Frank Navin
Encyclopedia
Francis Joseph Navin was the principal owner of the Detroit Tigers
in Major League Baseball
for 27 years, from 1909 to 1935. He also served as vice president
and acting president
of the American League
.
, 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 s 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." (Van Dusen, Ewald & Hawkins, The Detroit Tigers Encyclopedia (Sports Publishing 2003), p. 203) 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 built a team that won three straight pennants from 1907-1909. His signing of Ty Cobb
and Hughie Jennings
was instrumental in the development of the Tigers championship teams.
Angus soon tired of the Tigers' massive 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 had little involvement in the Tigers' day-to-day operations, largely leaving those in the hands of Navin. In January 1908, Yawkey sold Navin almost half the club, 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." (Van Dusen, Ewald & Hawkins, The Detroit Tigers Encyclopedia, p. 33) 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."
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:
(Van Dusen, Ewald & Hawkins, The Detroit Tigers Encyclopedia, p. 33)
Navin's tightfisted nature came in part because unlike most of the other owners, he had no income apart from the Tigers. He was thus forced to take on additional investors to keep afloat. In 1919, after Yawkey's death, Navin bought 15 shares from the Yawkey estate to become half-owner of the Tigers. He then 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. After Kelsey's death, Briggs bought Kelsey's interest and became a full partner with Navin, though he 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 of 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. Donald Honig, "Baseball When the Grass Was Real: Baseball from the Twenties to the Forties..." (Nebraska Press 1993), pp. 43–44)
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." ("Old-Timer's Advice to Today's Pitchers: Throw," The New York Times
, March 28, 2006)
Navin's knowledge of the game and his reputation for penny-pinching are both reflected in his relationship with Ty Cobb
. In 1905, a young Cobb tried out with the Tigers, and many laughed at the skinny kid's eager tryout. But Navin was impressed with Cobb's effort and signed him for $1500 ($. (Al Stump, "Cobb: The Life and Times of the Meanest Man Who Ever Played Baseball (1994), pp. 76-77 and 106-107) Each year thereafter, Navin and Cobb engaged in prolonged contract negotiations, with Cobb holding out at times, and Navin ultimately paying what was needed to retain the best batter in baseball. In 1925, the Tigers were offered an opportunity to purchase a young Paul Waner
from the San Francisco Seals, but Navin was not willing to pay the $40,000 ($ asking price. (Clifton Blue Parker, "Big and Little Poison: Paul and Lloyd Waner, Baseball Brothers" (McFarland 2002), p. 30) Cobb, who was the team's manager, was angered at Navin's refusal to sign Waner, and later said that their relationship deteriorated so much that "I couldn't stand to look at Navin." (Richard Bak, "Peach: Ty Cobb In His Time and Ours" (2005), pp. 142–143)
of 23,000. The new park, named "Navin Field," opened on April 20, 1912. Later renamed Briggs Stadium and then Tiger Stadium, the park built by Navin remained the Tigers' home until 2000. In 1924, as Detroit grew, Navin built a second deck on his stadium, increasing the seating capacity
to 30,000.
In May 1912, Navin found himself embroiled in the first player strike in American League history. During a game in New York, Ty Cobb
jumped into the stands and attacked a handicapped heckler who had been taunting Cobb with racial epithets. When American League President Ban Johnson
suspended Cobb indefinitely, the Tigers voted to strike, refusing to play until the suspension was lifted. When Ban Johnson threatened Navin with a $5,000 per game fine if he failed to field a team, Navin told manager Hughie Jennings
to find replacement players. As the Tigers were on the road in Philadelphia, Jennings recruited eight replacement "Tigers" from a neighborhood in North Philadelphia. The replacement Tigers lost 24-2 to the Philadelphia Athletics. The regular Tigers returned after a one-game strike.
