: George Argyros, Seattle Mariners

George Argyros, who was once the U.S. Ambassador to Spain and the owner of the Seattle Mariners from 1981-1989, was one of the more unpopular owners during his time.

He constantly threatened to move the Mariners out of Seattle and even tried to convince scouts not to draft Ken Griffey Jr. What a travesty that would've been.

Argyros should've stuck with real estate, which is what made him a fortune in the first place.

No. 17: Brad Corbett, Texas Rangers

Brad Corbett, the owner of the Texas Rangers from 1974-1980, never led his team to the playoffs in his six-year tenure.

Spending money wasn't a problem, but that was pretty much everything Corbett had going for him since he had no clue how to build a winning ballclub.

Not only could he not mentally handle owning a baseball franchise, he couldn't handle the pressure emotionally either.

As Corbett sulked, "I'm selling this team because it's killing me. They're dogs on the field and they're dogs off the field."

No. 16: Tom Werner, San Diego Padres

Tom Werner, the owner of the San Diego Padres from 1990-1994, was a man who cared more about his television shows than his baseball club.

He will best be remembered for hiring Roseanne Barr to sing the national anthem at a game in an attempt to promote his own show and the fire sale he conducted in 1993, when he traded away star players like Gary Sheffield and Fred McGriff.

No. 15: Gerry Nugent, Philadelphia Phillies

Gerry Nugent's road to becoming the owner of the Philadelphia Phillies was an unorthodox one.

He happened to be married to the team's longtime secretary, which was apparently enough to become the owner of a professional franchise.

However, Nugent did not have the necessary funds to finance a baseball team, which resulted in only one winning season and six-100 loss seasons in his 11-year tenure as the team's owner.

When Nugent needed to borrow money in order to send his team to spring training in 1942, he was asked to sell the team and call it quits.

No. 14: Bill Veeck, Chicago White Sox

Bill Veeck sure loved his baseball, and that was evident due to his ownership of three different franchises: the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns and Chicago White Sox.

He will probably be best remembered for his determination to win, and that was demonstrated by his signing of Larry Doby, the first African-American player in the American League.

And if it wasn't for Veeck, Harry Caray, the longtime voice of the Chicago Cubs, would've never sang his famous version of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch.

No. 13: Bob Short, Texas Rangers

Bob Short, the owner of the Texas Rangers from 1968-1974, was best known for drafting David Clyde, a highly touted high school pitching prospect, and his attempt to rush him to the big leagues in order to sell more tickets.

Short's plan backfired on him, as Clyde blew his arm out within two years of his call-up.

After Short sold the team in 1974, things didn't get better for the Rangers anytime soon since Brad Corbett became the new owner.

No. 12: John Henry, Boston Red Sox

John W. Henry is currently the principal owner of the Boston Red Sox and Liverpool F.C. and was eventually the first owner to bring the Red Sox a world championship since "The Curse of the Bambino."

However, any man who kept the wrecking ball from taking down Fenway Park deserves a spot on this list.

The previous owners of the Red Sox had plans to tear down the historic stadium and construct a new one nearby.

Once Henry stepped in, he decided to renovate the park rather than demolish it, and that's when the seats that sit atop the Green Monster emerged.

No. 11: David Glass, Kansas City Royals

Try to remember the last time the Kansas City Royals had any relevancy in the baseball world.

You struggling?

That may be because they haven't made the playoffs since 1985, and that is due in large part to David Glass, the current owner of the Royals.

Since Glass' involvement with the club in 1993, the Royals have had two seasons with at least 80 wins, only one of which came during his 11-year tenure as the team's sole owner.

He was once the president and chief executive officer of Wal-Mart and has been widely scrutinized for allegedly using the the same cost-cutting management style of Wal-Mart with the Royals.

This resulted in higher profits for himself, but it has also prevented the Royals from fielding a successful team.

Even when he does spend the money, some of the contracts leave the fanbase pulling their hair out.

This was demonstrated when Glass permitted the $55 million contract offer to the less than promising Gil Meche, which only just expired in 2011.

No. 10: Charlie Finley, Oakland Athletics

Charlie Finley, the once owner of the Kansas City Royals and Oakland Athletics, was one of the most colorful owners baseball has ever had.

He was full of gimmicky ideas, like changing the baseball to an orange color or having a mechanical rabbit appear behind home plate to deliver new baseballs to the umpire, which I bet he imagined as orange balls.

He even wanted to switch to a three-ball walk and a two-strike strikeout, which was tried during spring training in hopes that it would bring more action to the sport.

Finley likely never had a dull moment as a baseball owner.

No. 9: Arte Moreno, L.A. Angels of Anaheim

Arte Moreno is arguably the best owner that baseball has at the moment.

Ever since he bought the Angels in 2003, he has taken an approach to baseball ownership that not many have done before.

He immediately demonstrated to the fanbase his willingness to become major players in the free-agent market and spend the money necessary to improve the team, as evidenced by the Vladimir Guerrero signing in 2003.

One of his first courses of action was slashing the prices of tickets and beer at the stadium when other baseball owners are generally trying to do the complete opposite.

His personableness is unprecedented due to the time he spends out of his luxury box and down in the seats interacting with the fans.

In 2005, he used his experience in advertising and changed the name of the Angels to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in an attempt to increase the team's revenue by marketing to an overall larger audience.

