Sports / Business & brands
Frank Navin
1871–1935 · president and owner of the Detroit Tigers
Insurance bookkeeper who became the Tigers' president for 27 years, signed Ty Cobb and built Navin Field at Michigan and Trumbull.
- Born
Adrian, Michigan- Died
Detroit, Michigan
aged 64- Birth name
- Francis Joseph Navin
- Also known as
- Francis Joseph Navin
- Detroit years
- 1902–1935
- Field
- Sports, Business & brands
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Navin was working as a bookkeeper in the Detroit insurance office of Samuel F. Angus when Angus bought the Tigers in 1902 and brought him along to keep the club's books. When Angus sold, Navin persuaded lumber heir Bill Yawkey to buy the team and gradually became his partner, running the club as president from 1908. His signings of Ty Cobb and manager Hughie Jennings produced three straight American League pennants in 1907–1909. In 1912 he opened a new concrete-and-steel ballpark on the Bennett Park site at Michigan and Trumbull, named Navin Field, on the same day Fenway Park opened in Boston. After Yawkey's death he became principal owner, bringing in Walter Briggs and John Kelsey as partners. The Tigers finally won the World Series in October 1935; five weeks later Navin died after suffering a heart attack while horseback riding. He is buried at Holy Sepulchre.
Highlights
- President of the Detroit Tigers, 1908–1935
- Signed Ty Cobb and manager Hughie Jennings
- Opened Navin Field on April 20, 1912
- Tigers won the 1935 World Series weeks before his death
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Founded · 1912–1935
Navin Field / Tiger Stadium (site now The Corner Ballpark)
Demolished · 1912–1999
The ballpark he built in 1912, later Briggs Stadium and Tiger Stadium; demolished in 2008–2009, now The Corner Ballpark.
Buried here · 1935
Holy Sepulchre Cemetery
The Catholic cemetery in Southfield where he is buried.