In 1920, Navin played a key role in the creation of the office of Commissioner of Baseball and the appointment of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis
as the first Commissioner. The American League owners had become divided into two factions. One faction, the Red Sox, White Sox and Yankees, sought to remove Ban Johnson
as the league's president. The other faction, the Tigers, Indians, Athletics, Browns, and Senators, known as the "Loyal Five," supported Johnson. When the Black Sox Scandal
broke after the 1920 season, the White Sox, Red Sox and Yankees threatened to pull out of the American League and join a new 12-team National League. The enlarged league would include a new team in Detroit unrelated to the Tigers—an obvious attempt to push out Navin, a longtime Johnson loyalist. However, Navin was in no mood for another war and persuaded the other five clubs to agree to appoint a new National Commission of non-baseball men. Judge Landis was tapped as chairman, but would only accept an appointment as sole commissioner. The owners, desperate to fight the perception that baseball was crooked, readily agreed. Navin developed a very close relationship with Landis, and Landis reportedly called Navin as many as 20 times a day for advice.
After the other American League owners forced Johnson on an indefinite sabbatical in January 1927, Navin became acting president of the American League. Johnson returned in time for the start of the 1927 season, but was forced out entirely after the season, and Navin served as acting president until Ernest Barnard
was elected as permanent successor.
In 1931, Navin was nearly ruined by the Great Depression
and by his losses betting on horse racing. Navin had a lifelong love of gambling on horse races, a quirk that was overlooked by his friend, Judge Landis. (Navin also worked for a time as a croupier
at a turn of the century gambling house in Detroit. Van Dusen, Ewald & Hawkins, The Detroit Tigers Encyclopedia, p. 203.) He was thus forced to rely more and more on Briggs' money to keep the Tigers competitive.
By 1933, the Great Depression (and a losing team) had cut attendance at Navin Field to a third of what it had been a decade earlier. Navin contemplated selling the franchise and even entertained an offer from Ty Cobb. (Van Dusen, Ewald & Hawkins, The Detroit Tigers Encyclopedia, p. 50) But Navin decided not to sell and tried to sign Babe Ruth
, hoping to revive interest in the team. Instead, he ended up buying Mickey Cochrane
from Connie Mack
for $100,000. Cochrane proved to the sparkplug that helped the Tigers win two consecutive pennants in 1934 and 1935.
After the Tigers lost the 1934 World Series
to the Gashouse Gang
from St. Louis, the 64-year-old Navin was reportedly heartbroken, having seen his teams win four American League pennants, only to lose four World Series.
In October 1935, the Tigers finally won their World Series championship, and six weeks later, on November 13, 1935, Navin died. Navin had been riding one of his horses at the Detroit Riding and Hunt Club when he suffered a heart attack and fell from the horse. Navin was buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield, Michigan
where the family mausoleum was decorated by Corrado Parducci
and is guarded by two tigers by American animalier
Frederick Roth
.
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...
for 27 years, from 1909 to 1935. He also served as vice president
Vice president
A vice president is an officer in government or business who is below a president in rank. The name comes from the Latin vice meaning 'in place of'. In some countries, the vice president is called the deputy president...
and acting president
Acting president
An Acting President is a person who temporarily fills the role of an organization's or country's president, either when the real president is unavailable or when the post is vacant .-See also:*Acting *Acting President of Pakistan*Acting President of Malta*Acting President of...
of the American League
American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, which eventually aspired to major...
.
Early years (1902-1910)
Born in Adrian, MichiganAdrian, Michigan
As of the 2010 census Adrian had a population of 21,133. The racial and ethnic makeup of the population was 84.1% white, 4.4% black or African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 5.9% from some other race and 4.0% from two or more races...
, 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
Samuel F. Angus
Samuel F. Angus was the principal owner of the Detroit Tigers of the American League from through . In 1902, Angus purchased the franchise from James D. Burns to become owner. In 1903, Angus sold the Tigers to Bill Yawkey.-References:*...
when Angus led a syndicate that purchased the Detroit Tigers
Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...
