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| - Harry Herbert Frazee (June 29, 1881 in Peoria, Illinois - June 4, 1929 in New York City) was an American theatrical agent, producer and director, and owner of the Major League Baseball Boston Red Sox from 1916 to 1923. Frazee backed a number of New York theatrical productions (before and after Ruth's sale), the best known of which is probably No, No, Nanette. He was the subject of an unflattering portrait in Fred Lieb's account of the Red Sox, which insinuated that he had sold Ruth to finance a Broadway musical. This would become a central element in the Curse of the Bambino.
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| abstract
| - Harry Herbert Frazee (June 29, 1881 in Peoria, Illinois - June 4, 1929 in New York City) was an American theatrical agent, producer and director, and owner of the Major League Baseball Boston Red Sox from 1916 to 1923. Frazee bought the Red Sox from Joseph Lannin in 1916 for about $500,000. The Sox won a World Series title in 1918. The team finished in sixth in 1919, and it started selling off its players to the New York Yankees, most notoriously Babe Ruth after the 1919 season. After the sale of Ruth, the team crashed into the American League cellar and would not finish above .500 until 1934. The Red Sox would not win another World Series until 2004, the third longest drought in MLB history. Frazee backed a number of New York theatrical productions (before and after Ruth's sale), the best known of which is probably No, No, Nanette. He was the subject of an unflattering portrait in Fred Lieb's account of the Red Sox, which insinuated that he had sold Ruth to finance a Broadway musical. This would become a central element in the Curse of the Bambino. The truth is somewhat more nuanced and dates to a long-running dispute between Frazee and American League founder and president Ban Johnson (see below). The dispute finally boiled over in the summer of 1919 when pitcher Carl Mays jumped the team. Johnson ordered him suspended, but Frazee instead sold him to the then-moribund Yankees. Johnson had promised Yankee owners Jacob Ruppert and Cap Huston to get them better players, but never followed through. The Mays flap divided the American League into two factions—the Yankees, Red Sox and White Sox on one side and the other five clubs, known as the "Loyal Five," on the other. Under the circumstances, when Frazee finally lost patience with Ruth (see below), his options were severely limited. Under pressure from Johnson, the Loyal Five rejected Frazee's overtures almost out of hand. In effect, Johnson limited Frazee to dealing with either the White Sox or the Yankees. The White Sox offered Joe Jackson and $60,000, but the Yankees offered an all-cash deal--$100,000. Frazee, Ruppert and Huston quickly cut a deal, and Ruth became the property of the Yankees on December 26, 1919.
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