The Angels are truly lucky to have Moreno as the team's owner.

No. 8: Peter Angelos, Baltimore Orioles

Peter Angelos is one of the more iconic baseball owners out there, and it isn't due to anything beneficial he has done for the Baltimore Orioles.

Ask any Orioles fan and they'll have no problem telling you all about Angelos' inadequacy as an owner of a professional baseball team.

He took a once proud franchise and turned it into one of the laughingstocks of MLB for the past decade and a half.

From the bad signings and trades to the puzzling hiring and firings of his managers, Angelos has done nothing to revive the Orioles to greatness during his tenure as owner.

Because of this, he'll surely go down as one of the worst baseball owners of all time.

No. 7: Ted Turner, Atlanta Braves

Ted Turner, an American media mogul, has done more than enough to become one of the more iconic owners in baseball.

He is the founder of the cable news network CNN, the founder of WTBS and the owner of the Atlanta Braves—and the list doesn't even come close to stopping there.

One of his more interesting ownership decisions came when he shipped out manager Dave Bristol on an alleged "scouting trip" just so he could manage the team for a day.

The Braves lost that game, so his experiment was chalked up as a one-time ordeal.

No. 6: Marge Schott, Cincinnati Reds

Marge Schott was the first woman in North America to buy a major-league team rather than inherit it.

She bought the Cincinnati Reds in 1984 and remained the owner of the club until 1999.

She was best known for her foot-in-mouth moments when referring to African-Americans, Jews, Japanese and homosexuals, and she wasn't shy about voicing those opinions either.

The last straw was when she publicly supported the domestic policies of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party, which resulted in a ban from MLB from 1996-1998.

A year later, she sold the majority of her share in the team, which ended her tenure as the owner of the Reds.

No. 5: Frank McCourt, Los Angeles Dodgers

The baseball owner who has received the most publicity as of late—and it's not really disputable— is the previous owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Frank McCourt.

After a rough divorce with his wife, Jamie McCourt, and losing the right to the day-to-day operations with the Dodgers due to the loan he took out from FOX to pay for April and May's payroll, McCourt always found a way to nudge himself into the news.

McCourt desperately tried to retain full ownership of the Dodgers, but it was to no avail since the organization filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection shortly thereafter.

This eventually forced McCourt to put the team up for sale and officially ended the scandal that surrounded the Dodgers organization for over two years.

No. 4: Charles Comiskey, Chicago White Sox

Charles Comiskey, once the owner of the Chicago White Sox, had his legacy tarnished due to his involvement with the Black Sox scandal to throw the 1919 World Series.

While he was the owner of the team, he lost popularity with his own players, which directly resulted in eight of his players intentionally throwing the World Series. 

Comiskey was known as a stingy owner who allegedly made his players clean their own uniforms.

When Comiskey promised a $10,000 bonus to Eddie Cicotte if he won 30 games that year, he had Cicotte benched late in the year preventing him for reaching the goal. 

He also promised the team a bonus if they won the 1919 pennant, which turned out to be a case of flat champagne.

No wonder the team decided to throw the World Series...

No. 3: Nolan Ryan, Texas Rangers

While Texas Rangers owner Nolan Ryan is mostly iconic due to his status as being one of the best pitchers to ever toe the rubber, his rap sheet as an owner isn't too shabby either.

After Ryan was hired as the team's president in 2008, the Rangers made it to the World Series in consecutive years, 2010 and 2011.

After Chuck Greenberg, the co-purchaser of the team along with Ryan, sold his stake in 2011, Ryan became the sole owner of the franchise and easily one of the most iconic owners in baseball.

No. 2: Harry Frazee, Boston Red Sox

It was tough to put Harry Frazee in the second slot of his article, especially considering what he did, which resulted in the alleged curse that lasted for eight-and-a-half decades.

Frazee was an avid fan of theatrical productions but also was the owner of the Boston Red Sox during the 1919 season.

Frazee clearly showed where his priorities were when he sold Babe Ruth, undoubtedly the best player of the generation and arguably the best ever, to their despised rivals, the New York Yankees.

You may be asking yourself why anyone would simply sell one of the best players ever, and the answer to that is hard to fathom.

Frazee needed money to finance his Broadway musical No, No, Nanette, so he sold "The Bambino" for roughly $500,000.

That's more than enough to make Frazee a recognizable figure.

No. 1: George Steinbrenner, New York Yankees

George Steinbrenner, the owner of the Yankees for 37 years, is the most iconic owner in baseball history.

When one thinks of the New York Yankees, arguably the most recognizable team in all of baseball, Steinbrenner is one of the first things to come to mind.

"The Boss" was a nickname given to Steinbrenner due to his knack for meddling in the daily on-field decisions that weren't necessarily listed in his job description as a baseball owner. 

However, what made Steinbrenner so recognizable was that he was the figurehead of the "Evil Empire" and the main contributor to the consistent $200 million payroll the Yankees paid year after year.

He believed in a militaristic approach when it came to his employees' grooming and restricted any coach or player from having any facial hair or outrageous hairstyles.

He practically embodied the mentality of Donald Trump when it came to firing his managers and employees.

Since Steinbrenner was in the news more so than any other baseball owner in the history of the game, it should be no surprise to see him atop this list.