. Angus brought the 31-year-old Navin with him s 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." (Van Dusen, Ewald & Hawkins, The Detroit Tigers Encyclopedia (Sports Publishing 2003), p. 203) 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 built a team that won three straight pennants from 1907-1909. His signing of Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...
and Hughie Jennings
Hughie Jennings
Hugh Ambrose Jennings was a Major League Baseball player and manager from 1891 to 1925. Jennings was a leader, both as a batter and as a shortstop, with the Baltimore Orioles teams that won National League championships in 1894, 1895, and 1896. During the three championship seasons, Jennings had...
was instrumental in the development of the Tigers championship teams.
Angus soon tired of the Tigers' massive 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
Bill Yawkey
William Hoover Yawkey was the sole owner of the Detroit Tigers of the American League from through , and part-owner with Frank Navin from 1908 to ....
, to complete the deal. Yawkey had little involvement in the Tigers' day-to-day operations, largely leaving those in the hands of Navin. In January 1908, Yawkey sold Navin almost half the club, 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." (Van Dusen, Ewald & Hawkins, The Detroit Tigers Encyclopedia, p. 33) And legendary Detroit News sports editor H. G. Salsinger
H. G. Salsinger
Harry George "H.G." Salsinger was sports editor of The Detroit News for 49 years.Salsinger was born in Ohio in 1885. In 1907, he started writing for The Cincinnati Post....
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 CrawfordSam Crawford
Samuel Earl Crawford , nicknamed "Wahoo Sam", was a Major League Baseball player who played outfield for the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1957....
adds to the reputation. After hitting .338 for the Tigers in 1903, Crawford took his used uniform home to Wahoo, Nebraska
Wahoo, Nebraska
Wahoo is a city in Saunders County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 4,508 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Saunders County.-History:Wahoo was founded in 1870...
, prompting Navin to send the following letter:
(Van Dusen, Ewald & Hawkins, The Detroit Tigers Encyclopedia, p. 33)
Navin's tightfisted nature came in part because unlike most of the other owners, he had no income apart from the Tigers. He was thus forced to take on additional investors to keep afloat. In 1919, after Yawkey's death, Navin bought 15 shares from the Yawkey estate to become half-owner of the Tigers. He then 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. After Kelsey's death, Briggs bought Kelsey's interest and became a full partner with Navin, though he stayed in the background.
Navin's tough negotiations and salary battles with Tiger players are legendary. In the 1920s, Tigers slugger Bob "Fats" Fothergill
Bob Fothergill
Robert Roy Fothergill , nicknamed "Fats" or "Fatty," was an outfielder in Major League Baseball who played twelve seasons with the Detroit Tigers , Chicago White Sox , and Boston Red Sox ....
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 of 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. Donald Honig, "Baseball When the Grass Was Real: Baseball from the Twenties to the Forties..." (Nebraska Press 1993), pp. 43–44)
Years later, when pitcher Elden Auker
Elden Auker
Elden le Roy Auker was an American right-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball noted for his submarine pitching style....
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." ("Old-Timer's Advice to Today's Pitchers: Throw," The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, March 28, 2006)
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...
. In 1905, a young Cobb tried out with the Tigers, and many laughed at the skinny kid's eager tryout. But Navin was impressed with Cobb's effort and signed him for $1500 ($. (Al Stump, "Cobb: The Life and Times of the Meanest Man Who Ever Played Baseball (1994), pp. 76-77 and 106-107) Each year thereafter, Navin and Cobb engaged in prolonged contract negotiations, with Cobb holding out at times, and Navin ultimately paying what was needed to retain the best batter in baseball. In 1925, the Tigers were offered an opportunity to purchase a young Paul Waner
Paul Waner
Paul Glee Waner , nicknamed "Big Poison", was a German-American Major League Baseball right fielder.-Pittsburgh Pirates:...
