Jacob Ruppert - Career

Career

Ruppert was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1898 as a member of the Democratic Party to the Fifty-sixth United States Congress, defeating incumbent Philip B. Low of the Republican Party in New York's 15th congressional district. He was supported in his election by Richard Croker, the political boss of Tammany Hall. Ruppert won reelection over Alderman Elias Goodman in 1900. Ruppert was renominated for Congress, this time running in New York's 16th congressional district, in 1902. Ruppert was not a candidate for reelection in 1906, and he left office in 1907.

Ruppert served as president of the Jacob Ruppert Brewing Company. He was also president of the Astoria Silk Works and the United States Brewers Association from 1911 through 1914. Ruppert inherited the brewing company from his father, Jacob Ruppert, Sr. (1842–1915). His father had bought J&M Haffen Brewing Company for $700,000 in January 1914 ($16,241,860 in current dollar terms), intending to close the brewery down and develop the property. In 1915, upon his father's death and just before Prohibition, he became the company's president. Ruppert also owned property, including Pass-a-Grill Key in Florida.

Ruppert, interested in baseball since his childhood, began to pursue ownership of a Major League Baseball team. He had attempted to purchase the New York Giants on numerous occasions. In 1912, he was offered an opportunity to purchase the Chicago Cubs, but decided that Chicago was too far away from New York for his tastes. However, Frank J. Farrell and William S. Devery, owners of the New York Yankees, were looking to sell their franchise. Ruppert and Tillinghast L'Hommedieu Huston, a former United States Army engineer and captain, purchased the Yankees from Farrell and Devery in 1915 for $480,000 ($11,027,368 in current dollar terms).

After the 1917 season, Ban Johnson, president of the American League (AL) suggested that Ruppert hire Miller Huggins as team manager. Huston, who had been in Europe at the time that Ruppert had made the appointment, disliked Huggins and wanted to hire Wilbert Robinson, his drinking buddy. However, Ruppert interviewed Huggins upon Johnson's recommendation, and agreed that Huggins knew much about baseball. Ruppert offered the job to Huggins, who accepted the offer, and he signed a two-year contract. The hiring of Huggins drove a wedge between the two co-owners that culminated in Huston selling his shares of the team to Ruppert in 1922.

Ruppert and Huston purchased pitcher Carl Mays from the Boston Red Sox in 1918, in direct opposition of an order issued by Johnson. The matter was taken to court, where Ruppert and Huston prevailed over Johnson. The case led to the dissolution of the National Commission, which governed baseball, and led to the creation of the Commissioner of Baseball.

The Yankees purchased Babe Ruth from the Red Sox in 1919, which made the Yankees a profitable franchise. The Yankees began to outdraw the Giants, with whom they shared the Polo Grounds. As a result, Charles Stoneham, owner of the Giants and the Polo Grounds, raised the rent for Ruppert and Huston for the 1922 season. The Yankee owners responded by purchasing land in The Bronx from the estate of William Waldorf Astor for $675,000 ($9,372,167 in current dollar terms), breaking ground on a new stadium in May 1922. Yankee Stadium opened on April 18, 1923, the first ballpark with three tiers of seating for fans, and the first referred to as a "stadium". Ruppert and Huston financed the project with $2.5 million of their own money ($34,711,730 in current dollar terms).

In 1923, Ruppert bought out Huston for $1.5 million ($20,460,938 in current dollar terms), and he became the sole owner.

Ruppert's 24 years as a Yankee owner saw him build the team from near-moribund to a baseball powerhouse. His own strength as a baseball executive — including his willingness to wheel and deal — was aided by the business skills of general manager Ed Barrow and the forceful field managing of Miller Huggins and Joe McCarthy. By the time of his death, the team was well on its way to becoming the most successful in the history of Major League Baseball, and eventually in North American professional sports.

The Yankees dominated baseball throughout a good portion of the 1920s and 1930s, including the Murderers' Row team of 1927.

Ruppert organized opposition to AL president Ban Johnson among other AL owners. Ruppert and Ruth had public disagreements about Ruth's contracts. Nevertheless, they were personal friends. According to Ruth, Ruppert called him Babe only once, and that was the night before he died. Ruth was one of the last persons to see Ruppert alive.

Ruppert suffered from phlebitis in April 1938 and died on January 13, 1939. He was interred in Kensico Cemetery, Valhalla, New York.