Lawrence Dolan, retired attorney and effectively one of the great patrons of modern Cleveland, died peacefully while taking a nap on a cold December afternoon. He'd seen his doctor two weeks before and passed his physical quite well for a 74 year old man, and some in high society found his sudden passing odd.
Dolan was 74 though, and at the request of his family no autopsy would be performed. Instead, over five hundred people including Mayor Frank Jackson, most of the city council, and a surprising cross section of society saw him laid to rest in Cleveland Heights.
Dolan always intended the team and his other holdings go to his sons. Matthew and Paul Dolan were both attorneys. The former served as US House representative for parts of Columbus, while Paul served as team president. Unfortunately there was a problem.
Usually when one writes a will, there is a clause specifically voiding any previous documents. For whatever reason, Dolan's will dated December 2, 2005 didn't have this. It did leave the team in Paul's care. His previous will, from October 2003, left the team to Matthew.
The Cleveland Indians were the crown jewel of Dolan's holdings. Along with the usual prestige of owning a Major League team, between 1989 and 2000 its value rose from $35 million to $210 million.
As the wrangling grew uglier and more public, General Manager Mark Shapiro registered his disgust with both sons by resigning on January 9. This left the team effectively leaderless as both brothers appointed their own replacements who issued conflicting orders.
As one of the founding members of the American League descended into chaos, Major League Baseball met in emergency session on January 27. There they agreed by a vote of 28-2 (both Cleveland delegates and Florida dissenting) that if the Dolan brothers couldn't resolve their differences, then maybe someone should buy the team out.
That someone proved to be Edward Sinclair, a resident of nearby Avon. Sinclair's father made the family fortune during Cleveland's hey day as one of the manufacturing centers of the nation. Ed added to this by investing in Microsoft very early and riding the wave of Bill Gates' success. He paid the brothers $250 million each.
Sinclair made a clean sweep of the Indians front office, feeling more comfortable with 'rookies' that owed their success to him as opposed to veterans with loyalties to Shapiro or the Dolans.
These 'rookies' would have one of the best teams in the league at their disposal. In 2005 the Indians finished 93-69, six games behind the World Champion White Sox and two out of the wildcard. However that also led to great expectations. Local talk show host Mike Trivisonno promised Tribe fans a divisional pennant, if not the Series, and he was not the kind of man who took disappointment well.
Ed and I met at the University of Akron, where we both earned MBAs. He returned to his parties and society, while I went into sports and finally led the Redmond (Oregon) Trailblazers to the very first Golden League championship.(1)
The Golden Baseball League, like its more popular brethren further east, is an independent league. Their teams are not farms for the Majors, but nor are the players really of Major League quality. Since there's a very low salary cap, the only people who play in the GBL are the up and comers who didn't get drafted, the oldsters no one wants hoping to make a comeback, and those who simply love the game. As an example, Rickey Henderson played for the San Diego Surf Dawgs.
Sometimes independent players do get signed, a cause for celebration league wide. I didn't know general managers could be as well.
In a way I shouldn't have been surprised. Ed doesn't have the temperament - or desire - to try to run a multi-million dollar franchise. I have to admit it's a bit disconcerting going from a total team payroll of less than $150,000 to over $50 million.
My name is Knight. Robert Knight.
You can call me Cat.
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(1) Redmond is a real city in central Oregon, and the Golden League is real as well. The Trailblazers, however, are fake.
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COMMENTS:
The Kansas City dynasty will rest for awhile. I thought it time to try something new.
2006 was the year I came to Cleveland. I lived most of my life in Connecticut, but have spent the twenty-first century wandering from place to place (including central Oregon) before settling here. When I came, I needed a fresh start, hence part of the name of this dynasty.
I expected Cleveland to be depressing, a rest stop while I gathered my strength for a return home or to wander somewhere else. Instead I found some good friends and a fiance, so I guess this is home now.
2006 was also the year I started paying attention to baseball again. I spent the 90s first apathic, then disgusted by the game I loved as a child. To this day I know more about the teams of the late 70s and early 80s than those of the 90s and early 00s. A friend here is an Indian-holic and started dragging me to games. Soon enough the old spark returned. I joined these forums in March '07, and the rest is history. That's the other reason for this dynasty title.
In a sense, I'm using this dynasty to get a better feel for the team's recent history. Looking at their '06 roster, there are players I don't recognize...and many of those I do are in the minors. I don't know much about the other teams at all. This is a way of finding out.
So...the year is 2006. The Indians have a lot of potential...but the AL Central is one of the most competitive in baseball. Barry Bonds hasn't broken Aaron's record yet, and with any luck (no interference from me this time) maybe he'll get eaten by giant shark.
It's Tribe Time.
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, I wish I could develop storylines as well as you do for Dynasties.
Originally Posted by Kobie
