Francis Joseph Navin (April 18, 1871 – November 13, 1935) was the president of the Detroit Tigers in Major League Baseball for 27 years, from 1908 to 1935. He was part-owner from 1908 to 1919, and principal owner from 1919 to 1935. He also served as vice president and, in 1927, as acting president of the American League.
Early years (1902–1910)
Born in Adrian, Michigan, Navin was one of nine children of Irish immigrants. He attended the Detroit College of Law and worked as both a lawyer and accountant.
In 1902, Navin was a bookkeeper at the insurance offices of Samuel F. Angus when Angus led a syndicate that purchased the Detroit Tigers. Angus brought the 31-year-old Navin with him as the team's bookkeeper. He also served as "secretary, treasurer, business manager, farm director, chief ticket seller, advertising manager, and any other position that demanded immediate attention." In 1903, Navin bought $5000 in stock in the team, reportedly with money won in a card game.
Navin had an eye for talent, and he built a team that won three straight pennants from 1907 to 1909. His signing of Ty Cobb and Hughie Jennings was instrumental in the development of the Tigers championship teams. But Angus soon tired of the Tigers' massive monetary losses, and told Navin to find a buyer. Navin quickly cut a deal with the richest man in Michigan, lumber baron William Clyman Yawkey. However, Yawkey died before the deal closed, and Navin persuaded his son, Bill Yawkey, to complete the deal.
Yawkey mostly stayed in the background, largely leaving the Tigers in Navin's hands. In January 1908, Yawkey sold Navin almost half the club's stock, making him for all intents and purposes a full partner. Navin then became team president in name as well as in fact.
Baseball was not a side business for Navin. It was his principal business and passion. Navin once said: "No game is cleaner, healthier or more scientific. (Baseball brings) thousands of devotees out into the open air and the sunshine and distracts them from every contaminating influence." And legendary Detroit News sports editor H. G. Salsinger wrote that "Navin was one of the few owners who knew the playing end of the game as well as the business end."
Reputation as a penny-pincher
Despite his love of the game, Navin developed a reputation as a penny-pincher, which was not surprising given he was trained as an accountant. A 1904 letter he wrote to Hall of Famer Sam Crawford adds to the reputation. After hitting .338 for the Tigers in 1903, Crawford took his used uniform home to Wahoo, Nebraska, prompting Navin to send the following letter:
Navin's tightfisted nature came in part because unlike most of the other owners, he had no income apart from the Tigers. In 1919, after Yawkey's death, Navin bought 15 shares from the Yawkey estate to become half-owner of the Tigers. However, without Yawkey's fortune to fall back on, Navin had to take on additional investors to keep afloat. With this in mind, he brokered the sale of 25 percent of the Yawkey interest to auto-body manufacturer Walter Briggs, Sr., and another 25 percent to wheelmaker John Kelsey. In 1927, Briggs bought Kelsey's interest and became a full partner with Navin. However, Briggs largely stayed in the background.
Navin's tough negotiations and salary battles with Tiger players are legendary. In the 1920s, Tigers slugger Bob "Fats" Fothergill always had a weight problem, and Navin constantly rode Fothergill about it. When Fothergill came to Navin's office in the winter to negotiate his contract, he wore a big, heavy overcoat to conceal the weight he had put on in the offseason. Navin figured out what Fothergill was up to and turned the heat way up in his office. Navin then sat back and engaged Fothergill in a long, drawn-out conversation about his family, hunting, and anything but the contract. As sweat poured off Fothergill, Navin suggested that he take off the coat, but Fothergill insisted he was comfortable. When the conversation finally got around to the contract, Fothergill wanted to get out of Navin's hot office so badly that he accepted Navin's first offer.
Years later, when pitcher Elden Auker was called up to the Tigers in 1933, Navin told him: "Elden, we're bringing you up here as a starting pitcher. We think you have an opportunity to be a major league pitcher. I don't have a lot of money. My philosophy for starting pitchers is when they give you the ball, I expect you to pitch nine innings. I can't afford to pay you to start a ballgame and pay three or four others to finish it."
Navin's knowledge of the game and his reputation for penny-pinching are both reflected in his relationship with Ty Cobb.