Joseph J. Lannin
Owner of the Boston Red Sox
Birth:	April 23, 1866 Lac-Beauport, Quebec Lac-Beauport, Quebec Lac-Beauport is a little town in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada, located on the eponymous Lake Beauport. It has a population of about 6010 people, and lies about 25 kilometers north from downtown Quebec City....
Death:	May 15, 1928 Lac-Beauport, Quebec Lac-Beauport, Quebec Lac-Beauport is a little town in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada, located on the eponymous Lake Beauport. It has a population of about 6010 people, and lies about 25 kilometers north from downtown Quebec City....
Ownership:	December 21, 1913 – November 2, 1916
Predecessor:	Jimmy McAleer Jimmy McAleer James Robert "Loafer" McAleer was an American center fielder, manager, and stockholder in Major League Baseball who assisted in establishing the American League. He spent most of his 13-season playing career with the Cleveland Spiders, and went on to manage the Cleveland Blues, St. Louis Browns,...  and John I. Taylor John I. Taylor John Irving Taylor owned the Boston Red Sox from 1904 until 1911. He was the son of General Charles H. Taylor, publisher of the Boston Globe. He purchased the team from Henry Killilea on April 19, 1904, with his father Charles serving as a minority owner. In September 1911, the Taylors sold half...
Successor:	Harry Frazee Harry Frazee Harry Herbert Frazee was an American theatrical agent, producer and director, and former owner of the Major League Baseball Boston Red Sox from 1916 to 1923.- Life as owner of the Red Sox :...
Championships:	1915 World Series 1915 World Series In the 1915 World Series, the Boston Red Sox beat the Philadelphia Phillies four games to one.In their only World Series before , the Phillies won Game 1 before being swept the rest of the way. It was 65 years before the Phillies won their next Series game... 1916 World Series 1916 World Series In the 1916 World Series, the Boston Red Sox beat the Brooklyn Robins four games to one.Casey Stengel shone on offense for the Robins in the 1916 Series but the Red Sox pitching core ultimately proved too much for the denizens of Flatbush...
General Manager General manager (baseball) In Major League Baseball, the general manager of a team typically controls player transactions and bears the primary responsibility on behalf of the ballclub during contract discussions with players.... (s):	None
Manager Manager (baseball) In baseball, the field manager is an individual who is responsible for matters of team strategy on the field and team leadership. Managers are typically assisted by between one and six assistant coaches, whose responsibilities are specialized... (s):	Bill Carrigan Bill Carrigan William Francis Carrigan , nicknamed "Rough", was a Major League baseball catcher. He was born in Lewiston, Maine.Carrigan started his career as a platoon catcher and played all ten seasons with the Boston Red Sox...  (1913–1916) Lee Fohl Lee Fohl Leo Alexander Fohl was an American manager in Major League Baseball for the Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Browns, and Boston Red Sox....  (1917)

Joseph John Lannin (April 23, 1866 - 15 May 1928) was a Canadian-born American baseball entrepreneur.

Biography

He was born in Lac-Beauport, Quebec

Lac-Beauport, Quebec

Lac-Beauport is a little town in the Capitale-Nationale region of Quebec, Canada, located on the eponymous Lake Beauport. It has a population of about 6010 people, and lies about 25 kilometers north from downtown Quebec City....

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, the son of Irish immigrants.

Orphaned at the age of 14, Joseph Lannin migrated with the flood of French-Canadians from Quebec seeking work in the booming textile mills of New England. However, arriving in Boston, Massachusetts the ambitious young man chose to work as a hotel bellman. Although he had limited education, Lannin was personable and possessed a quick mind. He soon learned about real estate and the commodities market by listening to the conversations of the wealthy patrons at his hotel and taking advice from those who were willing to share their insights with him.

A confident and knowledgeable Joseph Lannin invested his savings in the commodities market, making a small fortune. From there he began to acquire other businesses and eventually built an empire of hotels, apartment buildings, and golf courses.

On December 21, 1913, Lannin and a group of investors purchased 50% of the Boston Red Sox

Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...

 baseball team from Jimmy McAleer

Jimmy McAleer

James Robert "Loafer" McAleer was an American center fielder, manager, and stockholder in Major League Baseball who assisted in establishing the American League. He spent most of his 13-season playing career with the Cleveland Spiders, and went on to manage the Cleveland Blues, St. Louis Browns,...

 and Robert B. McRoy. In 1914 he became the sole owner of the Red Sox and in that same year he purchased the rights to bring 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...

 to Boston resulting in his team winning the World Series

World Series

The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball, played between the American League and National League champions since 1903. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a best-of-seven playoff and awarded the Commissioner's Trophy...

 in 1915 and 1916.

Joseph Lannin sold the team in 1917 to Harry Frazee

Harry Frazee

Harry Herbert Frazee was an American theatrical agent, producer and director, and former owner of the Major League Baseball Boston Red Sox from 1916 to 1923.- Life as owner of the Red Sox :...

 for $200,000. The "astute" Frazee in turn recovered a large part of the purchase price by selling Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees

New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...

 for the then astounding amount of $125,000.

With profit made from the sale of his team, Mr. Lannin continued to invest in real estate ventures in Boston and across New York State.

He acquired Roosevelt Airfield

Roosevelt Airfield

Roosevelt Field was originally an airfield in Garden City, Nassau County, New York.-History:Originally named the Hempstead Plains Aerodrome, it was renamed in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt's son, Quentin, who was killed in air combat during World War I...

 where Charles Lindbergh

Charles Lindbergh

Charles Augustus Lindbergh was an American aviator, author, inventor, explorer, and social activist.Lindbergh, a 25-year-old U.S...

 began his historic transatlantic flight. Lannin provided Lindbergh with a room at his nearby hotel and watched the takeoff from Roosevelt Airfield on May 20, 1927.

Never forgetting his impoverished beginnings, Joseph Lannin became a large benefactor to his community until his death on May 15, 1928, aged 62.

He is interred at the Cemetery of the Holy Rood

Cemetery of the Holy Rood

The Cemetery of the Holy Rood is a Roman Catholic cemetery located in Westbury, New York. The cemetery, established in 1930, is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre.-History:...

, Garden City, New York

Garden City, New York

Garden City is a village in the town of Hempstead in central Nassau County, New York, in the United States. It was founded by multi-millionaire Alexander Turney Stewart in 1869, and is located on Long Island, to the east of New York City, from mid-town Manhattan, and just south of the town of...

.

External links