from the San Francisco Seals, but Navin was not willing to pay the $40,000 ($ asking price. (Clifton Blue Parker, "Big and Little Poison: Paul and Lloyd Waner, Baseball Brothers" (McFarland 2002), p. 30) Cobb, who was the team's manager, was angered at Navin's refusal to sign Waner, and later said that their relationship deteriorated so much that "I couldn't stand to look at Navin." (Richard Bak, "Peach: Ty Cobb In His Time and Ours" (2005), pp. 142–143)
Later years (1911-1935)
In 1911, Navin tore down the Tigers' longtime home, Bennett Park, and built a new concrete-and-steel facility on the same site with a seating capacitySeating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
of 23,000. The new park, named "Navin Field," opened on April 20, 1912. Later renamed Briggs Stadium and then Tiger Stadium, the park built by Navin remained the Tigers' home until 2000. In 1924, as Detroit grew, Navin built a second deck on his stadium, increasing the seating capacity
Seating capacity
Seating capacity refers to the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, both in terms of the physical space available, and in terms of limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that seats two to a stadium that seats...
to 30,000.
In May 1912, Navin found himself embroiled in the first player strike in American League history. During a game in New York, Ty Cobb
Ty Cobb
Tyrus Raymond "Ty" Cobb , nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in Narrows, Georgia...
jumped into the stands and attacked a handicapped heckler who had been taunting Cobb with racial epithets. When American League President Ban Johnson
Ban Johnson
Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson , was an American executive in professional baseball who served as the founder and first president of the American League ....
suspended Cobb indefinitely, the Tigers voted to strike, refusing to play until the suspension was lifted. When Ban Johnson threatened Navin with a $5,000 per game fine if he failed to field a team, Navin told manager Hughie Jennings
Hughie Jennings
Hugh Ambrose Jennings was a Major League Baseball player and manager from 1891 to 1925. Jennings was a leader, both as a batter and as a shortstop, with the Baltimore Orioles teams that won National League championships in 1894, 1895, and 1896. During the three championship seasons, Jennings had...
to find replacement players. As the Tigers were on the road in Philadelphia, Jennings recruited eight replacement "Tigers" from a neighborhood in North Philadelphia. The replacement Tigers lost 24-2 to the Philadelphia Athletics. The regular Tigers returned after a one-game strike.
In 1920, Navin played a key role in the creation of the office of Commissioner of Baseball and the appointment of Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Kenesaw Mountain Landis
Kenesaw Mountain Landis was an American jurist who served as a federal judge from 1905 to 1922 and as the first Commissioner of Baseball from 1920 until his death...
as the first Commissioner. The American League owners had become divided into two factions. One faction, the Red Sox, White Sox and Yankees, sought to remove Ban Johnson
Ban Johnson
Byron Bancroft "Ban" Johnson , was an American executive in professional baseball who served as the founder and first president of the American League ....
as the league's president. The other faction, the Tigers, Indians, Athletics, Browns, and Senators, known as the "Loyal Five," supported Johnson. When the Black Sox Scandal
Black Sox Scandal
The Black Sox Scandal took place around and during the play of the American baseball 1919 World Series. Eight members of the Chicago White Sox were banned for life from baseball for intentionally losing games, which allowed the Cincinnati Reds to win the World Series...
broke after the 1920 season, the White Sox, Red Sox and Yankees threatened to pull out of the American League and join a new 12-team National League. The enlarged league would include a new team in Detroit unrelated to the Tigers—an obvious attempt to push out Navin, a longtime Johnson loyalist. However, Navin was in no mood for another war and persuaded the other five clubs to agree to appoint a new National Commission of non-baseball men. Judge Landis was tapped as chairman, but would only accept an appointment as sole commissioner. The owners, desperate to fight the perception that baseball was crooked, readily agreed. Navin developed a very close relationship with Landis, and Landis reportedly called Navin as many as 20 times a day for advice.
