Harry Frazee

   

Harry H. Frazee (1881 - June 4, 1929) was an American theatrical agent and producer who gained renown as a notoriously foolhardy team owner in Major League Baseball.

Born in Peoria, Illinois, Frazee was the owner of the Boston Red Sox from 1916 to 1923. After his purchase of the team for under $500,000, they suffered major financial losses during World War I, despite a World Series title in 1918. As a result, he began selling off the team's major stars, sometimes in an effort to offset the costs of his theatrical shows. In 1919, he sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees to finance a Broadway musical, No, No Nanette. This event is famed in Boston for having initiated the so-called "Curse of the Bambino", the third longest drought in World Series titles (1918-2004), the longest being that of the Chicago Cubs, (1908-present) and the second longest being that of the Chicago White Sox, (1917-present).

Frazee died after a long illness at age 48 in New York City. He was interred in Kensico Cemetery in Valhalla, New York.



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