Harry Frazee
| Harry Frazee | |
|---|---|
Frazee in 1916
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| Born |
Harry Herbert Frazee June 29, 1880 Peoria, Illinois |
| Died | June 4, 1929 (aged 48) New York City, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for |
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Harry Herbert Frazee (June 29, 1880 – June 4, 1929) was an American theatrical agent, producer and director, and owner of the Major League Baseball Boston Red Sox from 1916 to 1923. He is well known for selling Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees, and starting the Curse of the Bambino.
Harry Frazee was born June 29, 1880, in Peoria, Illinois, son of William and Margaret Frazee. He attended Peoria High School, where he was a baseball teammate of Harry Bay, who later played for Major League Baseball teams in Cincinnati and Cleveland. At 16, Frazee became assistant manager of the Peoria Theater. Within a year, he was player-coach of the Peoria Distillers semi-pro baseball club. As his theatrical endeavors continued, Frazee moved to Chicago, where he built the Cort Theater in 1907.
After several successful shows, Frazee went to New York City, where in 1913 he built the Longacre Theatre on West 48th Street and staged hit plays such as Fine Feathers by Eugene Walter and the musical Adele. He also promoted a boxing match between Jess Willard and Jack Johnson on April 5, 1915 in Havana, Cuba and was reported by then to be a millionaire.
Frazee bought the Boston Red Sox baseball team from Joseph Lannin for a reported $500,000 after their victory in the 1916 World Series. The Sox won another World Series title in 1918. The team finished in sixth in 1919, and after the 1919 season Frazee started selling players to the New York Yankees, most notoriously Babe Ruth. Then he left the Red Sox in bankruptcy while continuing to make theatre productions. After the sale of Ruth, the team crashed into the American League cellar and would not finish above .500 until 1934. The Red Sox would not win another pennant until 1946, and would not win another World Series until 2004, the third longest drought in MLB history.
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