After the other American League owners forced Johnson on an indefinite sabbatical in January 1927, Navin became acting president of the American League. Johnson returned in time for the start of the 1927 season, but was forced out entirely after the season, and Navin served as acting president until Ernest Barnard
Ernest Barnard
Ernest Sargent Barnard was the second President of the American League, serving from 1927 until his death in 1931. Born in West Columbia, West Virginia, he later resided in Delaware, Ohio. He graduated from Otterbein College in 1895, and became football and baseball coach there until 1898...
was elected as permanent successor.
In 1931, Navin was nearly ruined by the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and by his losses betting on horse racing. Navin had a lifelong love of gambling on horse races, a quirk that was overlooked by his friend, Judge Landis. (Navin also worked for a time as a croupier
Croupier
A croupier or dealer is someone appointed at a gambling table to assist in the conduct of the game, especially in the distribution of bets and payouts. Croupiers are typically employed by casinos.-Origin of the word:...
at a turn of the century gambling house in Detroit. Van Dusen, Ewald & Hawkins, The Detroit Tigers Encyclopedia, p. 203.) He was thus forced to rely more and more on Briggs' money to keep the Tigers competitive.
By 1933, the Great Depression (and a losing team) had cut attendance at Navin Field to a third of what it had been a decade earlier. Navin contemplated selling the franchise and even entertained an offer from Ty Cobb. (Van Dusen, Ewald & Hawkins, The Detroit Tigers Encyclopedia, p. 50) But Navin decided not to sell and tried to sign Babe Ruth
Babe Ruth
George Herman Ruth, Jr. , best known as "Babe" Ruth and nicknamed "the Bambino" and "the Sultan of Swat", was an American Major League baseball player from 1914–1935...
, hoping to revive interest in the team. Instead, he ended up buying Mickey Cochrane
Mickey Cochrane
Gordon Stanley "Mickey" Cochrane was a professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for the Philadelphia Athletics and Detroit Tigers...
from Connie Mack
Connie Mack (baseball)
Cornelius McGillicuddy, Sr. , better known as Connie Mack, was an American professional baseball player, manager, and team owner. The longest-serving manager in Major League Baseball history, he holds records for wins , losses , and games managed , with his victory total being almost 1,000 more...
for $100,000. Cochrane proved to the sparkplug that helped the Tigers win two consecutive pennants in 1934 and 1935.
After the Tigers lost the 1934 World Series
1934 World Series
The 1934 World Series matched the St. Louis Cardinals against the Detroit Tigers, with the Cardinals' "Gashouse Gang" winning in seven games for their third championship in nine years....
to the Gashouse Gang
Gashouse Gang
The Gashouse Gang was a nickname applied to the St. Louis Cardinals Major League Baseball team of .The Cardinals, by most accounts, earned this nickname from the team's generally very shabby appearance and rough-and-tumble tactics...
from St. Louis, the 64-year-old Navin was reportedly heartbroken, having seen his teams win four American League pennants, only to lose four World Series.
In October 1935, the Tigers finally won their World Series championship, and six weeks later, on November 13, 1935, Navin died. Navin had been riding one of his horses at the Detroit Riding and Hunt Club when he suffered a heart attack and fell from the horse. Navin was buried in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Southfield, Michigan
Southfield, Michigan
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which 0.04% is water. The main branch of the River Rouge runs through Southfield. The city is bounded to the south by Eight Mile Road, its western border is Inkster Road, and to the east it is bounded by Greenfield Road...
where the family mausoleum was decorated by Corrado Parducci
Corrado Parducci
Corrado Giuseppe Parducci was an Italian-American architectural sculptor who was a celebrated artist for his numerous early 20th Century works.-Early life and education:...
and is guarded by two tigers by American animalier
Animalier
An animalier is an artist, mainly from the 19th century, who specializes in, or is known for, skill in the realistic portrayal of animals. "Animal painter" is the more general term for earlier artists...
Frederick Roth
Frederick Roth
Frederick George Richard Roth was an American sculptor and animalier, well known for portraying living animals. The statue of the sled dog Balto in New York City's Central Park is perhaps his most famous piece.-Biography:...
.