William C. Bartholomay (August 11, 1928 – March 25, 2020) was a successful

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

business executive, who made his living in the insurance industry. In November 1962 at age 34, he was the leader of a consortium who bought the

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) Milwaukee Braves — a franchise in the organization's

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

(NL) — from Lou Perini Despite the Braves' success in

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, where the team had set league attendance records (after the franchise was moved from Boston) during the 1950s, Bartholomay was intent on moving the team to

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, a growing regional center, where there was more television revenue, and where the new, 52,000-seat

Atlanta Stadium Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

had recently been built. He wanted to be the first man to bring a baseball team to the Deep South. Bartholomay worked with many civic leaders to help attain his dream. After an extended legal battle with Milwaukee that kept the Braves from moving through the 1965 season, and many death threats, the National League agreed to the shift to Atlanta. The case ultimately led to baseball's guidelines on local ownership. In

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, Bartholomay was approached with a business proposition by a friend,

Ted Turner Robert Edward "Ted" Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and philanthropist. He founded the Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour cable news channel. In addition, he fo ...

: The two knew that a baseball team and network deal would be a good way to market the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

on a national scale and provide programming for Turner's developing ( TBS) network. Bartholomay agreed and sold the controlling interest of the team to Turner (of

Turner Broadcasting Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...

System, Inc., and owner of

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...

), while retaining his interest as chairman. Bartholomay was a Life Trustee of

Illinois Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to 1890, the present name was adopted upon the merger of the Armour Institute and Lewis Institute in 1940. The university has prog ...

Family

William's father, Henry Bartholomay, was an executive at Alexander & Alexander, one of the largest insurance brokerages in the United States. His mother Virginia (nee Graves) drove for the Army Motor Corps in World War I and was active in the Red Cross during World War II. One of William's great-grandfathers, Henry Bartholomay, emigrated from Germany to

Rochester, NY Rochester () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, and Yonkers, with a population of 211,328 at the 2020 United States census. Located in Wes ...

, where he established Bartholomay Brewing Company in 1874. Another great-grandfather, Conrad Seipp, founded the

Conrad Seipp Brewing Company The Conrad Seipp Brewing Company was established in 1854 by German immigrant Conrad Seipp in Chicago, Illinois. The brewery is notable for its prolific use of advertising, making it one of the most successful breweries of its era. It closed in 19 ...

in Chicago.

Education

Bartholomay is an alum of

North Shore Country Day School North Shore Country Day School is a selective prep school in Winnetka, Illinois. It took its current form as a coeducational school in 1919 during the Country Day School movement, though it started as the Rugby School for Boys (1893-1900) and Gir ...

and

Lake Forest College Lake Forest College is a private liberal arts college in Lake Forest, Illinois. Founded in 1857 as Lind University by a group of Presbyterian ministers, the college has been coeducational since 1876 and an undergraduate-focused liberal arts i ...

Death

On March 25, 2020, Bartholomay died in

New York-Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, of complications resulting from a respiratory illness, subsequent to a bout with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

in December 2019. He was 91 years old.

References

External links

Bill Bartholomay
at Baseball America Executive Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Bartholomay, William 1928 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople American businesspeople in insurance Atlanta Braves owners Atlanta Braves executives Businesspeople from Chicago Illinois Institute of Technology people Major League Baseball owners Major League Baseball executives Major League Baseball team presidents Milwaukee Braves owners North American Soccer League (1968–1984) executives